Grizzlies Fall 3-2 on Wednesday

Komets Defeat Grizzlies 3-2

West Valley City, Utah – The Fort Wayne Komets scored 3 times in the first period and held on to a 3-2 win over the Utah Grizzlies on Wednesday night at Maverik Center in the opener of the 3 game series.

Stephen Harper got the Komets on the board 2:40 in as he redirected a Nick Boka shot. Morgan Adams-Moisan made it 2-0 as he scored 7:46 in. AJ Jenks made it 3-0 on an unassisted shorthanded breakaway. The Komets led 3-0 after 1 period.

Matt Hoover got Utah on the board as he scored shorthanded on a 2 on 4 play 5:42 into the second. Matthew Boucher got his 27th assist of the year. Earlier on Wednesday Boucher was named to the ECHL all-rookie team, the first Grizzlies skater to be selected since Utah joined the league in the 2005-06 season. Mitch Maxwell scored on the power play 8:03 into the third period as he took the puck away from Fort Wayne goaltender Robbie Beydoun. The Komets withstood a furious Utah rally towards the end to secure the series opening win.

Utah went 1 for 5 on the power play, while Fort Wayne went 0 for 1. Utah is 30 for 30 on the penalty kill over the last 10 games. These teams met on Wednesday night for the first time since January 12, 2019, where Fort Wayne won 6-4 at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

Utah outshot Allen 35 to 24. Fort Wayne’s Beydoun saved 33 of 35 to earn his 7th win of the season and Utah’s Parker Gahagen saved 21 of 24. Earlier on Wednesday it was announced that Gahagen won the ECHL Goaltender of the Month for May 2021, where he went 8-2.

The 2nd game of the series is on Friday night at Maverik Center. Face-off is at 7:10 pm and can be seen on FloSports and heard on Mixlr. Tickets for Fan Appreciation Weekend on June 4-5 are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.

3 stars

1. AJ Jenks (Fort Wayne) – 1 goal.
2. Stephen Harper (Fort Wayne) – 1 goal.
3. Morgan Adams-Moisan (Fort Wayne) – 1 goal.