(Boise, ID) – Chad Klassen found Kael Mouillierat on the doorstep in overtime Friday night and the second-year forward did not miss, beating Joe Fallon to lift Idaho to an impressive, 3-2 victory over the Las Vegas Wranglers.
Mouillierat’s fifth of the season, also assisted by Hubert Labrie, gave Idaho (3-6) the win on the first ACHD Commuteride “Rat Pack” Night at Boise’s CenturyLink Arena, a promotion named after Mouillierat.
The Steelheads found themselves down 2-0 midway through the second period after Eric Lampe and Adam Miller scored for Las Vegas. Then, at 12:27 of the second period, Idaho got a power-play goal when Ondrej Roman’s shot from the slot trickled through Fallon’s legs. Before he could cover it up, rookie Ian Lowe darted in to stuff home the loose puck, making it 2-1.
That score would hold into the third period. Just over seven minutes into the final frame, David Fredriksson fed the puck to rookie defenseman Hubert Labrie inside the blue line on the left-hand side of the ice. Labrie settled the puck down, paused to allow a shooting lane to open, and then blistered a shot past Fallon to tie the game at two. It was Labrie’s first professional goal.
Both Fallon and Idaho goaltender Jimmy Spratt made a couple of big saves as regulation wound down to send the game to overtime. But the biggest save of the night came in overtime from Spratt. With Las Vegas pressuring the Idaho zone, one of the Wrangler skaters found himself alone just inside the right-hand circle on the near side of the ice. The shot appeared to be headed for the back of the net, but Spratt lunged out to make a stunning glove save to keep the game tied.
Then, about a minute later, Labrie chased down a puck along the far wing and carried it into the Wrangler zone. He dished the puck to Klassen near the goal line and Klassen astutely found a streaking Mouillierat crashing the net. Klassen’s pass landed on Mouillierat’s tape and, on a night with a promotion named after him, Mouillierat beat Fallon for the OT winner at 2:39 of the extra session.
Spratt finished with 30 saves on 32 shots in the win. Fallon was the tough-luck loser despite stopping 41 of 44 Idaho shots. Idaho went 1-4 on the power play while Las Vegas was 0-4 with the extra attacker.
The same two teams meet again Saturday night at CenturyLink Arena in Boise. Tickets are available by calling the CenturyLink Arena box office (208.331.TIXS) or by logging on to www.idahosteelheads.com.
COORS OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME – Hubert Labrie
AQUA FINA “3 STARS”
(1) Ian Lowe (ID)
(2) Hubert Labrie (ID)
(3) Kael Mouillierat (ID)
