Grizzlies Sweep Rush With 3-2 Thriller
West Valley City, Utah – Hayden Hodgson scored on a tip-in from an Alex Lepkowski shot with 1:55 left in regulation to give the Utah Grizzlies a 3-2 victory over the Rapid City Rush on Saturday night to complete the 4 game sweep at Maverik Center.
The game began with a fight between Utah’s Mitch Maxwell and RC’s Tyson Empey right after the opening face-off. The Rush scored first 1:59 in as Peter Quenneville scored on a one-timer. It was a power play goal. Grizz forward Matt Hoover got in a fight with Brandon Magee 4:58 in. The Rush made it 2-0 as Stephen Baylis scored his 7th of the year 7:48 in. Maxwell got in his 2nd fight of the night 11:53 in, this time with Ian Edmondson. Rush led 2-0 after 1 period.
Grizzlies got a 5 on 3 power play for 1 minute 20 seconds after Cedric Montminy got a slashing minor 40 seconds after the Rush defenseman Darren Brady got a 4 minute roughing double minor. Matthew Boucher scored 7:51 in. It came with 5 seconds left in the Montminy penalty, keeping Utah on the power play. 29 seconds later Boucher scored again to tie the game. Ty Lewis got an assist on both of Boucher’s goals.
The game remained a 2-2 tie late in regulation. With 2 minutes left Utah won a face-off. Alex Lepkowski’s shot with 1:55 left was redirected by Hayden Hodgson to give Utah a lead. It turned out to be the game winner as Utah held on for their 4th win in a row.
Utah outshot Rapid City 32 to 26. Utah has outshot opponents in 12 of their last 13 games. Parker Gahagen started the game in net for Utah and saved 9 of 11. Peyton Jones replaced him for the final 2 periods and saved all 15 shots to earn his team leading 6th win of the season.
The Grizzlies ended the season series with a 12-2-1-1 record vs Rapid City. Utah is on the road next weekend for a 3 game series at Tulsa on May 14-16. The next homestand for the Grizz is a 4 game set vs Allen on may 19, 21-23. Tickets for every Grizzlies home game are available at utahgrizzlies.com.
3 stars
- Matthew Boucher (Utah) – 2 goals.
- Hayden Hodgson (Utah) – GWG with 1:55 left.
- Ty Lewis (Utah) – 2 assists.
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