Boucher’s Hat Trick Leads Grizzlies to Victory
West Valley City, Utah – Matthew Boucher scored 3 goals in the third period to turn a 2-1 Tulsa Oilers lead into a 4-2 Utah Grizzlies victory on Wednesday night at Maverik Center.
Tulsa’s Adam Pleskach scored 2 goals early in the game to give them a 2-0 lead. He scored on the power play with 4:09 left in the first. Pleskach made it 2-0 as he scored 16:33 into the second. 40 seconds later Matt Hoover got a pass from Cedric Pare and scored his 3rd goal in his last 5 games. Hoover took home the 2nd star honors of the night with 1 goal and 1 assist. Tulsa led 2-1 after 2 periods.
The third period belonged to Boucher, who tied the game 2:34 into the period. With 1 minute 57 seconds left Boucher scored on a centering pass from Jack Jenkins to give Utah a 3-2 lead. 36 seconds later Boucher completes the hat trick with an empty net goal.
Utah goaltender Trevor Gorsuch saved 30 of 32 in his first start in a Grizzlies uniform. He is now 6-1 in his ECHL career.
Utah’s Michael Prapavessis and Brandon Fehd were each a +3 in the win. Tulsa went 1 for 6 on the power play, while Utah went 0 for 5.
The series continues on Friday night at 7:10 pm in game 2 of the 4 game series. Tickets are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8022.
3 stars
- Matthew Boucher (Utah) – 3 goals, +2.
- Matt Hoover (Utah) – 1 goal, 1 assist.
- Adam Pleskach (Tulsa) – 2 goals.
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