Grizz Win Thrilling 5-4 Saturday Shootout
West Valley City, Utah – Mitch Maxwell scored 1 goal and had the game winning goal in the fifth round of a shootout as the Utah Grizzlies defeated the Tulsa Oilers 5-4 on Saturday night at Maverik Center.
Ty Lewis, Griffen Molino and Tim McGauley each had 1 goal and 1 assist for Utah in the game. Molino and Mcgauley are each a +22 in 11 games in the month of December.
Tulsa got the scoring started as Adam Pleskach lit the lamp 5:09 into the first. Pleskach, who led the league in goals last season with 38 had 2 tonight. Mitch Maxwell tied up the game 7:51 into the first. Molino gave Utah a 2-1 lead halfway through the first period. Late in the first Cam Knight got a power play goal for the Oilers and the game was tied 2-2 after 1 period.
Tim McGauley scored his 11th of the season 13:02 into the second period to put Utah back on top 3-2. 55 seconds later Tulsa’s Miles Liberati scored his 6th of the year. Liberati ended the night with 1 goal and 2 assists.
Pleskach gave the Oilers a 4-3 lead 11:28 into the third. They held onto the lead until Ty Lewis scored on a delayed penalty with 2:20 left in regulation. It was Lewis 12th goal of the season in 15 games. Lewis has 9 goals and 6 assists in his last 6 games.
In overtime the Grizzlies outshot Tulsa 10 to 1 but Oilers goaltender Olle Eriksson Ek made 1 big save after another to keep the game going. For the game Utah outshot Tulsa 38 to 31.
In the shootout Utah went 4 for 5, while Tulsa was 3 for 5. In the fifth round of the shootout Utah goalie Martin Ouellette denied Cory Ward. That gave Maxwell the chance to win the game and he got it past Eriksson Ek to give Utah the extra standings point as they are now 8-1-2 in the month of December.
The final home game of the decade for the Grizzlies is on Monday night at Maverik Center against Tulsa to complete the 3 game series. Face-off is at 7:00 pm and can be seen on ECHL.TV. Tickets are available at utahgrizzlies.com.
3 Stars.
- Griffen Molino (Utah) – 1 goal, 1 assist. +2. 6 shots on goal.
- Tim McGauley (Utah) – 1 goal, 1 assist. +3. 4 shots on goal.
- Mitch Maxwell (Utah) – 1 goal. GWG in shootout.
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