ECHL Utah Grizzlies

Griffins Nip Grizz

Published on November 10, 2002 under ECHL (ECHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release


West Valley City, Utah - It may seem like deja-vu all over again, the Grizzlies came into tonight's game, trying to rebound from a tough loss last night against the Milwaukee Admirals, loosing 2-1. Saturday's match with the visiting Grand Rapids Griffins went the distance once again, not to mention another 6 on 4 advantage in the last minute of play for the Grizzlies but the result was the same as the Grizz fell 2-1 in front of 6,032 fans at the E-Center.

Just past the mid-point of the first period, the Griffins started to click on all cylinders. Rob Collins sets up on the right side of Bacashihua and got a lucky rebound from a Ryan Barnes shot sending the puck into the back of the net. Griffins lead 1-0 after one. Griffins controlled most of the action through the first, pelting Bacashihua with 17 shots after twenty minutes of play.

The Grizzlies started the second much like the first*flat. At the 2:26 mark, Griffins take advantage of the Grizzlies idle play; Hugo Boisvert finds the stick of Tomas Kopecky who beat Bacashihua giving Grand Rapids a 2-0 lead. Exactly two minutes later, the Grizzlies got a lift on the power play. Marcus Kristoffersson got his first goal of the season bringing Utah to within one goal, beating Joey MacDonald on the man advantage. Jeff Bateman and Justin Cox assisted. The remaining action found the Grizz short handed with players spending a total of 13 minutes in the box for the period.

More of the same in the third period, Grizzlies get slapped with two separate 5 minute majors called on Jim Montgomery for High Sticking and Marcus Kristoffersson for Boarding. Jason Bacashihua literally took over the game for the Grizzlies keeping them close. Two men short, "Cash" shuts the door on multiple point-blank chances for the Griffins. Things got interesting with a 1:15 left in the game, the Griffins got called for cross checking and the Grizzlies got another 6 on 4 chance in the waning moments of the game. After a couple of golden opportunities go arye, the Grizzlies come up short once again, loosing 2-1 to the Grand Rapids Griffins.

MacDonald faced just 20 shots turning aside 19 of them, while Bacashihua stopped 46 of the 48 shots he faced.

Three Stars: 1. Tomas Kopecky (Griffins) 1 goal 2. Jason Bcashihua (Grizzlies) 46 saves 3. Stacy Roest (Griffins) no points/8 shots

Next Game: The Grizzlies will play Wednesday against the Hartford Wolf Pack at the E-Center. Face-off is scheduled for 7:00 pm mst.

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ECHL Stories from November 10, 2002


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