Icemen Defeated Grizz 4-1

Icemen Defeated Grizzlies 4-1 on Thursday Night

West Valley City, Utah – Abbott Girduckis scored 1 goal and 2 assists and James Sanchez had 1 goal and 1 assist to lead the Jacksonville Icemen to a 4-1 win over the Utah Grizzlies in a battle of first place teams in the first game of Grizzlies Fight Cancer Weekend presented by FedEx at Maverik Center.

Jacksonville got on the board 3:15 in on a power play goal as Ben Hawerchuk redirected a Girduckis shot to give the Icemen the lead. Brian Bowen tied it up as he scored his team leading 16th goal of the season with 50 seconds left in the first period. Bowen has 8 goals in his last 9 games.

The Icemen got a 5 on 3 power play after Bowen was called for a hooking minor 7:31 in and 1 minute 11 seconds later Utah was called for too many men on the ice. Jacksonville took the lead as James Sanchez scored from the right circle 9:14 in. The Icemen led 2-1 after 2 periods.

Girduckis and Derek Lodermeier each scored empty net goals in the final 2 minutes of play to conclude the scoring. Jacksonville outshot Utah 28 to 27 in a game where every goal was scored on the special teams. Jacksonville had 2 power play goals and 2 shorthanded goals and Utah scored on the power play.

Icemen goaltender Francois Brassard saved 23 of 28 and Utah’s Peyton Jones saved 24 of 26.

Same teams will meet at Maverik Center on Friday night at 7:10 pm. The Grizzlies wore specialty jerseys on Thursday night and will wear them again on Friday. The game worn jersey’s will be up for bid on the Dash Auction App. Tickets are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.

3 stars

1, Abbott Girduckis (Jacksonville) – 1 goal, 2 assists.

2. James Sanchez (Jacksonville) – 1 goal, 1 assist.

3. Ben Hawerchuk (Jacksonville) – 1 goal.