Friday Night:
Idaho Steelheads did not leave the “Gone Fishing” sign up on the door for Friday’s contest. Within the first 14:23 minutes of the opening frame, the Steelheads scored the first three goals. Thomas Caron (1:26) and Matt Register (1:59) scored goals within 33 seconds of each other. Caron was assisted by Ty Pelton-Byce, who also picked up the helper and the first of four assists on the night, along with the helper for Register’s goal. Caron also picked up a helper for Register’s goal. C.J. Walker came in at 14:23 off of the assist of Slava Demin and Pelton-Byce.
The middle frame starts like the first period. At 4:43, Lynden McCallum nets a goal past Keith Kinkaid off of an assist from Pelton-Byce and Hank Crone. Ghost Pirates answered back at 12:39 when Reece Vitelli took a shot past Ben Kraws off of the pass from Will Riedell. At 19:00, Steelheads Nicholas Canade slotted one in past Kinkaid to lengthen the lead. A.J. White and Romain Rodzinski assisted Canade.
In the final frame, Savannah would come to cut the Steelheads lead in half, but it was too late. Nicholas Zabaneh scored on a shorthanded goal with a pass from Liam Walsh at 4:47. Denis Cesana came in on a powerplay at 8:03 after an interference minor penalty was called on Trevor Zins. Cesana tucked the puck past Kraws off of the setup from Will Riedell and Riley Hughes. At 14:01, Crone took the game-winning goal on a power play for the Steelheads. This powerplay was issued after Savannah’s Kyle Jeffers was sent to the box for a bench minor- too many men on the ice. Crone was assisted by McCallum and Caron.
Saturday Night:
A professional career milestone was made by Josh Davies, who scored the first two goals of his career. The first goal came at 7:54 in the first from a setup off of Kai Schwindt and a rush started by Devon Paliani in the neutral zone. Davies took the puck and took advantage of the open net. Idaho Steelheads Forward Brendan Hoffman tied the game with his third goal of the season, and Thomas Caron took the Steelheads the lead late in the first. Assistant Captain Will Riedell evened scoring up from fellow leadership team and Captain Logan Drevitch and Liam Arnsby with 2:03 left in the opening frame.
At 3:39 of the middle frame, Ross Armour took a wrist shot and netted a goal over Steelheads Goaltender Bryan Thomson. Armour was assisted by Graham McPhee and Evan Nause. At 15:57, while on a Steelheads Power Play due to a cross-checking minor taken by Ghost Pirates Forward Nathan Staios, Brendan Hoffman scores his second goal of the night. Matt Register and A.J. White assisted Hoffman.
In the final frame, Davies stepped up in a huge way for the Ghost Pirates. Davies took the centering pass from Andre Anania and tucked it in past Thomson. This gave the Ghost Pirates the win for the first of three meetings. Recently recalled Cooper Black earned his first ECHL win, making 15 saves on 18 shots. Savannah outshot Idaho 47-18, with 33-9 combined in the last two frames.
Sunday Afternoon:
Sunday’s game started as Friday’s game ended. Hank Crone opened the scoring in the opening frame at 13:56. He was assisted by Connor MacEachern and Nicholas Canade. Savannah’s Kyle Jeffers netted one past Kraws off the assist of Evan Nause and Denis Cesana.
The middle frame started with Crone once again earning the only goal for the Steelheads and the only goal during the middle frame. This goal came in at 14:21 of the middle frame. Crone was assisted by Captain A.J. White.
During the final frame, Idaho came in at 4:00 minutes when MacEachern netted a goal past Evan Cormier off of the assist of Matt Register. Savannah’s Hughes snuck one past Kraws at 6:37 off of a setup from McPhee and Armour. McCallum took the game-winning goal for Idaho at 15:39. He was unassisted for this goal.
Notes:
- Savannah used all three goaltenders in the rotation this weekend- Keith Kinkaid, Evan Cormier, and Cooper Black
- Idaho is not a shot-heavy team, but the team was smart with plays and the puck, which ultimately led to the 2/3 wins this weekend.
- Savannah is showing they are a shot-heavy team
- There were a combined 136 penalty minutes between both teams
