Utah Grizzlies vs Alaska Aces Post Game 1/6/10

The Grizzlies have somehow incurred the wrath of the hockey gods.

Well, maybe not, but we have no other explanation for the Grizzlies' 3rd periods as of late. Minus that last 20 minutes and the casualties (Hunter and Vlady), Utah played a good game. Multi-point nights for Kinasewich, Crowder, and May, some beautiful glove saves by O'Keefe, and a couple of decent fights from RJ. Not bad. And it turns out, Kotsy is one tough cookie to play against. But we kind of already knew that . . .

It was nice to see Hunter in a Grizzlies uniform again - for the 18 minutes he was on the ice, anyway. We'd forgotten how well Dylan and Snatch worked together: like a well-oiled machine, baby. We expected there to be at least a game's worth of adjustment time, but they were skating circles as soon as the puck hit the ice.

And as usual, the Utah Grizzlies site has the official post game and audio highlights, ECHL.com has the gamesheet, and our post game is below.


FIRST PERIOD

Apparently the 1st period started out with a fight, but we missed it because the B2 was being a pain. No luck finding highlights, either. We tuned in just in time to see Kotsy take out Beljo with a huge hit. Beljo bounced back ready to go, but the refs broke it up after a short shoving match. Boo. Utah is having no problem controlling the puck, and most of the 1st is spent in Alaska's end. At 18 minutes in, Hunter gets a breakaway, but is taken out by Alaska and slides/crashes into the boards. No call. Snatch kept the play alive, shooting it toward the net where Maxwell knocked it in to put the Grizzlies on the board. A very pretty goal. But Hunter is out for the rest of the game.

End of first. 1-0, Grizzlies.


SECOND PERIOD

This period was littered with more bodies than a Tarantino film. 4 minutes in, Vlady is smacked in the face with a stick and goes down. Casualty #2 for the Grizzlies. Blood on the ice; Vlady's a tough kid, though. Alaska gets a double minor for high-sticking, but the Grizzlies do nothing with their 4 minutes. (No, we're not kidding.) During the power play, Alaska's Burt blocks a puck and is injured in the process. RJ goes for fight #2 of the night. Galbraith is checked head first into the boards by a former teammate, and O'Keefe gets mowed down in the net during that same run. Somewhere in there, Alaska ties it up. But Utah responds with 1.3 seconds left in the period to regain the lead. Crowder's second goal of the season and points to May and Snatch for the assists. Nice.

End of second. 2-1, Grizzlies.


THIRD PERIOD

Utah flounders on the ice. Alaska scores 4 goals. Carpentier tallies with :11 left in the 3rd, but the Grizzlies run out of time.

Game.
5-3, Aces.


Kinasewich was the 2nd Star of the Game.


Luck, Grizzlies!