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ECHL Utah Grizzlies

5-Game Winning Streak Snapped Before Another Big Crowd

November 15, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release


West Valley City, Utah - The Utah Grizzlies five-game winning streak came to an end Saturday night as the Rapid City Rush scored into an empty-net to defeat Utah 2-0 at Maverik Center.

The Grizzlies drop to 8-4-1-0 and hold at least a six-point lead on every other team in the West Division.

6,187 fans were in attendance at Maverik Center, which totals 15,449 for the weekend series at Maverik Center as the Grizzlies tonight wore the Kelly Green and Gold Salt Lake Golden Eagles uniforms that were auctioned off in complete sets after the game for the Angel's Hands Foundation. Nearly $15,000 was raised in the jersey auction.

Utah outshot Rapid City 36-16 in the contest, including 22-5 in the third period and 30-7 in the final two periods. The Grizzlies outshot the Rush 76-37 over the two-game series. Ryan Walters led Utah with eight shots, Alex Krushelnyski had six.

"We put 80 shots on these two goaltenders here this weekend and I thought both of them stood on their heads," said Grizzlies Head Coach/General Manager Tim Branham. "But it is what it is; you have to battle through it. We didn't give up too many scoring chances today, we just couldn't find a way to put the puck into the back of the net."

Rapid City took a 1-0 lead 11:17 into the first period off of a face-off and that would hold until the empty-netter with 1:02 remaining in regulation.

"There's a lot of positives here," said Branham. "We lost the game on one faceoff. We need to be better on faceoff intensity. Unfortunately, we ran into a hot goaltender and that's the story. We put a lot of pucks at the net."

Grizzlies goaltender Ryan Faragher dropped to 8-1 on the season as he stopped 16 of Rapid City's shots.

The Grizzlies had to adjust the lineup on the fly with the ECHL's leading rookie scorer Matt Berry being called-up to the Anaheim Ducks AHL affiliate in San Diego after Friday's game. The Grizzlies were also without rookie forward Josh MacDonald (four goals, three assists in 12 games) after he sustained an injury Friday night.

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