Sports stats

ECHL Utah Grizzlies

Grizzlies Pounded By Aeros

March 29, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release


West Valley City, Utah - Game two of a three game set with the Houston Aeros had the Grizzlies on their heels almost the entire game as the visiting Aeros pounded the Grizzlies to a 6-0 trouncing taking a 7-2 lead in the season series.

The first period started off with an early scare for Utah at the 2:11 mark when then puck crossed the Grizzlies goalmouth as a sprawled out Jason Bacashihua lost site of the biscuit. Referee Brian Pochmara called it a no-goal due to a Houston glove, batting the puck into the net. The Aeros kept the pressure coming even when being a man down as Greg Hawgood coughed up the puck at center ice and Houston center Dan Cavanaugh brought the puck across the Utah blue line and let loose a vicious slap shot at the far circle that hit Bacashihua in the chest but had enough momentum to flip over Bacashihua's shoulder and into the net giving Houston the 1-0 lead at the 13:47 mark.

The Aeros didn't stop there as less than three minutes later they added to their lead, this time with the man advantage. Erik Reitz received the puck at the top of the slot and blasted a slap shot past Bacashihua who had a bunch of skaters in front of him. Houston extended their lead to 2-0.

In the waning moments of the first period, Houston added yet another goal as the Grizzlies got in penalty trouble once again, giving up a man advantage. Heading into the locker rooms, Utah trailed 3-0 after twenty minutes of play.

In the second period at the 6:01 mark, Jim Montgomery made a beautiful back-handed move to beat Houston goalie Johan Holmqvist but had the goal called off due to a Grizzly player in the crease as the puck went into the net. That was the closest Utah came to lighting the lamp all night as the Aeros almost completely controlled the game from then on. At the 6:25 mark of the second, Travis Roche got the puck at the top of the slot on the Utah end and drifted to the near circle and shot a laser wrister into the top corner of the net past Bacashihua to make it a 4-0 game.

Less than a minute later, Houston forward Stephan Veilleux received the puck at the Utah blue line and rocketed a slap shot at Bacashihua that slipped through traffic and into the back of the net at 7:12, extending the lead to 5-0. At that point Utah Head Coach Don Hay pulled the plug on Jason Bacashihua and replaced him with Corey Hirsch, but the damage had already been done.

In the third period the Aeros added a late power play goal when Zbynek Michalek scored his fifth goal of the season as Utah took out their frustrations on the ice and spent much of the second half of the third in the penalty box.

Corey Hirsch was solid in relief stopping 19 of 20 shots but it wasn't enough.

The teams will play again tomorrow in Houston with Utah looking to gain their first victory of the season in the Compaq Center.

Three Stars: 1. Johan Holmqvist (HOU) 28 saves 2. Hnat Domenichelli (HOU) 3 assists 3. Jean-Guy Trudel (HOU) 2 assists

Check out the Utah Grizzlies Statistics



ECHL Stories from March 29, 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