Idaho Steelheads Weekly – Week 15 – 1/23/23

Idaho Steelheads Weekly – Week 15 – 1/23/23 

Steelheads clash with second place Wichita this week in Boise  

BOISE, ID – The Idaho Steelheads (@Steelheads), proud ECHL (@ECHL) affiliate of the Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) split the weekend series in Rapid City and will host Wichita for the first time this season Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday for a showdown of the top two teams in the mountain division. 

THIS WEEK’S GAMESWednesday, Jan. 25 vs. Wichita | 7:10 p.m.Friday, Jan. 27 vs. Wichita | 7:10 p.m.Saturday, Jan. 28 vs. Wichita | 7:10 p.m. 

MOUNTAIN DIVISION STANDINGS

1. Idaho Steelheads (29-7-0-1, 59pts)
2. Wichita Thunder (23-13-3-0, 49pts) 
3. Rapid City Rush (20-18-1-0, 41pts) 
4. Kansas City Mavericks (16-14-5-0, 37pts)
5. Utah Grizzlies (16-20-1-0, 33pts)
6. Allen Americans (15-20-1-0, 31pts) 
7. Tulsa Oilers (12-17-6-1, 31pts) 

LAST WEEK’S GAMES

Monday, Jan. 16         Utah (4) vs. Idaho (1)             HighlightsFull RecapBox Score

Utah outshot Idaho 16-8 but in the second period the Steelheads outshot the Grizzlies 20-7. Patrick Kudla scored for the Steelheads with 12 minutes to play in regulation to cut the deficit down to 2-1 but the goal went to video review and was called back for goaltender interference. 51 seconds later Utah made it 3-0. Jack Becker (1-0-0) scored the lone Steelheads goal coming on a six on four power-play with Adam Scheel on the bench with 3:39 to play. The Grizzlies grabbed an empty-net goal with just 31 seconds left as they picked up their first win against Idaho in Utah this season after six straight losses. 

Friday, Jan. 20             Idaho (7) at Rapid City (1)      HighlightsFull RecapBox Score

Idaho tied their season high producing seven goals as Wade Murphy (2-2-4) finished with a career night. A.J. White (1-1-2) and Willie Knierim provided two short-handed goals, which was just the third time in Steelheads history they have scored multi short-handed scores in a game. Janis Svanenbergs and Justin Misiak had the other two Idaho goals as defensemen Patrick Kudla and Dawson Barteaux notched two assists each. Rémi Poirier made 24 saves on 25 shots for his ninth straight victory in net. 

Saturday, Jan. 21        Rapid City (5) vs. Idaho (4)    HighlightsFull RecapBox Score

Jordan Kawaguchi (1-1-2) tied the game at 4-4 with just 4:30 to play in regulation on a power-play score. Idaho went on the man advantage again with 66 seconds to play but seven seconds into the power-play opportunity Rapid City buried a short-handed goal to take a 5-4 lead. A.J. White scored for his second straight game while Matt Register (1-1-2) and Justin Ducharme had the other tallies for Idaho. Owen Headrickincreased his point streak to six games recording a career high three assists. 

RECENT MILESTONES

• Everett Sheen notched his 100th career win on 1/14. 
• A.J. White scored his 78th Idaho goal on Saturday night moving into sole possession of fifth all-time in the Steelheads ECHL modern era. 
• Matt Register tallied his 300th ECHL assist on 12/28 and played in his 500th career ECHL game on 12/30. 
• Ryan Dmowski played in his 50th Steelheads game on Saturday night producing 60 points during the span (27G, 33A). 
• Wade Murphy tallied a career best four points (2G, 2A) Friday night. 
• Owen Headrick notched a career high three points (3A) Saturday night. 

UPCOMING MILESTONES

• A.J. White is two goals shy of 100 ECHL/Pro career goals. 
• Matt Register is one point shy of 400 career ECHL points, and four goals shy of 100 career ECHL goals. 
• Jack Becker is two games shy of 50 career ECHL games. 
• Willie Knierim is four games shy of 50 career ECHL games. 
• Colton Kehler is eight games shy of 100 career Steelheads games. 
• Zane Franklin is nine games shy of 100 career ECHL/Pro games. 
• Dawson Barteaux is one game shy of 100 career games. 

STEELHEADS STANDOUTS

Rémi Poirier leads the ECHL in goals against average (1.78) and is tied for first in save percentage (.936). Dating back to Dec. 10 he has won nine straight games posting a (1.10, GAA) and (.960, SV%) making 239 saves on 249 shots. 

Owen Headrick leads all ECHL defensemen in points (35), goals (10), and tied for first in assists (25). He has points in six straight games (8A) and a point in 23 of his last 26 (10-21-31). 

Jordan Kawaguchi is tied for fifth in the ECHL in goals (18). 

Ryan Dmowski is seventh in the ECHL in points (41). 

Patrick Kudla is second amongst ECHL defenders in points (31) and tied for first in assists (25). He leads Idaho in power-play points (2G, 12A). 

A.J. White has goals in back-to-back games and has tallied a point in 17 of his last 29 games (10-15-25). 

Willie Knierim has points in 11 of his last 16 games (6-8-14) including points in five of his last eight (4-4-8). 

Matt Register (+36) and Cody Haiskanen (+29) are at the top of the ECHL amongst plus/minus. 

TEAM NOTES

GOAL SCORING AT A PREMIUMIdaho ranks first in goals for averaging (4.22) per game. They have scored four or more goals in 14 of their last 19 games and five or more goals in 14 of their last 24. They have scored four or more goals in 26 games this year posting a record of (25-1) when doing so. 

PUCKS STOP AT THE STEELHEADS NET Idaho ranks first in goals against averaging (2.11) per game. They have held their opponents to two or fewer goals 23 times this year posting a record of (22-1) when doing so. Over the last 18 games they have only allowed 39 goals against holding their opposition to two or fewer goals in 12 of the last 19. 

INSIDE THE TOP FIVE IN SPECIAL TEAMS Idaho is fifth on the power-play (31/131, 23.7%) having scored a power-play goal in 22 of 37 games including eight multi-man advantage goal games. The Steelheads are first on the penalty kill (113/133, 85%) including 8/9 in their last four games. They have allowed a power-play goal against in just 12 games including six multi-man advantage goal games. 

SCORING BY PERIOD Idaho has scored the most goals (50) and allowed the fewest (23) in the first period. They are tied for the second most goals (50) and tied for the fewest (27) in the second period. Idaho is tied for the most goals for (52) and allowed the fewest (27) in the third period. The Steelheads have the best goal differential in each period (1st, +27), (2nd, +23), and (3rd, +25). 

OVERALL GOAL DIFFERNTIALS Idaho has scored the most goals for (156) and allowed the fewest (78) for the best goal differential (+78). 

SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS EVERYBODY Idaho ranks first in shots for averaging (36.76) per game. They have recorded 40+ shots 15 times this season. The Steelheads rank fourth in shots against averaging (28.19) shots against per game holding their opponents to 25 or fewer shots 13 times. 

SCORING FIRST Idaho has scored first 23 times this season, tied third most in the league, and have a record of (21-2) when scoring first. The Steelheads have scored first in 10 of the last 15 games. 

STATISTICAL LEADERSGoals: Jordan Kawaguchi (18) Assists: Patrick Kudla, Owen Headrick, Ryan Dmowski (25) Points: Ryan Dmowski (41)Plus/Minus: Matt Register (+36)    PIMS: Ryan Dmowski (40)   PPGs: Owen Headrick (6) SHGs: Ty Pelton-Byce, A.J. White (2) GWGs: Owen Headrick (4) Shots: Ryan Dmowski (181)Wins: Rémi Poirier (13) GAA: Rémi Poirier (1.18)SV%: Rémi Poirier (.936)  

Season tickets for the 2022-23 season are on sale now! For more information on ticket packages, contact the front office at 208-383-0080 or visit IdahoSteelheads.com. Stay up to date with all things Steelheads on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Watch all Steelheads home games on FloHockey and Sparklight Channel 72 and listen on the Steelheads flagship station, 95.3 FM KTIK “The Ticket”.