He is doing well, and we’re hoping for a full recovery and expecting that one day his illness will be a distant memory.  But, for now, that leaves BDH up in the air and on a hiatus of sorts.  It’s the last thing I want to do, but as I do not have anyone who might be willing to cover the site in the interim (it’s a lot of work for no pay), I am leaving it up to other great sites in the area.  I hope that you will understand.

I will update further when I have the opportunity.  For now, I remain a fan and will be watching hockey along side of you.  It’s a wonderful opportunity to bond with both of my sons as the fan that I am, and take off the media cap for a bit.  I regret that I don’t have the time to put in to the site to share all the great hockey moments with you as well right now, but I’m hopeful that will change in the near future, and I’ll have the opportunity to cover the Stars hockey (and that of their affiliates) we all love so much for you once again.  Thanks for your understanding.

-Ben

In the win, Jaromir Jagr had a pair of goals and Alex Goligoski and Jamie Benn each had a pair of assists.

Dallas also got strong play in net from Kari Lehtonen, who finished the game with 31 saves on 33 shots.

“Solid, right?” Gulutzan observed.  “And comfortable.  He looks comfortable and confident.  Coming in to a game like this (against) a great team.  They play hard, they’re big, they’re strong, they work, they’ve got skill.  They won the cup for a reason.  I thought today we were okay, but we got timely goals when we needed them.  Our power play got two – Cody Eakin made a heck of a play at the end of the period where we didn’t have much going on – and I thought we played better in the third.”

The Stars opened the scoring in the game, as Jamie Benn fed a pass through the Kings’ slot to Jaromir Jagr, who was breaking towards the net.  Jagr laced a one-timer on net that beat Jonathan Quick, and the Stars were up 1-0 just under five and a half minutes into the game.

The Kings tied the game at 1-1 about seven minutes later.  Trevor Lewis carried the puck behind the Stars net, spun at the right faceoff circle, and drilled a wrist shot, top shelf, into the net.

It stayed tied at 1-1 until the final minutes of the 2nd period, when Jeff Carter gave Los Angeles their only lead of the night.  Carter shot the puck towards the net, and it caromed off of Jordie Benn’s skate in front of Kari Lehtonen and into the Dallas net.

After the Kings took the lead, Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty leveled Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski with a bone-jarring check.  Gulutzan believes his team got fired up by that hit and that it swung the momentum into their favor: something that usually happens for the team giving out the hit.

“We’ve got a real close-knit group in there, and Goose is a top D for us,” Gulutzan said.  “Our guys got a little into it a little bit more.  It always sets a little fire underneath you.  I thought that helped us a little bit.  Usually it can go the other way, but they didn’t need momentum, I thought we did.  And we responded.”

The Stars did respond.  Dallas knotted it back up at 2-2 with just over a minute to play in the period on a persistent goal by Cody Eakin.  The young Dallas forward received the pass from Goligoski and kicked it into the LA zone, where he chipped the puck past Kings defenseman Alec Martinez.  Eakin caught up to the chipped puck and then backhanded a shot past Quick to tie the game up once again.

The Stars took the lead in the game once again just over five minutes into the 3rd period.  Reilly Smith worked the puck into the corner in the Kings’ zone and tied up several LA defenders in the process.  Eakin skated in and slapped the loose puck over to Brendan Morrow in the crease, who tapped it into the net to put the Stars up, 3-2.

Dallas extended that lead to 4-2 just a few minutes later, when Jagr got a rebound and buried it into the net for his second goal of the night.  Jagr seemed to be in the perfect position to get the rebound and had no trouble converting that into an easy score with Quick out of position.

“For twenty years he’s been in the right place at the right time.  I’ve got to think something’s going on there,” Gulutzan laughed.  “He’s just one of the best that’s ever played, simple as that.  He’s engaged and he’s having fun and he’s working extremely hard – practice, away from the rink, at the rink – he’s just having fun.”

The Stars got an empty net goal by Antoine Roussel to seal the victory in the final minutes, but the 3rd period was clearly dominated by Dallas’ strong play.  Gulutzan still saw room for improvement.

“I thought we played a decent game,” Gulutzan noted.  “(But) I thought the faceoff circle hurt us.  We took in a lot of chances off of that.  I think we were 27% after two periods in faceoffs; I didn’t see the final tally.  A bulk of their chances were coming off of lost draws and shots were coming off of there.  We need to do a better job as a group.”

The Stars will play another game on the road in Phoenix on Saturday night before returning to Dallas for a four-game homestand.  Faceoff against the Coyotes on Saturday night is set for 7:00 PM CT.

Stars Notes:

• With his goal against Los Angeles on Thursday night, Brenden Morrow is now tied for 7th with Jere Lehtinen for most goals in franchise history (243).
• The Dallas Stars have now recorded points in 17 of the club’s last 21 contests at the Staples Center (11-4-6)

After surrendering the pair of 2nd period goals, goaltender Jack Campbell was replaced in net by Cristopher Nilstorp.  Nilstorp played 32:15 in relief of Campbell, saving all 14 shots he faced.  Campbell surrendered four goals on the 15 shots he faced.

In the loss, Texas got tallies from Travis Morin, Tomas Vincour, and Matt Fraser.  Morin finished the night with three points (1G, 2A) for the Stars.

Texas’ game recap is posted below.

***

CEDAR PARK, TX – Travis Morin notched a goal and two assists and Matt Fraser scored his AHL-leading 14th power play goal, but the Chicago Wolves defeated the Texas Stars 4-3 Tuesday night at Cedar Park Center.

Chicago capitalized on their second shot of the contest at 6:04 to take a 1-0 lead. Jim Vandermeer took a Steve Pinizzotto cross-slot pass and bounced a wrister off the body of scrambling Texas starting goaltender Jack Campbell and into the mesh to open the scoring. The Stars answered back when Travis Morin used a mid-air redirection of a Matt Fraser wrist shot to beat Wolves netminder Matt Climie. The tally at 14:20 was Morin’s fifth of the year and leveled the contest at one.

Chicago scored a power play goal after an early second period Francis Wathier cross-checking penalty to move back in front at 2:27. Bill Sweatt redirected an errant one-timer from Andrew Ebbett past Campbell to grab a 2-1 edge. Tomas Vincour responded to level the game at two just 56 seconds later with helpers from Doug Jones and Morin. The puck found Vincour’s stick as he skated solo down the right side of the attacking zone and he wired a wrister that beat Climie’s blocker. The Wolves then proceeded to seize a 4-2 lead and chase Campbell from the game with two-goals in 91 seconds. Guillaume Desbiens set up Darren Archibald for a goal on a two-on-one rush at 5:32 and then Michael Davies scored on a breakaway at 6:53. Davies used a nifty backhand to lift the puck over Campbell’s shoulder, sparking Coach Willie Desjardins to bring goaltender Cristopher Nilstorp into the fray. With no further scoring in the frame, Chicago headed to the locker room with a two-goal cushion and outshot Texas 14-6 in the session.

Fraser continued his red-hot stretch with a power play tally at 5:03 of the final period, his fifth goal in his last four games and his league-leading 14th power play strike. Colton Sceviour forced the puck out of a crowd near the crease and Fraser used a great effort to backhand it from an incredibly sharp angle into the open net before Climie could recover, closing the gap to 4-3. Morin notched another assist on the goal to record his third point of the night. Nilstorp made some key saves to keep the Stars within striking distance, including an enormous stoning of Desbien on a shorthanded breakaway. Texas outshot the visitors 12-6 in the final session, but Climie made all the necessary stops down the stretch and the Wolves held on to earn a 4-3 road victory.

Chicago starter Matt Climie stopped 23-of-26 Stars shots to take home the win. Texas starter Jack Campbell turned away 11-of-15 Wolves shots in the first 26:53 of play and was tagged with the loss. Cristopher Nilstorp came on in relief and was outstanding, denying all 14 Chicago shots he faced over the final 32:15. The Wolves outshot the Stars 29-26 and both squads were 1-for-4 with the man advantage.

The Stars continue their five-game home stand on Friday, March 8th when they battle against their division rivals the San Antonio Rampage for the first time in 41 days for a 7:00 p.m. faceoff at Cedar Park Center. Friday’s game is another Texas Lottery Lucky Row Night, a $3 Beer Night and the Stars Team Poster Giveaway including a post-game autograph session with the entire team. Pro-rated full and partial 2012-13 season seat packages are on sale now. For more information on Texas Stars season tickets call (512) GO-STARS (467-8277) or visit www.TexasStarsHockey.com.

FINAL BOX SCORE

Chicago Wolves 4 at Texas Stars 3 – Status: Final
Tuesday, March 5, 2013 – Cedar Park Center

Chicago 1 3 0 – 4
Texas 1 1 1 – 3

1st Period-1, Chicago, Vandermeer 1 (Pinizzotto, Ebbett), 6:04. 2, Texas, Morin 5 (Fraser, Sneep), 14:20. Penalties-Ebbett Chi (tripping), 3:28.

2nd Period-3, Chicago, Sweatt 12 (Ebbett, Haydar), 2:27 (PP). 4, Texas, Vincour 11 (Jones, Morin), 3:23. 5, Chicago, Archibald 8 (Desbiens, Schneider), 5:32. 6, Chicago, Davies 10 (Sweatt), 6:53. Penalties-Wathier Tex (cross-checking), 1:49; Vincour Tex (tripping), 16:09; Miller Chi (fighting), 19:42; Wrenn Tex (fighting), 19:42.

3rd Period-7, Texas, Fraser 27 (Sceviour, Morin), 5:03 (PP). Penalties-Davies Chi (hooking, unsportsmanlike conduct), 3:01; Wathier Tex (elbowing), 5:38; Haydar Chi (high-sticking), 13:02; Cameron Tex (high-sticking), 15:51.

Shots on Goal-Chicago 9-14-6-29. Texas 8-6-12-26.

Power Play Opportunities-Chicago 1 / 4; Texas 1 / 4.

Goalies-Chicago, Climie 16-15-2 (26 shots-23 saves). Texas, Campbell 13-9-3 (15 shots-11 saves); Nilstorp 17-10-2 (14 shots-14 saves).

A-2,837

Referees-David Banfield (77), Terry Koharski (10).

Linesmen-Brad Phillips (82), Randy Sappo (13).

The Steelheads got goals from William Lacasse, Smith, and Justin Taylor to propel them to a 3-2 lead.  An empty net goal by Tyler Gron in the game’s final minutes sealed the win for Idaho.

Robinson was busy between the pipes all evening, but especially so in the 3rd period, when he repelled all 17 shots he faced.  Robinson ended the night saving 39 of the 41 shots he faced, and picked up his 22nd win of the season.

The full game recap from the Steelheads is below.

***

Boise, ID – Josh Robinson turned aside 17 third-period shots, including a brilliant left-pad save on Ray Kaunisto, and Austin Smith chipped in three points on the scoresheet as the Idaho Steelheads held off the Colorado Eagles, 4-2, Tuesday night in Boise.

The win improved Idaho’s overall record to 38-15-7 and was also the 400th regular-season win in the ECHL for the Steelheads. The Steelheads joined the ECHL for the 2003-04 season after playing their first six seasons in the now-defunct WCHL.

The Steelheads drew first blood at 8:04 of the opening period on a William Lacasse point shot through traffic that beat Adam Brown, his second goal of the season. Idaho appeared to extend the lead less than a minute later when a Ken Trentowski shot also beat Brown through traffic, but referee Tom Chmielewski waved it off, ruling Brown was bumped by an Idaho skater, to keep the score at 1-0. Colorado would take advantage, tying the game three minutes later on a Kyle Ostrow power-play goal from the right circle at 11:17 to make it 1-1.

Less than two minutes later, Idaho would get a power-play marker of its own when Austin Smith’s shot from the left wing got through a Rylan Galiardi screen at the top of the crease, sneaking past Brown at 12:54 to put Idaho on top, 2-1. Colorado was primed to tie the game shortly thereafter on a back-door pass to Matt Strueby, but Idaho’s Mike Towns used his long reach to get a piece of the puck before Strueby could slam it into an empty net, allowing Idaho to maintain its 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

Colorado’s Michael Forney tied the game less than 30 seconds into the second period from the slot, making it 2-2 with his 30th marker of the season. The back-and-forth contest once again swung in Idaho’s favor at 12:57 of the second period on the power play when Patrick Cullity’s shot from the left point was tipped just over the stick of Brown by Justin Taylor to put Idaho on top, 3-2.

That score would hold until the final two minutes of the game thanks to the netminding of Robinson. Six minutes into the final frame, Colorado’s Ray Kaunisto made a great move near the Idaho blue line to break in clean on Robinson. He cut across the goal mouth toward the right post, attempting to tuck the puck between Robinson’s skate and the post to tie the game. But Robinson was able to jab the left leg out far enough to deny Kaunisto, a brilliant save that maintained Idaho’s one goal lead. The Steelheads would come up with a big insurance goal at 18:10 of the third when Tyler Gron buried an empty-net tally from the red line after Colorado pulled Brown out of goal in favor of an extra attacker in an attempt to tie the game.

Robinson made 39 saves on 41 shots in all, improving his personal record to 22-6-4 in his rookie campaign out of Michigan Tech. He now ranks second in the ECHL with a .925 save percentage. Brown was the tough-luck loser for Colorado, stopping 27 of 30. Idaho’s power play was 2-6 and Colorado’s was 1-5.

Austin Smith (goal, two assists), Gron (goal, assist) and Cullity (two assists) each had multi-point nights for Idaho.

Idaho’s nine-game homestand continues Wednesday as the Steelheads and Colorado conclude their season series. Tickets are available by calling the CenturyLink Arena box office at 208.331.8497 or by going online at www.idahosteelheads.com

COORS OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME – Tyler Gron

CENTURYLINK THREE STARS:
1) Patrick Cullity (ID)
2) William Lacasse (ID)
3) Josh Robinson (ID)

Just a day later, the league named Allen goaltender Aaron Dell has been named the Oakley Goalie of the week for the same period.

A defensive standout for the Americans, Lukin does not always get the recognition he deserves offensively but this past week, the veteran forward scored a pair of game winning goals for Allen helping them to three wins. The Fort McMurray, Alberta native finished the week with two goals and an assist and was a +2.

In Friday’s 4-0 win, Lukin scored the game’s opening goal and assisted on another first period strike which was all the Americans needed in their shutout victory. Then on Saturday, the 5-11, 185-pounder scored a third period power play goal breaking a two-all tie in his team’s win over Missouri.

On the season, Lukin has scored 16 goals with 14 assists in 52 games. He carries a +8 plus/minus rating and has four game winning goals (tied for second on the first place Americans) and a team-leading three shorthanded goals.

Dell has given up just three goals in his last four starts, including two shutouts to lead the Americans to four straight home wins. Dell has the best goals against average in the league at 2.18, and save percentage at .924

The rookie netminder has a record of 18-6-6 for Allen and recently became the all-time team leader in shutouts with three.

This marks the second time the rookie has won the Goalie of the Week award in the Central Hockey League, winning back in mid-December.

The full game recap from Allen is below.

***

Allen, Texas – The Allen Americans defeated the Missouri Mavericks 3-2 on Saturday night at Allen Event Center, becoming the first team in the CHL this season  to clinch a playoff berth.

After a scoreless first period, the Americans would be given a golden opportunity in the second, as Missouri would be assessed a five minute penalty at the 1:57 mark of the period. Allen was unable to get a shot on net during those five minutes, but scored quickly after the power play expired, as Jamie Schaafsma blasted one past Mavericks goalie Mike Clemente from the left face-off circle for his team leading 23rd goal of the season. Darryl Bootland and Jason Deitsch earning the assists and the Americans would go up 1-0. Missouri tied the score a minute and a half later on a goal by Evan Vossen, to even the score at 1. Missouri would grab their first lead of the night at the 11:32 mark, when Colt King put one in the Allen net. Trevor Hendrikx would tie the game six minutes and eleven seconds later, netting his first of the season. Jason Deitsch and Darryl Bootland picking up the assists.

Allen would score the only goal of the third, as Anthony Maiani found Jarret Lukin in front of the Missouri net. Lukin tipped one past Clemente top shelf for his 16th of the season, which turned out to be the game winner for Allen in a 3-2 victory. The Americans, by way of a Bloomington regulation loss at Wichita and the Americans victory over Missouri, Allen becomes the first team in the CHL to clinch a playoff spot this season.

Americans Side Notes – Darryl Bootland picked up his 200th professional assist in the second period with the helper on Jamie Schaafsma’s goal. Jim McKenzie played in his 300th professional game tonight, while Mike Montgomery played in his 100th pro game.  Aaron Dell continues to be red-hot for Allen, giving up a total of 3 goals, in his last 4 starts.

***

CEDAR PARK, TX – Matt Fraser scored two goals and Colton Sceviour added three assists, but Jonathan Cheechoo’s three point night led the Oklahoma City Barons to a 5-4 shootout victory over the Texas Stars Saturday night at Cedar Park Center.

A pair of recent additions to the Texas roster teamed up on the power play to open the scoring. Defenseman Jacob Johnston ripped a shot from the point that was stopped by Oklahoma City goaltender Niko Hovinen. Colton Sceviour then won a battle for the rebound in front of the net and slipped the puck into space, where Doug Jones was able to corral it. Jones then lifted a backhander over Hovinen’s glove at 12:15 to put the Stars in front 1-0. The goal was Jones’ first career AHL goal, while Johnston’s assist was his first career professional point. Texas netminder Cristopher Nilstorp was solid between the pipes, turning away all nine Barons shots in the opening frame.

The Barons retaliated with two quick goals in the second period to claim the lead. Jonathan Cheechoo took a quick pass from Philippe Cornet just above the goal line and one-timed the puck between Nilstorp and the near post just 38 seconds into the period. Oklahoma City took a 2-1 at 4:20 of the middle frame on a goal from Martin Marincin.  The Barons defenseman stepped out of the penalty box, took a long outlet pass and raced in on the Texas net.  Nilstorp made the initial save, but Marinna scooped up the puck, skated around the back of the net and tucked it inside the far post.  Texas answered back, as Travis Morin sent leading scorer Matt Fraser off on a breakaway and he sniped a wrister under Hovinen’s blocker to even the contest at two. A mere 98 seconds later Justin Dowling gave the Stars a 3-2 lead when he dug the puck off the far right boards, skated all the way through slot and beat Hovinen’s blocker upstairs to record his ninth goal of the year at 11:54. The Barons found the equalizer with 25 seconds left in the period when a Colton Teubert rising slap shot from the blue line beat a screened Nilstorp. The teams entered the final period with the score knotted at three and the visitors leading Texas 19-16 in the shot column.

Fraser and Sceviour joined forces once again at 9:17 to put the Stars back on top 4-3. On a designed faceoff play, Sceviour found Fraser at the top of the left circle and his one-timer zipped past the glove of Hovinen. The tally was Fraser’s second of the night, 26th of the season, and was Sceviour’s third assist of the game. Oklahoma City refused to go away and tied the game with a power play goal from Cheechoo, his second of the contest, at 11:02. Regulation ended with no further scoring, sending the game into overtime with both squads having earned at least a point.

An up-and-down overtime session saw a potential hat trick and game-winning goal by Fraser negated by a late Jace Coyle slashing penalty. Texas then killed the ensuing Barons four-on-three power play and forced a shootout thanks to some solid penalty killing and a few timely saves by Nilstorp. In the shootout, Josh Green and Mark Acrobello each scored on Nilstorp, and Hovinen denied all four Texas shooters he faced to give Oklahoma City a 5-4 road victory.

Oklahoma City starter Niko Hovinen stopped 22-of-26 Texas shots and denied all four Stars shootout attempts. Texas goaltender Cristopher Nilstorp made 25 saves on 29 Barons shots through regulation and overtime and kept out 2-of-4 shootout attempts in the loss. Oklahoma City outshot the Stars 30-26 and went 1-for-4 on the power play, while Texas was 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

The Stars continue their five-game home stand on Tuesday, March 8th when they host the Chicago Wolves for a 7:30 p.m. faceoff for another H-E-B night at Cedar Park Center.  Pro-rated full and partial 2012-13 season seat packages are on sale now. For more information on Texas Stars season tickets call (512) GO-STARS (467-8277) or visit www.TexasStarsHockey.com.

FINAL BOX SCORE

Oklahoma City Barons 5 (SO) at Texas Stars 4 – Status: Final SO
Saturday, March 2, 2013 – Cedar Park Center

Oklahoma City 0 3 1 0 – 5
Texas 1 2 1 0 – 4

1st Period-1, Texas, Jones 1 (Sceviour, Johnston), 12:15 (PP). Penalties-Plante Okc (fighting), 2:19; Wathier Tex (fighting), 2:19; Arcobello Okc (tripping), 4:15; Vause Tex (delay of game), 7:51; Hamilton Okc (boarding), 10:39.

2nd Period-2, Oklahoma City, Cheechoo 7 (Cornet, Arcobello), 0:38. 3, Oklahoma City, Marincin 5 (Hotham), 4:20. 4, Texas, Fraser 25 (Morin, Sceviour), 10:16. 5, Texas, Dowling 9 (Labrie, Sneep), 11:54. 6, Oklahoma City, Teubert 4 (Cheechoo, Arcobello), 19:35. Penalties-Marincin Okc (high-sticking), 2:09; Labrie Tex (tripping), 16:07; House Okc (fighting), 18:39; Sceviour Tex (fighting), 18:39.

3rd Period-7, Texas, Fraser 26 (Sceviour, Baldwin), 9:17. 8, Oklahoma City, Cheechoo 8 (Clark), 11:02 (PP). Penalties-Cheechoo Okc (hooking), 3:45; Wandell Tex (tripping), 10:53; Marincin Okc (delay of game), 12:01.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Coyle Tex (slashing), 3:24; Green Okc (closing hand on puck), 4:57.

Shootout – Oklahoma City 2 (Green G, Rajala NG, Cheechoo NG, Arcobello G), Texas 0 (Fraser NG, Sceviour NG, Wandell NG, Vincour NG).

Shots on Goal-Oklahoma City 9-10-6-4-1-30. Texas 6-10-8-2-0-26.

Power Play Opportunities-Oklahoma City 1 / 4; Texas 1 / 6.

Goalies-Oklahoma City, Hovinen 3-1-1 (26 shots-22 saves). Texas, Nilstorp 17-10-2 (29 shots-25 saves).

A-5,789

Referees-Ryan Hersey (8).

Linesmen-Fred Hudy (30), Brad Phillips (82).

Ian Watters, Jeremie Blain and Austin Smith were the goal scorers in regulation for the Steelheads, and Ben Ondrus got the game winner in the shootout.

Tyler Beskorowany was in net for Idaho, stopping 23 of the 26 shots he faced in regulation and overtime, and all three shooters in the shootout to pick up his 16th win of the season.

You can read the full game recap from Idaho below.

***

Boise, ID – Three of four shooters found the back of the net and Tyler Beskorowany turned aside all three shooters he faced in the game-ending shootout Saturday night as the Idaho Steelheads upended the Utah Grizzlies, 4-3, at CenturyLink Arena.

Idaho (37-15-7) extends its point streak to seven consecutive games, going 5-0-2 in that stretch to improve to 81 points on the season.  Idaho has lost just four games at home in regulation this season, the fewest in the ECHL.

The Steelheads drew first blood at 4:02 of the first period when defensemen Scott Todd and William Lacasse combined to deliver the puck to Ian Watters in the left-wing circle and Watters snapped home his seventh goal of the season to make it 1-0.  Idaho had several chances to extend the lead, out-shooting Utah 17-7 in the first frame, but the Grizzlies drew even on Alex Tuckerman’s goal at 13:03 of the first to knot the score at 1-1 after one period.

Ian Schultz gave Utah a 2-1 lead in the first minute of the second period as the Steelheads continued to out-chance the Grizzlies, but Utah netminder Adam Morrison continued to hold Idaho at bay until the third period.  Less than a minute into the final frame, Evan Stoflet was whistled for roughing to put Idaho on the power play.  Just thirteen seconds into the power play, at 1:02 of the third, Jeremie Blain rifled a blast through traffic from the top of the right circle, his seventh goal of the season, to tie the game at two.  Utah grabbed the lead back at 12:13 as Stoflet redeemed himself with a wrister past Beskorowany to finish an offensive rush, giving Utah a 3-2 lead.

With less than four minutes to play, Idaho set up for an offensive zone draw.  The puck careened off the draw toward the slot with players from both sides banging at the loose puck.  It spun toward the left edge of the crease where Morrison dove out, attempting to cover the puck.  He couldn’t reach it, though, leaving Austin Smith all alone from the left post to gather and lift the puck over the prone goaltender at 16:50 of the third to tie the game at 3-3.

Smith’s 22nd of the season was his third in as many games since being reassigned to Idaho by the NHL’s Dallas Stars earlier this week.

Neither team scored over the remainder of regulation time or the five-minute overtime session, sending Idaho to its third shootout over the past four games.  In the first round of the shootout, head coach Brad Ralph shuffled his shootout order, leading off with the captain, Ben Ondrus.  Ondrus, in just his second shootout attempt of the season, shuffled from his forehand to his backhand, beating Morrison cleanly to give Idaho the lead and snap a streak of 24 consecutive shootout shooters who had come up empty for the Steelheads, dating back to November 10.

While Beskorowany was standing tall in net, denying Adam Estoclet, Mark Isherwood, and Kory Falite, Idaho got two more shootout goals from Austin Smith and Tyler Gron to seal the shootout win.

Beskorowany picked up the win after stopping 23 of 26 shots and all three shootout shooters.  Morrison played well in defeat, stopping 45 of 48 Idaho shots before faltering in the shootout.  Idaho was 1-3 on the power play and the penalty kill was a perfect 3-3 for the Steelheads.

Idaho’s nine-game homestand continues Tuesday as the Steelheads welcome the Colorado Eagles to town.  Tickets are available by calling the CenturyLink Arena box office at 208.331.8497 or by going online at www.idahosteelheads.com

COORS OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME – Ian Watters

CENTURYLINK THREE STARS:

1)   Ian Watters (ID)
2)   Austin Smith (ID)
3)   Evan Stoflet (UT)

Instead, the festivities turned to frustration.  The Edmonton offense ran amok and the Dallas offense was barely present, as the Oilers topped the Stars, 5-1.

“It was an odd night,” Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan said.  ”They got a couple of bounces early and the penalties didn’t allow us to get back in the game.”

Dallas was assessed with 12 penalties in the game for total of 38 penalty minutes.  The Oilers were just 1-for-9 on their power play opportunities, but the number of penalties taken and the amount of time spent in the penalty box certainly had an affect on the Stars’ offensive flow and kept some of the scorers on the bench more than they normally would have been.

The game also marked Erik Cole’s debut as a Dallas Stars.  Though it was a tough game for Dallas, Gulutzan felt there were some glimpses of what fans can expect to see from Cole in his future with the Stars.

“You could see the smarts and the size and the way he goes to the net,” Gulutzan said.  ”You saw him around the net.  But, you know, when you’ve got 19 other guys that aren’t at their level, it’s hard to evaluate.  But, you can see the attributes there,  and the ability to go to the net and the speed.  But we were a little discombobulated.”

“I didn’t feel too out of place,” said Cole.  ”I did some good things, and can definitely build on some things.  But it’s just real disappointing with how the game went.  A couple of tough goals against and flukey bounces that went their way and they kind of gained some momentum from things like that.

“It would have been nice for our power play to get us back in to the game,” Cole added. “We definitely had some chances.”

The Stars woes began early, as Edmonton didn’t waste any time putting goals on the scoreboard.  Just over a minute into the game, Sam Gagner had the puck down along the Stars’ goal line and he threw the puck on net, where it took an Oilers’ bounce and made it’s way past Lehtonen.

Edmonton padded its lead with 6:08 to go in the opening period.  Jordan Eberle fired a pass from the corner to Jeff Schultz, who was streaking into the zone uncovered, and Schultz drove home the one-timer to make it 2-0.

The first period ended with the Stars facing a 2-0 deficit, despite outshooting the Oilers 15-10 in the frame.

The two teams battled back and forth, trading chances at both ends of the ice, as they skated in a mostly scoreless 2nd period.

Edmonton broke the scoreless drought in the period as they scored with just seconds left on the clock.  Jeff Petry backhanded a shot toward net, where the puck bounced off of Lehtonen’s stick, then off of Trevor Daley and into the Dallas net.

With two strange Edmonton goals padding the Oilers lead and 23 Dallas shots on net through two periods with no goals to show for it, the frustration was building for the Stars.

The frustration continued to mount, as Edmonton made it 4-0 less than a minute into the 3rd period.  With the Oilers on the power play, Eberle grabbed a loose puck in front of the Dallas net, just out of Lehtonen’s reach and fired it over to Ales Hemsky, who was open in the slot.  Hemsky wristed a shot off the inside of the crossbar and pushed the game further out of reach for the Stars.

Edmonton put the nail in the coffin for Dallas, if wasn’t there already, with 8:23 to play in the 3rd period.  Lennart Pettrell slid the puck to teammate Ben Eager  inside the left faceoff circle, and Eager pelted it past Lehtonen with a hard one-time wrist shot, giving the Oilers a 5-0 lead.

Dallas scored their lone goal of the game with 5:55 to play, and avoided the shutout.  The Edmonton defense had knocked the puck off of Alex Goligoski’s stick, but hadn’t accounted for Jaromir Jagr, who was just coming off of the bench and joining play.  Jagr blasted a shot through traffic in the slot, and ruined Devan Dubnyk’s chance for the shutout.

The Stars frustrations boiled over with about four minutes left in the game, though, as Jamie Benn leveled Ryan Jones as he skated in front of the Stars bench with a textbook cross check.  Benn received a five-minute major for the infraction and a game misconduct, but there could be more punishment to come for this impulsive decision.  With the league trying to crack down on unnecessary injuries, they could take a long look at this play and hand down a suspension.

Gulutzan doesn’t believe the league will hand down any additional time, though, as he felt Jones was taunting the bench a bit and Benn’s hit – while illegal – was not done with malice or serious intent to injure.

“I’m sure they’re going to look at it,” Gulutzan said.  ”They look at any fives (major penalties).  It’s not a suspend-able offense in my mind.  When a guy goes off, looking at your bench and kind of smirking, then you’re probably alright.  It was not a high hit or a head hit.”"

The Stars will try to forget this game: the final game in a stretch where they’ve played five games in eight nights.  During that stretch – three of which were played at home – the Stars were 2-2-1, and played all but one game without their star goaltender.  Gulutzan says although it’s tempting to just throw everything away with this game, no coach ever does that.  He will give his team rest on Thursday and then move forward with preparation for thier next opponent: St. Louis comes to town on Sunday.

“I told the players, ‘don’t be at the rink tomorrow’,” Gulutzan said.  ”Five games in eight nights, and this was a stinker.”

The Stars take on the Blues at 2:00 PM on Sunday afternoon.

Tyler Gron got his 14th goal of the season as he opened up the scoring in the 1st period and extended his goal-scoring streak to three games.  Sam Carrick netted his 16th of the season in the 3rd period.

Josh Robinson was in net for Idaho, and stopped 23 of the 25 pucks he faced in regulation and overtime, and 5 of 6 in shootout play.  The shootout loss moves Robinson’s record to 20-6-1-3.

The full game recap from the Steelheads is below.

 ***

Boise, ID – The Idaho Steelheads came up empty on all six shootout shots on Wednesday night, opening the door for Kory Falite to knock home the game-winner in the sixth round of the shootout to lift the Utah Grizzlies to a 3-2 win at CenturyLink Arena in Boise.

Idaho (35-15-7) does pick up one point in the standings, improving to 77 points, which is nine points behind conference-leading Alaska with 15 games left in the regular season. It is the fifth consecutive game where Idaho has picked up at least one point in the standings.

The Steelheads drew first blood two minutes in to the contest when Ben Ondrus found Tyler Gron up the right-hand wing. Gron made a strong move to the center of the ice, cutting across the front of the goal as he pulled the puck from his forehand to his backhand before lifting the puck past Utah goaltender Adam Morrison to give Idaho a 1-0 lead. Gron’s 14th of the season came in his 20th game with the team and extended his goal streak to three straight games.

Utah would answer quickly at 7:53 of the first when James Martin’s point shot through traffic found the back of the net to tie the game at one. The Grizzlies nearly broke the tie in the second period, but Idaho’s Josh Robinson robbed Gaelen Patterson from the top of the crease as the 1-1 tie would hold through two periods.

In the third, Idaho would again score early to take a one-goal lead. This time, it was Ian Watters with a perfect, cross-ice pass from the left wing into the right circle to Sam Carrick, who blasted home a one-timer at 1:09 of the third to give Idaho a 2-1 lead. Again, the lead would be short-lived, as Utah cashed in quickly on a power play opportunity at 3:09 of the third. Patterson re-directed an Adam Estoclet centering pass past Robinson to even the score at 2-2.

Utah would play cautiously from that point, managing to hold the Steelheads at bay through regulation despite being out-shot 13-3 in the third period. The Grizzlies got a power-play opportunity in overtime but came up empty due in large part to excellent work on the penalty kill by Idaho’s Ondrus, Jeremie Blain, and Patrick Cullity, each of whom blocked shots during the 4-on-3 Utah advantage that ended the overtime session.

In the ensuing shootout, Idaho would go 0-for-6, with Austin Smith having the best chance but his shot rolled through the crease, just missing the near post from the far side of the crease. In the bottom of the sixth round, Utah’s Kory Falite beat Robinson cleanly to secure the win for the Grizzlies.

Idaho has now misfired on its last 24 shootout shots, dating back to November 10 against Bakersfield.

Both goaltenders played well, with Morrison picking up the win after stopping 33 shots in live action and keeping Idaho out of the net in all six rounds of the shootout. Robinson took the loss despite stopping 23 shots during live play and five of six shootout shooters. Utah was 1-4 on the power play while Idaho was 0-3.

Idaho’s nine-game homestand continues Friday night against Utah Grizzlies on CenturyLink “Mousepad Giveaway Night.” Tickets are available by calling the CenturyLink Arena box office at 208.331.8497 or by going online at www.idahosteelheads.com

COORS OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME – Tyler Gron

CENTURYLINK THREE STARS:
1) Sam Carrick (ID)
2) Tyler Gron (ID)
3) Gaelen Patterson (UT)