Grizzlies Take 2-1 Series Lead with 3-2 Victory over Eagles
April 22, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
Colorado Eagles News Release
(West Valley City, UT) - Utah defenseman Marc Cantin registered a goal and two assists to help lead the Utah Grizzlies to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Eagles on Thursday, giving Utah a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Eagles forwards Kyle Ostrow and Kyle Kraemer both netted goals in the loss.
Colorado would begin the contest by shutting down four straight Utah powerplays, before the Grizzlies would finally capitalize 5-on-5 to claim the game's first goal. Utah defenseman Eric Knodel would take advantage of traffic in front of the net of Eagles goaltender Clarke Saunders by unfurling a slapshot from the right point to light the lamp and give the Grizzlies the 1-0 advantage at the 16:20 mark of the first period.
With the Grizzlies leading 1-0 after 20 minutes of action, Utah would add to that advantage when forward Ryan Hayes carried the puck into the Eagles zone on a short-handed rush, wrapping behind the net of Saunders and feeding a pass into the low-slot that was hammered home by Cantin to make it 2-0 just 2:40 into the second period.
Colorado would finally find the scoreboard after earning a 5-on-3 powerplay, which would see Ostrow jam a puck in the crease into the net to trim the Grizzlies lead to 2-1 with 4:42 left in the middle frame.
Utah carried their one-goal advantage into the third period and would waste little time expanding it when Grizzlies forward Eric Higby fielded a rebound in the slot and wired it into the net to give Utah their second two-goal advantage at 3-1 with just 1:05 gone in the third period.
The Eagles would once again slice the Grizzlies lead in half when Kraemer finished off a 3-on-2 rush into the Utah zone by sending a wrist shot past Utah goaltender Ryan Faragher, making it 3-2 Utah with 14:20 still to play in the final period.
Colorado would pull Saunders in favor of the extra attacker, but would not be able to draw even, falling by a final score of 3-2. The Eagles were stellar on the penalty kill in the contest, shutting down all six of the Grizzlies man-advantage opportunities and have now gone a perfect 15-for15 on the penalty kill in the last two games.
The Eagles face the Utah Grizzlies in Game Four of their best-of-seven series on Saturday, April 23rd at 7:10pm at the Maverik Center.
Games Six and Seven are if-necessary and are set to take place at the Budweiser Events Center on Tuesday, April 26th and Wednesday, April 27th, respectively. Tickets start at $24 and are available at the Budweiser Events Center box office or online at ComcastTix.com.
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