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ECHL Utah Grizzlies

Late Goal Pushes Grizzlies Past Phantoms

November 18, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release


West Valley City, Utah - The first meeting between the Grizzlies and Philadelphia proved to be a match up to remember. Both headed into the game in third place of their respective division. With similarities such as these, momentum and energy shifted and unraveled into a nail bitter to the very end. In front of the season's largest crowd (9,837), the Grizzlies defeated the visiting Phantoms 3-2 improving to 8-9-0-1.

The Grizzlies hit the ice hard and set the tempo for most of the first period. In the waning moments of the first, Utah worked the power play perfectly. David Oliver was the recipient of a terrific pass from Jon Sim giving the Grizzlies the 1-0 lead.

The second period played much like the first. The Grizzlies carried the momentum and seemed to hustle more on each play. At the 7:46 mark Steve Gainey and Jim Montgomery peppered Phantom goalie Antero Niitymaki, Montgomery eventually got the goal on a loose puck in front of the net, Grizz went up 2-0. At that point the Grizzlies started to relax and it came back to hurt them. John Slaney took a shot on Corey Hirsch that got lost in the pads and trickled in the crease. Eric Betournay chipped the loose change home as he drove towards the net cutting the Grizzly lead to 2-1. Grizzlies didn't learn their lesson and less than three minutes later, Ben Stafford received a Mike Siklenka pass in the slot and beat Corey Hirsch over the shoulder tying the game at 2-2.

The third period saw both teams get physical and tempers started to flare. Neither the Grizzlies nor the Phantoms could take advantage of respective power plays. Finally in the last 2 minutes of play, Jon Sim held the puck in the offensive zone getting the puck to Steve Ott who found Jim Montgomery for the game winner. It was Montgomery's second goal of the night.

Corey Hirsch had a great night in net, recording 24 saves for Utah. Antero Niittymaki also played well, tallying 34 saves for Philadelphia.

3 STARS: 1. Jim Montgomery (Utah) 2 goals, 1 assist 2. Antero Niittymaki (Philadelphia) 34 saves. 3. Steve Gainey (Utah) 1 assist

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