‘That’s pretty much what makes or breaks it.’ This Steelhead will be key in playoffs.

What happened Wednesday night in Downtown Boise almost never happens.

The Idaho Steelheads lost to Rapid City with Tomas Sholl starting in goal, 5-3.

That’s happened twice for Sholl this season in 10 starts against the Rush (28-32-5-3). In his last start, which was in Rapid City last Saturday, Sholl stopped all 20 shots and collected his third shutout of the season, all of which have come against the Rush.

Eight of Sholl’s 23 wins have come against Rapid City. But Wednesday’s loss broke a four-game winning streak for the Steelheads. Sholl started three of those games and has started in nine of the Steelheads’ past 10 wins.

“Pretty much every night, it is a tale of two games for a goalie,” Sholl told the Statesman. “You want to win against the other team but there is also the individual game where you are trying to outplay the other goalie, and if you outplay the other goalie you are able to win the game. I don’t think I was able to do that tonight. I think he outplayed me tonight.”

The Steelheads (39-23-3-2) have played Rapid City 15 times this season, winning 11. The two teams will play again Friday and Saturday night at CenturyLink Arena. By the end of the weekend, the two teams will have played each other five times in a row and 17 times on the season.

“He has been good against them, but hey, we need to make some better decisions with the puck early, some better decisions in terms of routes, and if we do that we are not going to put him in a position to make incredible saves,” coach Neil Graham said.

When Sholl starts, he is rarely outperformed. But Rapid City’s netminder, Adam Carlson, stopped 45 of Idaho’s 48 shots to nullify the Steelheads’ 48-27 edge in shots.

“Tonight is a different story,” Sholl said. “They were pretty offensive tonight, they were able to get four on me. More or less they haven’t been the most offensive team. They don’t take a crazy number of shots and we have been able to defend on them pretty well.”

Idaho currently sits in first place in the Mountain Division, one point ahead of Tulsa. A division title would be the first under Graham and the first in four seasons. Idaho concludes the season next weekend at Utah, a team that has lost seven of its past 10. Having a hot goalie could be the key coming down the stretch.

“That is pretty much what makes or breaks it,” forward Will Merchant said. “If you can ride a hot goalie, you can go a long way.”

Entering Wednesday, Sholl held an ECHL career March record of 14-1-2 with five shutouts. His March save percentage was .905 and his goals against average was 1.45. The 24-year old Bowling Green product is in his second ECHL season, both of which have been with the Steelheads.

“I think if there is a difference, it might just be this time of year games start getting a little tighter,” Sholl explained. “I think we have locked down a defensive game and as you roll into the playoffs you have to get those tighter games. That might be a product of my environment.”

Entering the week, Sholl led the ECHL in save percentage (.931), was second in goals against (2.19) and was tied for third in wins (34). Last week, he was named the ECHL’s goalie of the week for his performance during a five-game road trip against Orlando and Rapid City. Idaho went 4-1 during that stretch while Sholl picked up three wins in four starts. A 38-save performance against Orlando and a 20-save shutout against Rapid City last Saturday highlighted Sholl’s week.

“He is confident, and he has earned the right to be confident,” Graham said. “That has been through his work ethic and his perseverance. These guys persevered all year. He has been very good for us.”

This story was originally published March 28, 2019 at 2:02 PM.