ECHL Utah Grizzlies

Grizzlies And Bears End In Tie

Published on March 20, 2003 under ECHL (ECHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release


West Valley City, Utah - The Grizzlies looked to gain ground on the Bears who stood three points ahead in the Western Conference playoff race. The two teams couldn't solve anything though as they skated to a 3-3 tie at the E-Center.

In the first period, Hershey was able to get on the board first at the 6:27 mark as the Bears caught Utah sleeping on defense. Hershey center Charlie Stephens brought the puck into the Grizzlies zone on the far side and passed it to forward Cail Maclean in the near circle who chipped the puck into the open net before Jason Bacashihua could shift over, giving Hershey a 1-0 lead.

Utah would answer back as Alexei Komarov (5-12-17) had control of the puck, crossed the Hershey blue line and decided to send it towards the net with a hard wrister that Bears goalie Phil Sauve got a piece of. The rebound came out front in the slot and making the heads up play, Komarov crashed the net on his own miss and picked it up and shot it back on net, only this time it beat Sauve through traffic, tying the game 1-1 at 14:57. At the end of 20 minutes of play, Hershey out-shot Utah 15 to 10.

In the second period, Dylan Gyori made a spectacular play as he received the puck from Steve Gainey (8-16-24) along the far boards of the Hershey zone and began to wind up for what seemed to be an impossible angle at the bottom of the far circle. The blast went high over Sauve's shoulder and careened off the cross bar and into the net, giving Utah their first lead of the game 2-1 at the 8:24 mark.

The lead didn't last long as Hershey answered with a power play goal at 14:16. After a shot on net by Cail Maclean, the rebound found Charlie Stephens stick and Bacashihua denied his attempt, but the puck kept finding the Bears wood out front and this time Brad Larsen beat Bacashihua with the put back, tying the game at 2-2. At the end of forty minutes of play, Utah made up some ground with shots, out-shooting the Bears 11 to 6.

Heading into the third period, the Grizzlies came out of the gates flying and lit the lamp at the 4:35 mark. Gyori (7-0-7) recorded his second goal of the night, just as a Utah power play expired. David Gosselin (10-21-31) had the puck in the slot, as the Hershey defense collapsed on him he flipped the puck over to Gyori streaking towards the net on the near side catching Sauve out of position, and Gyori hit nothing but net making it 3-2 Utah.

The Bears were able to convert on another power play late in the third. Bears defenseman Bryan Muir found teammate Eric Bertrand at the near circle and Bertrand one-timed the puck at Bacashihua who got a piece of it, but the shot ricocheted off the pads and into the net, tying the game at 3-3. Utah trailed Hershey, 15 to 11, for shots on goal during the stanza.

Heading into overtime, Utah had the best chances to seal the win but couldn't convert. Mark Wotton saw his shot hit the post and Jim Montgomery was set up at the door step of the Hershey net but fanned on the puck. Despite having a 37 to 35 shots on net advantage, Hershey squeaked out with a 3-3 tie as Utah had more scoring chances but failed to convert down the stretch. Hershey went 2/3 on the power play which made the difference, extending the game to overtime and ultimately ending the game in a stalemate.

Three Stars: 1. Dylan Gyori (UT) 2 goals 2. David Gosselin (UT) 1 assist 3. Eric Bertrand (HER) 1 goal

Next Game: Utah will face the Hershey Bears for a rematch Friday, March 21 at the E-Center. Puck drops at 7 PM.

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ECHL Stories from March 20, 2003


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