Logan Nelson tied the game just fifty seconds after the Idaho Steelheads took a 1-0 second period lead, but the Steelheads squeaked by the Rapid City Rush with two third period goals to take a 3-1 win on Wednesday night.
Both teams skated to a scoreless draw in the first and then waited until the final five minutes of the second period to begin the scoring entries. Idaho jumped on the board first on their fifth power play of the night, drawn by a late Rush hit on Andre Bouvette-Morrisette. With 3:26 remaining in the second period, Steelheads captain Jefferson Dahl found Rob Linsmayer in close range to the Rush net. Linsmayer settled the puck and fired a shot off of Rush net-minder, Adam Morrison, and in, and gave the Steelheads a 1-0 lead (Dahl and Joe Faust assisted). Just 50 seconds later, the Rush responded to tie the game heading into the intermission. With 2:36 left in the period, Anthony Collins rifled a shot from the far wall that was deflected off the crossbar and in by Logan Nelson past Steelheads goaltender, Branden Komm, squaring the game at 1-1 (Collins and Ryan Walters assisted).
Idaho took the lead within the first half of the third period and didn’t look back. With 13:21 left in the game, Kyle Jean won an offensive zone draw and Andre Bouvette-Morrisette kicked it to the blue line. Aaron Harstad sent a wrist shot from the blue line by a screened Morrison and gave Idaho a 2-1 advantage (Jean and Bouvette-Morrissette assisted). Morrison shot to the bench with less than two minutes to go to give the Rush an extra-attacker for a six-on-five advantage, but Brian Nugent took advantage of the empty net with 30.8 seconds remaining to seal an eventual 3-1 Steelheads win.
Adam Morrison stopped 30 of 32 shots thrown towards his net in the effort (13-14-4).
Both teams will rematch on St. Patrick’s Day this Friday at 7:10 p.m. MST at CenturyLink Arena.
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