Grizzlies Dethrone the Reign

West Valley, UT- “We don’t see things the way they are. We see things the way WE are.”- The Talmund

Although the Grizzlies were 13-6 coming into their Friday night matchup with the Ontario Reign, you would think they were 0-19 judging by the gloom that has seemed to be hanging over the team as of late. Granted, Utah did give up six goals last time out, escaping with a narrow 7-6 win over the Reign. And head coach Kevin Colley hasn't exactly been silent about his feelings that some members of the team have been playing "soft and scared." But shouldn't they be encouraged by the overall record to this point?

Perhaps a big home win could prove to be enough to allow Utah to shake their current Eeyore-like demeanor. But just 19 seconds into the first period, those rain clouds looked as though they would grow into a monsoon.

Ontario took the opening faceoff quickly down the ice, and before the Utah defense could even get back in the zone, James McEwan scored his first goal of the season, slapping the first shot of the game past Grizzlies goalie Mitch O'Keefe, giving the Reign a very early 1-0 lead. O'Keefe got the start between the pipes, despite giving up the afore mentioned six goals on Wednesday night to the same Ontario team.

Luckily, Utah did not panic.

The Grizzlies responded well, outshooting the Reign 6-3 over the next six minutes. And at 6:31, the offensive push paid off. Wingman Jadran Beljo scored his 8th goal of the season off passes from May and Kotsopoulos, tying the game at 1-1.

Kinasewich then added to his 17 shots in his first two games back with Utah by continuously pounding slap shots on goal throughout the first period. Fellow forward Vlady Nikiforov also refused to let Ontario get comfortable, putting two big shots on goal and keeping the Reign's defense on their heels. A direct result of challenging the defense usually is the creation of power plays, and that's exactly what the Grizzlies were able to do for the rest of the first period.

With 3:13 left in the frame, Ontario was called for a tripping minor, giving the ECHL's power play scoring leader Grizzlies a chance to display their strengths. And while it took the Reign just 19 seconds off the opening drop to score their first goal of the game, it took Utah a mere 17 seconds into their first power play to get goal number two of the night, as RW Shea Guthrie scored off passes from Dustin Friesen and May, giving May his second assist of the game. And at the first intermission, the Grizzlies took a 2-1 lead into the locker room.

Going into the second period, Utah picked up right where they left off when Tom May added a goal to his two assists just 2:31 into the period. And the Grizzlies weren't about to stop there. Not after seeing the Reign score 3 goals in 1:41 Wednesday night.

Sticking with their game plan, Utah forced Ontario to committ a hooking minor at 5:43, givng the Grizzlies another five-on four advantage. Moving quickly down the ice, darting in and out of defenders, Shea Guthrie took the puck coast to coast and buried it in the back of the net for an unassisted second goal of the game. Now leading 4-1, Utah fans in the E-Center were still hesitant to feel satisfied, no doubt remembering the previously noted six goals the Reign put on the board Wednesday night.

With a few minutes left in the period, Ontario proved that uneasy feeling to be well merited, as they were able to add another pelt to their collection of goals in West Valley, closing the gap to 4-2, and closing out the second period with the momentum now in their favor.

But if the Reign thought they were going to mount another stunning comeback against the Grizzlies, they would soon have those plans dashed to pieces, as the third period proved to be all-Grizzlies. Capped off with a goal by Nikiforov (his 20th of the year) and another assist for May (giving him a four point night). Forward A.J. Perry was also able to add an empty-netter, and Utah poured the rain out on the Reign, finding the morale-boosting victory they had been looking for.

Though he wasn't whistling Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah in his post game interview, Grizzlies head coach Kevin Colley certainly was in better spirits than he had been in recent days. "This is definitely a better feeling than we've had for the last while.
Anytime guys had an opportunity they made the most of it, and that's all you can ask out of them."

Utah will next welcome Idaho, their neighbors to the north, into the E-Center Saturday night. The Steelheads lost 6-1 to the Alaska Aces on Friday, and after a quick trip down I-15 are not likely to be in the cheeriest of moods. If you like physical, hard-hitting, short tempered hockey, this will be the game to watch.

Notice to the Steelheads: Grizzlies enjoy the taste of fish.

Austin Horton
1230 KFAN-2 (KJQS)