Grizzlies Can't Solve Aeros for Second Straight Game
Published on February 5, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release
Houston, TX - The Utah Grizzlies (15-28-4-3) certainly showed some emotion at the conclusion of Tuesday's loss in Houston and it carried over to the warm-up skate at the Toyota Center on Thursday night as the teams came together and a few blows were thrown but the best was saved until the drop of the puck when two fights occurred less than four minutes into the game and three total fights in the first period. . As for the game, the Grizzlies fell again to Houston (18-21-9-3) this time by a score of 2-1 making it three straight losses for the Grizzlies and just one win in their last nine games.
The Grizzlies would get on the board first when Tim Wedderburn would blast a shot from the slot that was re-directed by Warren Peters for his second goal of the season. Wedderburn (3A in his last five games and a +3 over that stretch as well) and Barrett Heisten would draw the assists for Utah at the 7:58 mark of the opening period. Houston would tie things up on the power play as they had three chances against Grizzlies goaltender Mike Smith and the third chance was capitalized on by Mark Cullen with his fifth goal of the season assisted by Kevin Mitchell and Stephane Veilleux. Houston outshot the Grizzlies 12-6 in the first period as Smith finished with 11 saves.
The second period saw little scoring and the brawls came to an end but Houston continued to lead on the shot board outshooting the Grizzlies 13-8 for the period for a 25-14 game lead. The Aeros would take advantage of their second power play of the night by scoring their second power play goal. Veilleux would come out from the corner to the left of Smith and beat him with a shot to the far post. Cullen and Jason Marshall assisted on Veilleux's 11th goal of the season. For the Aeros it was a huge goal, they were 13-2-1-1 when leading after 40 minutes. Smith made 12 saves in the period giving him 23 saves through two frames.
Despite outgunning the Aeros 17-7 in the third period, the Grizzlies were unable to get anything past Holmqvist who finished the game with 30 saves earning his 16th victory of the season. The Aeros outshot the Grizzlies in the game 32-31 but the telling stat was once again the Utah power play as they failed to convert on three third period chances and went 0 for 4 in the game. Smith finished the night making 30 saves dropping to 8-11-0 on the season.
Utah will travel to Cincinnati to face the Ducks for the fifth time this year with face-off scheduled for 5:35 PM (mst). The Grizzlies have won three of four against the Ducks including each of the last three games.
American Hockey League Stories from February 5, 2004
- Aeros prevail 2-1, close in on Milwaukee - Houston Aeros
- Grizzlies Can't Solve Aeros for Second Straight Game - Utah Grizzlies
- Aeros get Marshall back - Houston Aeros
- P-Bruins to appear at Special Olympics Carnival - Providence Bruins
- FSN New England To Carry 2004 Pepsi AHL All-Star Classic - Manchester Monarchs
- Jason Bacashihua Re-Assigned to Utah - Utah Grizzlies
- Cincinnati Mighty Ducks announce roster moves - Cincinnati RailRaiders
- Thrashers recall Foster - Chicago Wolves
- Vauclair, Miller added AHL All-Star starting lineups - AHL
- Albany River Rats "Go Red for Women" - Albany River Rats
- P-Bruins ready for Atlantic Division shootout - Providence Bruins
- Mizzi Re-Signs With Sound Tigers - Bridgeport Islanders
- Cloutier recalled - Houston Aeros
- Falcons to begin affiliation with Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004-05 - Springfield Falcons
- Brett Clark recalled by Colorado Avalanche - Hershey Bears
- Columbus Reassigns Johnson, Motzko and Reich - Syracuse Crunch
- Four Assigned to ECHL - Connecticut Whale
- Are you ready for some hockey? - Norfolk Admirals
- Wolf Pack Kids' Club Day Rescheduled to Sunday, February 15th - Connecticut Whale
- Crunch Announce Details Of Saturn Test Drive With The Crunch - Syracuse Crunch
- Tim Thomas recalled by Boston Bruins - Providence Bruins
- Aeros Game Day - Houston Aeros
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