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ECHL Utah Grizzlies

Grizzlies Beat Colorado 5-1

March 13, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release


West Valley City, Utah - The Utah Grizzlies (33-24-3-2) defeated the Colorado Eagles (32-24-2-1) 5-1 Saturday evening at Maverik Center before 5,784 fans.

"That was the response we were looking for," said Head Coach/General Manager Tim Branham.

"Now we just need to build off of that and make sure we keep climbing here."

Mark Owuya stopped the first 36 shots that he saw and 40 of 41 overall to earn the win in goal for Utah. The Grizzlies goaltender set a team season-high with 20 saves in the first period.

"I thought our guys did a real good job of allowing Mark to see the puck," said Branham. "There were a couple scrambles where Mark made huge saves. That's what your goaltender is there for, if you want to win in this league you have to have good goaltending."

The Grizzlies took a 1-0 lead 8:29 into the first period as Charles Sarault scored his 17th of the year from the slot as linemates Alex Krushelnyski and Bryan Moore drew assists as the Grizzlies battled off of a face-off.

"They lead by example and everybody else followed suit," said Branham. "When they go out and work hard, they put the puck in the net right away, good things happen."

Utah took a 2-0 lead with 4:21 left in the first period as T.J. Syner scored his 11th goal of the season to finish a three-on-two with Barry Almeida and Cody Ferriero picking up assists.

"We came out a little flat yesterday and the focus today was to make sure we came out strong and played our game," said Syner. "We have a lot of skill up front. We have to pay with grit."

The Grizzlies killed three penalties with the 2-0 lead, allowing just one Colorado shot before Ryan Hayes scored two goals in 17 seconds late in the second period to make it 4-0 as linemates Erik Higby and Jon Puskar added assists.

The two teams traded power-play goals in the third as T.J. Syner scored his second of the game from Barry Almeida and Phil Pietroniro to make it 5-0 8:03 into the third. Colorado broke up the shutout with 9:14 remaining.

Nine of Utah's ten forwards scored in the game and Barry Almeida also had two points.

The Grizzlies now go to Colorado for games Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. each night.

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