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AHL Utah Grizzlies

Grizzlies own overtime so far in long road tour

March 1, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release


SLAP SHOTS
~The Grizzlies first overtime victories of the season came back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday.
~Trevor Daley scored two goals including the game winner in the overtime victory at Worcester on Sunday
~Rob Valicevic beat his old teammates with a game winning goal in overtime at Manchester on Saturday
~Antti Miettinen recorded two goals and an assist this week in wins at Chicago and Worcester
~Newcomer Timo Helbling scored Utah's first goal in the win at Manchester on Saturday
~Mathias Tjarnqvist contributed three key assists in the wins at Manchester and Worcester

A LOOK AT LAST WEEK (2-2-0-0)
Wednesday @ Chicago Loss 4-1
Thursday @ Grand Rapids Loss 2-0
Saturday @ Manchester Win / OT 3-2
Sunday @ Worcester Win / OT 4-3

Utah started off an eight-game road trip on a sour note Wednesday falling 4-1 to the Chicago Wolves. The Wolves got the win by converting 3 of 7 power play goal opportunities. Three of Chicago's four goals came in the third period. Kari Lehtonen had 29 saves for the Wolves to earn the victory. Chicago scored the only goal of the first period and held the 1-0 lead throughout the scoreless second frame before adding to it at 2:19 of the third. Utah finally got on the board with a power play goal by Antti Miettinen. Greg Hawgood would find the net again for the Wolves with Kurtis Foster adding an empty netter to get the 4-1 decision. Jason Bacashihua had 33 saves in the losing effort. The Grizzlies were looking to gain their first points on their current eight-game road trip but despite a strong offensive effort they were thwarted by Joey MacDonald who made 33 saves earning his fourth shutout of the season and seeing his record improve to 17-3-3. After the victory the Griffins were without a loss in their last 15 home games (12-0-3). A lack of flow plagued the early going in Van Andel Arena but the Griffins toughguy Ryan Barnes found the cure by finding a spot in front of Dan Ellis and redirecting a pass/shot by Tomas Kopecky just past Ellis. Jeff Nelson had the second assist for the Griffins. The Grizzlies mustered only six shots on goal with four of those coming in the final four minutes of the period. Ellis stopped 10 Griffins shots as each team failed to convert on a power play chance. Grand Rapids would add to their lead in the second period as they capitalized on their lone power play chance of the period. Kevin Miller took a Jiri Hudler pass and swiped it past Ellis tying him for the team lead with 21 goals. Utah's Mathias Tjarnqvist had several great opportunities during a 5-on-3 power play for Utah but all his efforts were turned aside by Joey MacDonald or juts missed the net. Utah outshot the Griffins 13-11 in the frame and had three total power play chances but missed on all of them. The Grizzlies put the pressure on the Griffins in the final period putting 14 shots against MacDonald while holding the Griffins to just one shot on goal. Despite the hard-working effort by Utah they were unable to get on the board getting shutout for the 10th time this season. The Grizzlies finished the night outshooting the Griffins 33-23 but MacDonald earned first star honors stopping all 33 shots. The Utah Grizzlies earned their first points of their eight-game road trip and earned their first overtime victory of the season as Rob Valicevic came back to haunt his old team scoring the game winner in the extra session. Jason Bacashihua was outstanding in goal making 37 saves earning his ninth victory of the season and stopping a first period Joe Giuliano penalty shot. The first period saw a little bit of everything as their were four goals scored, three fights and a penalty shot. The bottom line was a two all tie as Utah erased a pair of one-goal deficits with goals by newcomer Timo Helbling and Jarrod Skalde. Utah's John Erskine, Mike Sgroi and Helbling and Manchester's Ryan Flinn, Joe Rullier and Maxim Kuznetsov all drew fighting majors in the period and Giuliano received his penalty shot against Bacashihua who turned away his fourth penalty shot of the season. Each team mustered 12 shots on goal in the period. Things were dramatically different in the second period as the goaltenders and defense went on display. Hauser was the one tested in the first half of the period and Bacashihua in the second half of the frame. Utah squandered two power play opportunities and the Monarchs one as Manchester finished the period outshooting the Grizzlies 7-6 but neither team was able to score. Erskine and Flinn each earned their second fighting majors of the night as the game remained physical. Nothing going in the third period as Bacashihua had to turn away 15 Manchester shots taking the game to overtime where the Grizzlies had to begin the frame shorthanded. Utah was able to kill off the Monarchs power play and 3:33 into the extra session were able to gain the victory and the two points as Mike Siklenka's hard work behind the net forced a turnover and created the chance for Valicevic to score the game winner and his eighth goal of the season. Manchester outshot the Grizzlies 39-28 in the game as Bacashihua made 37 saves including the penalty shot earning one of the stars of the game. On Sunday the Grizzlies visited Worcester where they pulled off a second consecutive overtime upset, despite being down two goals with less than 7 minutes remaining in regulation. Antti Miettinen put the Grizzlies on the board first only 44 seconds into the game. Just over three minutes later the IceCats would respond when Mike Glumac got past Jason Bacashihua. Worcester put up two more goals in the second period to take a 3-1 lead. It wasn't until 13:49 of the third period that Utah made a move to get back into the game. Zenon Konopka took an assist from Miettinen to bring the Grizzlies within one. Then, with only 38 seconds remaining in regulation, Trevor Daley would catch the net sending the game into overtime. Worcester netminder Curtis Sanford finished the game with 22 saves. In the extra period, Daley needed until the 4:09 mark to strike again and steal a second straight overtime victory for the Grizzlies. Bacashihua, who assisted the final goal, finished with 27 saves.

ROSTER REPORT
Defenseman John Erskine was re-assigned by Dallas on Wednesday but re-called on Sunday. The Grizzlies re-assigned defenseman David Cornacchia to the Idaho (ECHL). Utah received defenseman Timo Helbling on loan from Tampa Bay (NHL).

WESTERN DIVISION STANDINGS
Rank Team W L T OTL PTS
1. Grand Rapids 37 16 8 0 82
2. Milwaukee 33 16 7 3 76
3. Chicago 30 20 8 3 71
4. Houston 21 29 11 3 56
5. Cincinnati 22 28 8 1 53
t6. San Antonio 21 30 7 0 49
t6. Utah 21 32 4 3 49

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
Hartford – 33-16-10-2, 78 pts. (1st - Atlantic Division)...The Wolf Pack will have only one loss in their last eleven games going into Wednesday's battle with Utah. Chad Wiseman and Cory Larose lead Hartford in scoring, each with 39 points. Jason LaBarbara continues a stellar season at the net with 12 shutouts and a 1.50 GAA.
Milwaukee – 33-16-7-3, 76 pts. (2nd - West Division)...The Admirals offense has been on fire posting 25 goals in the last five games. Milwaukee is without a loss in those five games thanks to the efforts of the likes of Tony Hrkac who leads the team in scoring with 47 points.
Houston – 21-29-11-3, 56 pts. (4th - West Division)...The Aeros have taken over 4th place in the division by winning two key games against San Antonio over the weekend and getting a point in a tie with Milwaukee earlier in the week. Travis Roche leads the team in scoring with 33 points.
San Antonio – 21-30-7-0, 49 pts. (tied for 6th - West Division)...After dropping two games to Houston on Friday and Saturday the Rampage are tied with Utah for last place in the division. San Antonio is without a win in its last eight games. Yet even though the Rampage played their third game in as many days on Sunday, they managed to hold on for a tie against 2nd place Chicago.

GRIZZLIES THREE STARS OF THE WEEK
1.) Trevor Daley – Two goals including the game winner in overtime victory over Worcester on Sunday
2.) Rob Valicevic – Game winning goal in overtime to beat Manchester on Saturday
3.) Antti Miettinen – Recorded two goals and an assist this week in wins at Chicago and Worcester

LAST CHANCE TO ‘GATHER WITH THE GRIZZLIES'
The Grizzlies' season-long library tour is almost over. On March 9th Grizzlies hockey players will make their final special appearances to promote reading at three different locations: The Herriman Library at 4:00 pm, the Magna Library at 4:00 pm and the West Valley Library at 7:00 pm.

GRIZZLIES AWARD BANQUET
The 2004 Utah Grizzlies Award Banquet has been set for Monday, April 5th at a TBD time and location. Be sure to reserve your seats by calling Marilyn Hunnewell at (801) 988-8039 to get your seat at the best table.

GRIZZLIES HOTLINE
Be sure to check out the Utah Grizzlies Information Hotline at (801) 988-8005 to get the latest news and information about the Grizzlies and while your surfing the web check out www.utahgrizzlies.com for all the latest growls from your favorite hockey team.

WHAT'S ON TAP
Wed. Mar. 3 – @ Hartford Wolf Pack, Hartford Civic Center - - 5:05 PM mst – ESPN Radio 1230-AM
Fri. Mar. 5 – @ Milwaukee Admirals, Bradley Center - - 6:00 PM mst – ESPN Radio 1230-AM
Sat. Mar. 6 – @ Houston Aeros, Toyota Center - - 6:00 PM mst – ESPN Radio 1230-AM
Sun. Mar. 7 – @ San Antonio Rampage, SBC Center - - 3:00 PM mst – ESPN Radio 1230-AM
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