Idaho offense pours it on

Thursday, March 3, 2005 | 9:28 a.m.

SUN WIRE SERVICES

The Las Vegas Wranglers were defeated by the Idaho Steelheads 6-2 in Boise on Wednesday night.

Idaho goalie Frank Doyle made 24 saves in the Steelheads' win. Idaho defensemen Peter Metcalf and Dan Vandermeer, along with forward Bobby Russell, each had two assists and forward Tim Verbeek scored two goals and added an assist as Las Vegas fell to 1-7-2 in Boise all-time.

Las Vegas defenseman Jason McBain and forward Darren Lynch each scored for the Wranglers in the loss.

The Wranglers (23-26-5, 51 points) stay in Boise for two more of a three-game series with the Steelheads (29-21-3, 61 points), starting at 6:10 p.m. Friday night.

In the first period, Idaho jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead. It started at 3:33 when center Ben Keup redirected a Dan Vandermeer shot for a rebound in front of the Las Vegas net, putting Idaho ahead 1-0.

Moments later the Steelheads made it 2-0 when winger Scott Burt scored a power-play goal off a loose scramble in front of the net at 8:25.

The Wranglers countered to cut the Steelheads lead in half at 14:55 when defenseman Jason McBain rifled a shot from the point, through traffic and into the back of the net.

The Steelheads answered less than a minute later, with Matt Elich picking up a rebound in front of the Las Vegas net and backhanding the puck past Marc Magliarditi. Idaho scored again for a 4-1 lead before the end of the period when Tim Verbeek notched his first goal as a Steelhead at 17:50.

Verbeek added a second goal in the third period.

Las Vegas' Darren Lynch capped the scoring at 12:10 of the third. The Wranglers are in the midst of an eight-game road trip ending Saturday. The Wranglers return home on March 11-12 when they host the San Diego Gulls.