Sometimes all it takes to win is a player to play out of their mind.

In the case of the Colorado Eagles, that player was goaltender Joe Cannata — who put on a clinic — as the Eagles held on to defeat the Idaho Steelheads 3-2 in Game 3 to take a firm 3-0 series lead.

Cannata finished the game with 35 saves in the victory. Along with Cannata, Eagles forward and ECHL leader in points J.C. Beaudin scored two goals.

Even the Steelhead fans tried to get Cannata off of his game, with no success.

The Steelheads would come out of the first period firing on all cylinders as they would outshoot the Eagles by a 15-8 margin. Despite the shot differential, the only goal that would occur in the opening frame would come from Colorado forward Micheal Joly at the 16:38 mark of the first period to give the Eagles the 1-0 lead at the end of one.

Following the Steelheads pouring on plenty of shots in the first period, the Eagles would reverse this role to come up with their second goal of the game. Colorado forward J.C. Beaudin would score his first goal of the game at the 5:23 mark of the second period to give the Eagles the 2-0 lead.

With the Eagles having all of the momentum with a two-goal lead heading into the final frame, they would strike hard in the third period, as Beaudin would notch his second goal at the 1:35 mark to give the Eagles the 3-0 lead over the Steelheads.

Trailing 3-0, and feeling the pressure of being on the brink of elimination, Idaho outshot the Eagles 16-2 and score two goals of their own to cut Colorado’s lead to a one-goal deficit.

Despite the late onslaught from the Steelheads, Eagles goalie Cannata and the Eagles would find a way to lock down Idaho to walk away with the 3-2 victory, advancing one step closer punching their ticket to the Western Conference Finals.

Colorado looks to complete the sweep of Idaho in Game 4 tomorrow night, with puck drop scheduled for 7:10 p.m. MST.

Fans can catch the action by ordering the game at the ECHL.TV, or by listening to Kevin McGlue on 92.9 The Bear.