Sports stats

ECHL Utah Grizzlies

Grizzlies Fall In Overtime To The Ducks

March 15, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release


West Valley City, Utah - The rematch between Utah and Cincinnati proved to be a barnburner as the Grizzlies ended up losing in overtime 3-2 in front of 10, 362 fans hence seeing their three-game winning streak fall.

The first period got off to a rough start for the home team. Utah got in penalty trouble early and spent seven of the first twelve minutes a man down. The penalty killing unit did their job well and didn't allow any goals. Utah had their best scoring chances at the hands of forward Jeff Bateman. The first came when Utah had an odd man rush and Bateman received the puck in the slot while trailing the play and shot it right in the pads of Cincinnati goalie, Iija Bryzgalov. At the 17:51 mark of the period, Cincinnati lit the lamp first on a controversial play as center Nick Smith controlled the puck behind Jason Bacashihua and flipped the puck out front to teammate Brendan Yarema who was streaking towards the net on the far side and one-timed it off the far post. The shot was ruled a goal by the goal judge and the referee despite the clear fact that it never crossed the goal line. After twenty minutes of play, Utah and Cincinnati were locked at 10 shots on goal each.

The momentum stayed with the visiting Mighty Ducks early in the second period as Cincinnati's Dale Clarke found teammate Ben Guite in the neutral zone, creating a 2 on 1 opportunity as the Grizzlies defense failed to react fast enough. Guite pushed the puck across the Utah blue line on the far side and decided to keep it himself and wristed the puck past Bacashihua low, underneath his pads just inside the near goal post, giving Cincinnati a 2-0 lead at the 2:20 mark.

Utah responded mid-way through the period as Eric Landry showed some great hustle and gained control of the puck behind the Cincinnati net on the near side and skated to the side of the net and tried to stuff the puck in the net. The biscuit slid across the goalmouth to the far side where Greg Hawgood coming in from the far point got enough wood on it to squeak it past Bryzgalov under the pads at the 12:14 mark. It was Hawgood's 10th goal of the year; Eric Landry (25-34-59) and Marc-Andre Thinel (5-13-18) got credit for the assists. After forty minutes of play, Utah edged out the Mighty Ducks with 12 to 10 shots on net.

In the third period the Grizzlies got the equalizer on the power play at the 11:57 mark. David Gosselin had the puck at the far side of the Ducks net and passed the puck across the crease to Hawgood who was crashing the net from the near side. Hawgood chipped the puck at the net and hit Bryzgalov's pads and had enough mustard on it that the biscuit trickled over and into the net, tying the game at 2-2 and giving Hawgood (11-36-47) his second of the night. Neither team could score the rest of regulation play, sending the game into overtime where the Grizzlies were 2-2-3. Utah dominated the period with 17 shots on net versus Cincinnati's 6.

In overtime, at the drop of the puck, Utah pushed the biscuit into the Ducks end and had a couple of great chances in front of the net. Cincinnati gained their composure and drove the puck into the Grizzlies zone where Ducks defenseman Dale Clarke let loose a hard slap shot, just inside the blue line that hit Bacashihua high on the shoulder and the rebound found its way to Tony Martensson who banged it into the net giving Cincinnati the overtime win, 3-2.

Three Stars: 1. Tony Martensson (CIN) GW goal 2. Greg Hawgood (UT) 2 goals 3. Iija Bryzgalov (CIN) 37 saves

Next Game: Utah will meet the Milwaukee Admirals Saturday, March 16 in Milwaukee. Puck drops at 4:12 PM (MST).

Check out the Utah Grizzlies Statistics



ECHL Stories from March 15, 2003


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Utah Grizzlies Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central