Grizzlies Earn 6-2 Saturday Night Road Victory
Published on January 24, 2026 under ECHL (ECHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release
Rapid City, South Dakota - Tyler Gratton scored two goals, Evan Friesen had 1 goal and 2 assists and goaltender Dominic Basse stopped 34 of 36 to lead the Utah Grizzlies to a 6-2 victory over the Rapid City Rush on a Saturday night.
Grizzlies captain Tyler Gratton scored his seventh of the season on a lefty shot 1:30 into the contest. Rapid City's Cameron Buhl redirected a Rasmus Ekstrum shot 2:33 in. Utah took a 2-1 lead on an Evan Friesen power play goal 5:06 in. Rapid City's Brett Davis scored on a rebound from a Ryan Wagner right point shot 6:15 in. Both teams scored 2 goals on their first 4 shots on goal. The score was tied 2-2 after 20 minutes of play.
Utah's Luke Antonacci scored his first pro goal 5:03 into the second period. It turned out to be the game winner. Mike Gelatt earned his first point as a Grizzly with an assist. Late in the second period Tyler Gratton scored his second goal of the night on a centering feed from Danny Dzhaniyev 19:36 in. It was a power play goal as Utah was 2 for 4 on the power play and 3 for 3 on the penalty kill. The Grizzlies led 4-2 after 2 frames. Utah is now 10-0-2 when leading after 2 periods.
22 seconds into the third period John Gelatt scored his 7th of the season. Shawn Kennedy scored his first point as a Grizzly with an assist. Danny Dzhaniyev scored from the right wing 7:01 in to complete the scoring. Dzhaniyev had 10 shots on goal and ended the night with 1 goal and 1 assist. Dzhaniyev leads Utah with 9 multiple point games.
Utah has outscored RC 11 to 4 in the first two games of the weekend series. Tyler Gratton has 2 goals and 3 assists through two games this weekend. Evan Friesen has 2 goals and 2 assists this weekend. Utah is now 62-40- 14 all-time vs Rapid City.
Forward Henri Schreifels made his Grizzlies debut and was a +1. Utah outshot Rapid City 37 to 36. The Grizzlies have averaged 36.08 shots per game in their last 12 contests.
The three-game series ends on Sunday afternoon at 4:05 pm. The Grizzlies return to Maverik Center for a three-game series against Greenville on January 28, 30-31. Face-off all three nights are at 7:10 pm and tickets are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.
3 stars
1. Tyler Gratton (Utah) - 2 goals, +1, 4 shots.
2. Evan Friesen (Utah) - 1 goal, 2 assists, +2, 3 shots.
3. Danny Dzhaniyev (Utah) - 1 goal, 1 assist, 10 shots.
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