SteelHounds roll past Rio Grande Valley, 5-1

Chris Richards scored a goal and set up two others in a third period rally.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Despite being outshot 11-2 and being shorthanded for more than seven minutes of the second period, the SteelHounds impressively negated Rio Grande Valley's offensive attack during Wednesday's 5-1 victory at the Chevrolet Centre.
"The only reason they were in the game was because we were taking penalties," said goalie David St. Germain who stopped 26 shots in winning his and the team's third straight game. "Five-on-five, we dominated them."
In the third period, center Chris Richards scored a goal and set up two others to turn a close game into a rout. He also set up the team's first goal midway through the first period.
Scores 20th goal
Inside the right faceoff circle, Richards fed linemate Jeff Christian who converted his 20th goal in 20 games for a 1-0 lead.
Christian's goal on a 4-on-3 advantage came during a busy sequence where both teams were penalized twice within two minutes and six seconds.
Richards and Christian extended their scoring streaks to eight games while newcomer Jonathan Gagnon scored late in the first period to give him points in all seven games he's played for Youngstown.
"I'm not sure what type of streak I had last year, but when you play with quality players, it definitely makes it easier," said Richards of centering for Christian. "It's nice to have a pure goal scorer on the wing."
Leads CHL in points
Richards' four points give him 33 on the season and Central Hockey League lead.
"He's probably the most underrated player in the league," SteelHounds coach Jean Laforest said.
Even though the SteelHounds weren't generating any shots in the middle period, Richards said the team didn't panic.
"We ran into some penalty trouble and we were killing the whole period, so it's tough to get some shots," said Richards, who added about St. Germain: "For the past three games, he's been stellar."
Laforest agreed.
"He's played tremendously well over these past three games. The elevation of his game and some of the changes we've made with player personnel have allowed us to come into our own."
Nineteen seconds into the third period, J.R. Holmes netted his first goal of the season on an assist by Gagnon for a 3-0 advantage over the Killer Bees.
Only goal allowed
The only shot that beat St. Germain was by Rio Grande Valley's Aaron Phillips three minutes into the third period.
Ten minutes later, Richards scored his seventh goal of the season then set up Scott Barnes with 2:49 to go.
On his goal, Richards put the puck into the crease where Killer Bees' goalie Terry Dunbar mishandled the puck and it slid into the net to restore a three-goal margin.
"I wouldn't say that was an easy game for me, but my teammates played so well that they made it easier," said St. Germain who improved to 5-6-1.
The SteelHounds' (9-10-1) main concern remains shooting, or lack thereof.
"We probably have the best shot percentage of any team in the league," Laforest said after the CHL's least-shooting team scored five times on 19 shots.
"We need to shoot more," Richards said.
Stopped power plays
The SteelHounds blanked the Bees' on 11 power-play attempts.
"One-hundred percent -- I'll take that," Laforest said.
The SteelHounds were 2-of-5 with the extra skater.
Today, the SteelHounds are flying to Ft. Worth to get ready for Friday's game in Amarillo.
"Those bus rides are more than 30 hours -- that gets long and hard on the body," St. Germain said.
williams@vindy.com