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Utah Grizzlies

Utah Grizzlies defeat Grand Rapids Griffins

April 1, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release


GRAND RAPIDS, MI - It took punching the clock for a little overtime and 12 straight penalty kills but the Grizzlies managed to fight the adversity and defeat the Grand Rapids Griffins 2-1 in a shootout. The win ties the Grizzlies for the most shootout victories in the AHL with nine and the lost point pushes the Griffins to the outside of the playoff race just one point behind Cincinnati.

Neither team could score in a tightly contested first period that saw the Griffins outshot the Grizzlies 9-8. Utah squandered two power play chances and Grand Rapids missed on their only man advantage. The period ended with a tilt between Eric Labelle and Darryl Bootland that was significant because it marked the end of the night for Bootland who did not have his sweater tied down. David LeNeveu made nine saves and Joey MacDonald, starting his 19th straight game and playing in his 26th consecutive game (both franchise records), made eight saves.

Both teams were able to find the back of the net in the second period with the Grizzlies scoring first just 14 seconds into the period. Fredrik Sjostrom scored for the Grizzlies, his 12th goal of the season, assisted by Peter White giving the Grizzlies the one-goal lead. For Sjostrom it was his seventh point (2-5 -7) in his last six games. Grand Rapids came back with the crash line of Eric Himelfarb, Ryan Barnes and Peter Vandermeer outworking the Grizzlies behind LeNeveu and the play eventually developed with Vandermeer finishing off a nice feed from Himelfarb for his fourth goal of the season. Himelfarb and Brett Lebda earned the assists of the 16:01 mark of the period. The Griffins outshot the Grizzlies 9-4 in the period and had a two period lead of 18-12.

The Grizzlies and Griffins remained tied in the third period despite five Griffins power plays that Utah thwarted each and every time. The game progressed to overtime where the Grizzlies were rewarded with a power play but they also failed to convert sending the game to a shootout. The extra session went 11 rounds with Peter White, Aaron Gavey and Erik Westrum scoring for the Grizzlies with Westrum earning the game-deciding goal for the third time in a shootout. David LeNeveu stopped nine of 11 shooters in the shootout.

The Griffins finished the night outshooting the Grizzlies 33-26 as LeNeveu earned first star honors making 32 saves and for McDonald, he finished the night with 24 saves dropping to 31-27-2.

Grizzlies defenseman Terry Virtue reached a historic milestone playing in his 1000th professional game.

The Grizzlies have the re-match against the Griffins tomorrow night at the Van Andel Arena. Face-off is scheduled for 5:30 PM (mst).

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American Hockey League Stories from April 1, 2005


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