Steelheads’ forward Taggart Desmet picked up two assists through regulation but his team saw a one-goal, third period lead slip away in an eventual 4-3 shootout loss to the Condors in front of 3,961 fans at Qwest Arena on Wednesday night.
Earning one point in the standings, the Steelheads (31-17-9) failed to gain ground on the Salmon Kings who beat Las Vegas 5-3 to move two points ahead of the defending champions for first place in the West Division. Meanwhile the Condors (17-28-9) win snapped their three-game losing streak and pulled them into a tie with the RoadRunners for the final National Conference playoff spot.
The visitors jumped out to a 2-0 advantage on goals by Reagan Leslie and Mark Derlago in the first 17 minutes of the contest. Both goals were even-strength, with Derlago’s goal marking his team-leading 28th of the season.
However the Steelheads responded as Desmet fed Andrew Martin and his snap shot from the left circle beat Yutaka Fukufuji (32 saves) with just four seconds left before intermission to make the score 2-1.
The Steelheads grabbed the only two markers in the second stanza with Marty Flichel burying his 16th of the campaign and Craig Cescon netting his second of the year just 2:38 later. Colin Sinclair and Bill Kinkel set up Flichel’s tally, while Desmet and Greg Rallo registered the helpers on Cescon’s one-timer that glanced off of Fukufuji and into the top shelf.
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