AHL Utah Grizzlies

Grizzlies split series with Cleveland

Published on February 17, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release


A LOOK AT LAST WEEK (1-1-0-0)
Saturday Vs. Cleveland Win 5-3
Monday Vs. Cleveland Loss 2-1

The Grizzlies were feeling the love in the third period as they skated past the Cleveland Barons at the ‘E' Center Saturday in a 5-3 Valentines Day victory in front of 7,938. Four third-period goals sealed the victory as Mathias Tjarnqvist picked up a hat trick. Rob Valicevic kept the Grizzlies in the game by tying the score twice before Tjarnqvist put in the game winner. The Grizzlies opened the first period scoring when Mathias Tjarnqvist found the net assisted by Rob Valicevic and Warren Peters. However, Cleveland didn't take long to respond as Miroslav Zalesak got one past Ron Tugnutt at 15:14 of the first. In the second period Cleveland would take the lead at the 7:12 mark when Zalesak scored his second of the game on Tugnutt. Tugnutt finished with 22 saves.
Rob Valicevic raised the Grizzlies' emotional level in the third period when he tied the game on the power play at the 10:08 mark. This was the beginning of a fierce offensive rally by the Grizzlies who outshot the Barons 28-11 in the third period alone. Cleveland's Tavis Hansen put the Barons on top again at 15:44 of the third period but Utah responded with three consecutive goals. Valicevic scored his second of the game and his 6th of the season at the 16:50 mark. Mathias Tjarnqvist continued the scoring drive, registering the game winner at 17:59 of the third. Tjarnqvist completed the hat trick with an empty netter with 39 seconds remaining in the game. Tjarnqvist now has 9 goals on the season. Valicevic finished the game with five points tying the franchise record set by Chris Taylor and John Purves and the team's 28 shots on goal in the third period beat the old record of 23 set back in 2001.
The Grizzlies faced Cleveland again in a President's Day matinee at the ‘E' Center. Utah let the Barons score two unanswered third period goals to take a 2-1 victory Monday. Barons goaltender Seamus Kotyk got the win with 21 stops. Ron Tugnutt made 31 saves in a losing effort for Utah falling to 1-3-1 on the season. The Grizzlies opened the first period with some of the emotion from Saturday's victory. It only took 1:22 for Steve Gainey to redirect a shot by Gerard DiCaire into the net and pick up his 7th goal of the season. But the emotion wouldn't last. The offense for both teams was cold through the rest of the first period and throughout the scoreless second before Cleveland took over. The Barons became much more aggressive in the third period scoring two goals and fending off a Grizzlies offense that managed only 7 shots in the final frame. Jon DiSalvatore struck first on netminder Ron Tugnutt at 1:53 of the third before Jesse Fibiger was able to slap in an easy game winner in front of the net at the 5:42 mark. Tugnutt finished with 31 saves.


ROSTER REPORT
Goaltender Dan Ellis was re-called by Dallas. Left wing Charles Linglet was released from his contract by Utah. Defenseman Regan Darby was re-assigned to the Idaho Steelheads. Defenseman David Cornacchia was re-called to Utah from Idaho. Goaltender Ron Tugnutt was assigned by the Dallas Stars for conditioning. Left wing Steve Gainey was traded by Dallas to the Philadelphia Flyers for right wing Mike Siklenka who was assigned to Utah.

WESTERN DIVISION STANDINGS
Rank Team W L T OTL PTS
1. Grand Rapids 33 14 8 0 74
2. Milwaukee 28 14 6 3 65
3. Chicago 26 18 7 3 62
4. Cincinnati 21 23 7 1 50
5. Houston 18 26 10 3 49
6. San Antonio 21 23 6 0 48
7. Utah 17 30 4 3 41

THIS WEEK'S OPPONENT
Chicago – 26-18-7-3, 62 pts. (3rd - West Division)...The Wolves are on a three game winless streak. Chicago has faced division opponents in their last six contests winning only once. Steve Maltais leads the Wolves in scoring with 43 points.
Houston – 18-26-10-3, pts. (5th - West Division)...The Aeros have not posted a win since they last met Utah on Feb. 5. Their six losses since that game have all come against division opponents. Goaltender Johan Holmqvist has allowed 10 goals in his last three games.

GRIZZLIES THREE STARS OF THE WEEK
1.) Mathias Tjarnqvist- Scored a hat trick including the game winner in Saturday's victory over Cleveland
2.) Rob Valicevic- Tied the franchise record of five points in one game on Saturday
3.) Ron Tugnutt- made 53 saves on 58 shots in going 1-1 last week

A FOND FAREWELL
On Monday the Grizzlies saw four-year Grizzly Steve Gainey play his last game with the team scoring a goal and being named second star of the contest. Following the game, the 231 game veteran in Grizzlies' gear was dealt by the Dallas Stars to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for right wing Mike Siklenka. Gainey had scored 108 points in his 303 game career and was a third round draft selection of the Dallas Stars in the 1997 NHL draft.

SMITH PUT ON THE SHELF
Grizzly goaltender Mike Smith will miss the next 6-8 weeks and maybe the rest of the season after undergoing surgery for a sports hernia last week. The second year Grizzly had made great strides this season in his first full campaign in the AHL by going 8-11-0 with a 2.83 goals against average and two shutouts.

GATHER WITH THE GRIZZLIES
The Grizzlies season-long library campaign continues this week with appearances at four different Salt Lake County libraries on Wednesday, February 18. At 4:00, Grizzlies will visit Whitmore and Draper Library and at 7:00 PM players will visit Sandy and Tyler Library. The final date on the Gather with the Grizzlies tour will be on Tuesday, March 9 when the team visits Herriman, Magna and West Valley Libraries.

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
Fri. Feb. 20 – Vs. Chicago Wolves, ‘E' Center - - 7:05 PM mst – ESPN Radio 1230-AM
Sun. Feb. 22 – Vs. Houston Aeros, ‘E' Center - - 3:05 PM mst – ESPN Radio 1230-AM
Wed. Feb. 25 – @ Chicago Wolves, Allstate Arena - - 6:00 PM mst – ESPN Radio 1230-AM
Thu. Feb. 26 – @ Grand Rapids, Van Andel Arena - - 6:00 PM mst – ESPN Radio 1230-AM

SLAP SHOTS
~On Saturday the Grizzlies set a new franchise record for shots in a period with 28
~Rob Valicevic tied the franchise record for points in a game scoring five (2G, 3A) on Saturday
~Mathias Tjarnqvist had a hat trick in Saturday's victory including the game winner, it was the third hat trick of the season for Utah with Jarrod Skalde owning the other two
~David Gove notched two assists in the win Saturday
~Utah won for the first time on Saturday night when allowing three or more goals in a game

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American Hockey League Stories from February 17, 2004


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