ECHL Utah Grizzlies

Grizz Report for the Week of Oct. 28

October 28, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release


LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Wednesday, October 23 Grizzlies 3 vs. Chicago 1 at the E-Center

~The Grizzlies scored goals in each period en route to a 3-1 victory over the defending Calder Cup Champion Chicago Wolves. David Gosselin got things started with his first goal of the season (on the power play) at the 4:06 mark of the period. The Grizz would add to their lead in the second period behind a power play goal from Jeff Bateman, which would prove to be the game winner. Gavin Morgan added a third period goal giving Utah a 3-0 lead before the Wolves capitalized on a power play with a goal by Andreas Karlsson. Utah was outshot in the game 35-20 but was solid going 2 for 5 on the power play.

Stat of the Game: Utah killed 11 of 12 shorthanded chances including 5 of 6 in the third period.

Friday, October 25 Grizzlies 4 vs. Chicago 3 at the E-Center

~The Grizzlies were looking to win back-to-back games against the defending champs and fell behind early after Zdenek Blatny early first period goal. The Wolves would lead by a goal on two occasions but Steve Ott and Jon Sim each scored power play goals pulling the Grizzlies even. Utah's first lead would come off the stick of Jim Montgomery early in the third period. J. P. Vigier scored an unassisted goal when he took an attempted clear by Jason Bacashihua from the corner and threw into a nearly empty net. With the score tied at three, Jeff MacMillan pinched in and took a pass from Eric Landry scoring what would be the game winner. Bacashihua finished the night making 34 saves. The grizzlies went two for 12 on the power play giving them two power play goals in four straight games.

Stat of the Game: The Wolves top line (Rob Brown, Andreas Karlsson and Steve Maltais) were held scoreless on 5 shots.

Saturday, October 26 Grizzlies 1 at Cincinnati 4 at the Cincinnati Gardens

~A rough start for Utah was too much to overcome as Cincinnati scored three first period goals. The first came when Travis Brigley intercepted a pass at the Utah blue line and walked in shorthanded on Corey Hirsch and put the puck between Hirsch's legs for the early lead. The Ducks would add another goal later in the period when defenseman Peter Podhradsky gathered a loose puck at center ice and took a rebound off his own miss and one-armed the puck past Hirsch. The third goal was scored by Cam Severson who re-directed a shot by Rob Valisevic past Hirsch putting a three-goal mountain in front of the Grizzlies. Utah's goal came in the second period off a face-off win by Eric Landry who pulled the draw to his left to Alexei Komarov who blasted a shot past Duck's goaltender J.F. Damphousse. Cincinnati outshot the Grizz 34-27 in the game.

Stat of the Game: The Grizzlies had their power play streak stopped as they went 0 for 8.

THIS WEEK'S PREVIEWS

Wednesday, October 30 & Thursday, October 31 Grizzlies vs. Houston at the E-Center 7:00 pm

~The Grizzlies will have the chance Wednesday night to do what they and no other AHL team has been able to do this year and that is to win a game against the Aeros. Houston has distanced themselves from the rest of the Western Division winning their first eight games of the season including five straight wins on the road. The two teams meet opening weekend when Houston won a pair of 3-1 decisions. Jean-Guy Trudel (11 points) and Cory Larose (eight points) have led the way offensively for the Aeros. Defenseman Lawrence Nycholat has six assists leading the defensemen and is a team-high +7. Houston has been fueled by third period comebacks outscoring the opposition by six goals in the final frame.

Strength: Defensively, Houston is second in the AHL allowing just 2.38 goals per game.

Saturday, November 2 Grizzlies @ Hershey at the Giant Center 5:00 pm

~The Grizzlies and Bears will meet four times this season beginning with Saturday's contest in Hershey. The Bears are 3-2-1-1 on the season six points behind the Norfolk Admirals. On home ice the Bears are 2-1-1-0. Charlie Stephens leads the way offensively with 10 points. Other players off to good starts are Eric Bertrand (seven points), Cail MacLean (seven points) and Jordan Krestanovich (seven points). Philippe Sauve mans the net on most nights and is off to a 3-2-1 start with a 3.06 goals against average.

Strength: Hershey has scored the first goal in six of their seven games.

Sunday, November 3 Grizzlies @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at the First Union Arena 3:05 pm

~Wilkes-Barre comes into the week with the same record of the Grizz one game under .500. The Penguins have lost two straight games but are 3-2-0-0 at home. The Penguins are led in goal by Sebastien Caron who is 3-4 with a 2.65 goals against average. Other players to watch in the Wilkes-Barre line-up include Kris Beech (six points), Milan Kraft (five points), Toby Petersen (five points) and Tom Kostopoulos (four points).

Strength: The Penguins have been strong in the final period this season outscoring the opposition by three goals.

SHORTS

Landry Streaking: Eric Landry has scored points in each of the Grizzlies' last four games (1-3-4) tying him with Jon Sim and John Erskine for the longest point streak of the season for Utah. Landry's hard work late in the third period of Friday's 4-3 victory over Chicago was pivotal in setting up Jeff MacMillan's game winning goal. Landry is one of four players that have been loaned to the Grizzlies from the Montreal Canadiens.

"Gavin" His Way : Gavin Morgan, the top penalty minute player for the Grizzlies last season, has gotten off to a solid start offensively scoring four points (2-2-4) in the team's last four games. He is still sticking to his physical roots ranking second on the Grizz with 326 PIM's. Morgan's 478 penalty minutes while with the Grizzlies ranks him third on the team's all-time PIM's list.

Injury Report: The Grizzlies continue to have several players out of action. Eric Chouinard remains out of the lineup with a pulled muscle, while both Steve Gainey and Brett Draney are out with facial injuries. Greg Hawgood missed Utah's last three games with a stiff neck but he is expected to be in action Wednesday versus Houston. Marcus Kristoffersson has resumed skating and could be in action this week.

Talk Hockey On KFAN: Be sure to catch Steve Brown, Bob Hoffman and Grizzlies' Head Coach Don Hay on Tuesday at 2:00 pm on KFAN-1320 AM when they discus the games from this past week and take a look ahead at the games upcoming with Houston, Hershey and Wilkes-Barre.

Cyber-Stuff: Don't miss any of the latest news about the Grizzlies. Check out www.utahgrizzlies.com to get the scoop and be sure to play Grizzlies' power play trivia for an opportunity to win tickets to upcoming Grizzlies' games.

On The Air: All Grizzlies action can be heard on ESPN Radio 1230. The Ford Pre-Game show begins 15 minutes prior to face-off.

Check out the Utah Grizzlies Statistics



ECHL Stories from October 28, 2002


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