ECHL Utah Grizzlies

Grizzlies Battle Back In Las Vegas; Win Opener 5-3

Published on October 17, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release


Las Vegas, Nevada - The Utah Grizzlies battled back from a 3-1 second period deficit and scored four unanswered goals to defeat the Las Vegas Wranglers 5-3 Friday night at Orleans Arena in their season opener. Utah captain Ryan Kinasewich scored three goals and added one assist, tying Chris Taylor for the all-time team lead in goals scored with 111.

Utah fell behind 2-0 in the first period, surrendering two goals in 30 seconds at the 6:51 and 7:21 marks before Head Coach Kevin Colley called timeout. The Grizzlies responded with a power-play goal from Shea Guthrie to make it 2-1 at the first intermission.

In the second, Las Vegas reclaimed their two-goal lead back to make it 3-1. On the ensuing face-off, Utah forward and former Wrangler J.D. Watt dropped the gloves with goal scorer Kyle Hagel. Utah took the momentum from there, getting a goal from Kinasewich at 8:41, followed by a score from Tom May 1:11 later at 9:52 to make the game 3-3 headed to the second intermission.

Utah took over the third period outshooting Las Vegas 16-3; and added two Ryan Kinasewich power-play goals (2:03, 11:07) to take a 5-3 lead. Utah killed all three third period shorthanded situations.

The Grizzlies went 3-7 on the power-play in the contest, while rookie goaltender Parker Van Buskirk stopped 19 of 22 Las Vegas shots for the win. AJ Perry and Vlady Nikiforov chipped in two assists each for Utah. After being outshot 14-7 in the first period, the Grizzlies outshot Las Vegas 22-8 in the final two periods to win the shot battle 29-22.

The team returns home to host Idaho on Friday and Saturday, October 23 and 24 in the home opening weekend at the E-Center. Face-off both evenings is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The team's annual face-off luncheon/media day is Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. at the E-Center. Contact Adrian Denny at (801) 835-8989 for more information.

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ECHL Stories from October 17, 2009


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