WEST VALLEY CITY — The Utah Grizzlies lost 4-2 to the Ontario Reign Friday night at the Maverik Center, falling into a 3-1 series deficit that leaves them just a game away from elimination from the ECHL playoffs.

The Grizzlies had gutted out a tough win Wednesday night to make the second-round series 2-1, but dropped their first regulation home game thus far in the postseason to fall into a deep hole. They’ll now need to win three straight games, two of which would be back in Ontario, to advance to the conference final.

The first period began slowly, with neither team getting much going in the way of major scoring chances or consistent control. But consecutive penalties, one to each team, spiced the game up midway through the frame. The Grizzlies went on the man advantage first but were unsuccessful, but an ensuing Utah penalty gave the Reign the power play and they capitalized, with Garry Nunn tucking home a rebound from a Rocco Carzo slap shot to open the scoring.

The teams continued to trade moderate shots following the goal, but both failed to generate quality chances. A couple more power-plays for the Grizzlies came and went quietly with no real danger, and the period ended with a 1-0 score in favor of the Reign. A scrap after the buzzer had sounded resulted in a penalty to Utah’s Danick Paquette, one he’d regret later on.

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Grizzlies top Reign 4-2, cut second-round deficit to 2-1

The Utah Grizzlies twice rallied from down a goal, defeating the Ontario Reign 4-2 Wednesday night to pull within a 2-1 deficit in their second-round ECHL playoff series. (Photo: Ben Dowsett)

The Reign opened on the resulting power play, and quickly cashed in to stretch their lead just over a minute into the period. A nice group of passes around the Grizzlies’ shorthanded group found Dennis Brown to the right of the goal, and he shot a sharp pass right in front to Maxim Kitsyn, who tipped the puck beautifully into the top shelf of the goal to make the score 2-1.

The Grizzlies responded in short order, though. They quickly drew another Ontario penalty and cut the lead to one just 30 seconds later on the power play, with Ryan Hayes gliding in and firing a quick wrist shot past Ontario goalie Jussi Olkinuora. Hayes would be in on the action again roughly seven minutes later, bursting forward on a two-on-one attack with defenseman Patrick Wellar before sliding a slick pass across the ice to his teammate, who fired it home to tie the score at 2-2 with just over 11 minutes to go in the second period.

The teams would trade off further penalties over the remainder of the period, with five called in all between the two in the 20-minute frame. But none would yield any more scoring, and the teams went into the second intermission tied at two.

The final period began with some more fireworks just two minutes in. Ontario held the puck in the Grizzlies’ zone following a failed clearance, and a defensive breakdown from Utah led to Tristan King finding a wide open Nunn in front of the net, who beat Grizzlies goalie Igor Bobkov for his second goal of the game to give the Reign a 3-2 lead.

But despite being down a goal, the Grizzlies posted only a mediocre effort to attempt to close the gap. They were gifted two consecutive lengthy five-on-three power plays after a couple silly Ontario penalties, but hardly tested Olkinuora despite over two minutes of combined two-man advantage. An empty-net goal from King sealed the win for the Reign. The Grizzlies were the sloppier team on the night and weren’t able to make up for it, pushing them to the brink of elimination in the process.

The teams will meet again for game five Saturday night back at the Maverik Center at 7:00 p.m. local time. It will be the Grizzlies’ final home game of the season barring three consecutive victories to win the series and advance.

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