Boise, ID – A bench-clearing brawl in downtown Boise! The Americans and Steelheads followed Idaho’s 4-2 win with a bit of chaos. Steelheads walk away with two points, and so does Nick Canade!
Nick Canade kicked things off less than five minutes into the game. A costly turnover in Allen’s defensive zone found Canade’s twig for his second season at 4:52. Johnny Walker evened things up less than five minutes later with his 4th of the season at 9:39.
Both teams had chances in the frame, Idaho outshot Allen 13-10. Allen had the lone power play chance in the period, a Canade slashing minor was killed off by the Steelheads.
A breakthrough middle stanza for the fish from Boise. A.J. White tallied the first of three second-period goals for Idaho. The captain’s redirect for his 9th power-play goal, the 15th of the season on the man advantage at 3:57. Mark Rassel put the Steelheads by two, tapping the puck past Constantini for his 23rd of the season at 8:20. Nick Canade put Idaho ahead by three, with his second of the game a snipe over the Allen netminder’s left shoulder at 18:22.
Allen only was able to put together 6 shots on Thomson, he stoned all 6 of them. Idaho, just as they did in the first, computed 13 on the Americans goaltender. Idaho had two power-play chances, converting on the Canade tally.
One goal found the back of the net in the third, and it was Colby McAuley who netted the Allen power-play tally at 4:18. Early in the period the two clubs seemed to heat up after a relaxed first and second, little did we know what would be in store.
It all started when Allen winger, Grant Hebert took exception to a Romain Rodzinski hit on Hank Crone. Hebert jumped Rodzinski and threw punches to the back of the head on a vulnerable Rodzinski. It resulted in two Steelheads minors for roughing, a minor for Allen, and a double-minor, giving Idaho a man advantage. Blake Murray joined his teammates in the box for the short time they had left, a two-hand slash to the wrist of an innocent Arcuri at 18:02. McAuley was sent home early for Inciting along with Idaho’s Kawaguchi. Idaho had a man advantage for the remainder of the contest, and the Allen penalty box had been cleared.
A Fiesty Finish in Downtown Boise
Following the game, Canade had seemed to go after Robidoux, and punches flew from all over the ice. Former Americans defenseman, Matt Register played peacemaker the best he could escorting the Allen players off the ice. One thing you hate to see happened amidst the action on the ice, a few fans threw items on the ice in the direction of Allen’s bench. Idaho goaltender Bryan Thomson waved his hand and told the fans, “No, we’re not doing this.” Things finally simmered down and both teams went to the locker room for the night.
Between the Pipes
Marco Constantini – 32 Saves on the 36 Shots he faced in the Loss
Bryan Thomson – 32 Saves on 34 Shots he faced in the Win
The two clubs wrap up the three-game set, the last time they’ll see each other for the 2023-24 regular season. The puck drop is set for 7:10 PM MST / 9:10 PM EST.
Three Stars
- N. Canade – 2 G
- P. Kudla – 2 A
- A. White – 1 G
Attendance: 5,213
Idaho Central Arena
