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WEST VALLEY CITY — Utah Grizzlies have been a different team since Christmas at 4-1-1-0, but Tuesday night they fell just short in a 3-2 shootout out loss to the Las Vegas Wranglers.
The Grizzlies were coming off an East Coast road trip in Orlando where they were happy to leave with three points in the standings. Against the Wranglers, the Grizzlies grab another point.
“We’re controlling the pace, control the play, we played really good hockey, we need to tighten up defensively and make sure we have that full effort for 60 minutes," Utah Grizzlies head coach Tim Branham said.
Last time the two teams met it only took 16 seconds for the Wranglers to score, but Tuesday it only took the Grizzlies 1:30 to strike first. Mathieu “The Rocket” Aubin scored his sixth goal of the season give the Grizzlies the early lead.
Moments later, the Wranglers tied things up at 1 with a first-period goal. The Grizzlies dominated on the offensive end where they kept getting some great looks on the Las Vegas goaltender but couldn’t get anything to fall in the net.
Utah's Michael Pelech got a steal at mid-ice and faked out the Las Vegas goaltender with a breakaway goal to give the Grizzlies a 2-1 lead in the second period. With the goal, Pelech extends his scoring streak to six straight contests.
For the year, the Grizzlies have scored 28 of their 71 goals in the second period.
In the third period of play the Wranglers, who entered the contest on a 10-game losing streak, were not going away without a late push. They scored in the third period to tie things up at 2-2 to eventually send the game into overtime.
The Grizzlies and Wranglers ended the night in a shootout. Aubin scored as the first shooter in the shootout, but it wasn’t enough for the Grizzlies.
Utah, which has the sixth-best home record in the ECHL at 8-4-1-3, is now 1-1-1-1 in its last four.
"It’s good we are getting points, but it’s not good enough, we got to start climbing the standings," Branham said.
The two teams will be back in action on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. at Maverik Center. Follow David Winkworth on Twitter @RealDavidVito and listen to his podcast at http://sportsathome.webs.com/ for all the latest news and notes around the sporting world.
