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ECHL Utah Grizzlies

Grizzlies Dominate IceCats

February 8, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release


The Grizzlies tamed, de-clawed and sent the visiting Worcester IceCats thinking about the re-match tomorrow night as they defeated the IceCats 7-2 tonight at the E-Center. Steve Ott scored two goals and added two assists gaining his first four-point game as a professional.

The third meeting of the season between Utah and Worcester started out slowly, but midway through the first things got interesting. The IceCats struck first blood as Igor Valeev found the stick of forward Greg Davis, coming in from the far side of Jason Bacashihua. Davis managed to slip the puck under Bacashihua as the Utah goaltender lost track of the puck due to traffic in front of the net. Worcester led 1-0 at 11:50.

Less than two minutes later, the Grizzlies tied the game at one a piece on the power play. Gavin Morgan received a pass from Greg Hawgood and went up ice untouched. Just inside the Worcester blue line, Morgan let loose a hard slap shot from the far side that rebounded straight to Steve Ott's stick as he came crashing the net on the near side. Ott waited a second and slid the puck cross ice back to Morgan who chipped it past Cody Rudkowsky and in the back of the net, recording his 12th goal of the year (12-18-30), tying the game at 1-1.

Grizzlies kept the magic rolling with another power play goal only 76 seconds later. Alexi Komarov blasted a one-timer past Rudkowsky for his fourth goal of the year. Ott and Jim Montgomery assisted on the goal giving the Grizzlies the lead at 2-1.

Utah continued dominating with the man advantage at the 17:46 mark as Alexei Komarov found room inside the IceCat blue line and slapped a high strike at the chest of Rudkowsky. He couldn't handle the puck and the rebound hit the tape of Eric Landry soaring in from the far side, putting the puck in the back of the net giving the Grizzlies a 3-1 lead. After twenty minutes of play, Utah had the advantage with 10 shots on net over Worcester's 8. The Grizzlies also made the most of their power play opportunities going 3 for 4 in the period.

The Ice Cats opened the scoring in the second period with a power play conversion of their own. Worcester's Sergei Varlamov dished the puck off to center Jeff Panzer who wheeled to the mouth of the net from the near circle and squeaked the puck past Bacashihua just inside the far goal post. Utah still up a goal, 3-2.

After that it was all Utah. At 14:07, the Grizzlies were on a 5 on 3 power play as Jim Montgomery controlled the puck deep into the Worcester zone and tried a cross-ice pass to Jon Sim who one-timed it wide of the net. The rebound found Montgomery on the other side and Montgomery got enough of the puck to send it out to the middle to a wide open Steve Ott who went top shelf, beating Rudkowsky giving the Grizzlies a 4-2 lead.

David Gosselin would get on the score sheet with his 7th of the season later in the second period as Marcus Kristoffersson and David Oliver got credit for the assists and found Oliver in the slot, blasting it high into the net. Utah had a 5-2 lead at that point leading on the shot board 24-20 after two periods of play.

The Grizzlies kept the visiting IceCats on their heels in the third and tacked on two more goals. Steve Ott and David Gosselin both had their second goals of the night on respective break-away's. Ott beat Rudkowsky low, inside the near post with a hard wrist shot, giving him his 9th goal on the year (9-10-19). Gosselin would get set up by Eric Landry (19-22- 41) and beat Rudkowsky low on the far side of the net, giving him seven goals on the year (7-10-17). Utah outshot Worcester 39-35 for the game as Jason Bacashihua wins his seventh straight game making 33 saves..

Three Stars: 1. Steve Ott (UT) 2 goals, 1 assist 2. David Oliver (UT) 2 assists 3. Alexei Komarov (UT) 1 goal, 1 assist

Next Game: Grizzlies face-off against Worcester for a rematch tomorrow night, February 8, at the E-Center. Puck drops at 7:00 PM.

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