Grizz Win 5-2, Advance to Second Round
West Valley City, Utah – Kyle Betts scored 1 goal and 1 assist and Charle-Edouard D’Astous scored 2 goals to lead the Utah Grizzlies to a 5-2 victory over the Tulsa Oilers in front of 5,006 at Maverik Center as they win the best of 7 series 4 games to 3. Utah advances to the second round where they will face the Rapid City Rush.
Betts redirected a Luke Martin shot 9:37 in to get Utah on the board. It was a power play goal as Utah went 1 for 3 on the power play and was 2 for 2 on the penalty kill. Tulsa tied the game as Mike McKee scored 14:03 in. Utah retook the lead with 26 seconds left in the period as Charle-Edouard D’Astous scored on a one-timer from the right circle on a pass from Ben Tardif. Utah led 2-1 after 1 period.
Trey Bradley scored a shorthanded tally 9:04 into the second. Utah led the league with 20 shorthanded goals in the regular season. The Grizz led 3-1 after 2 periods. Luka Burzan scored 2:37 into the third. Eddie Matsushima scored on a penalty shot 9:50 into the third. It counted as a shorthanded goal as Utah was on the power play. D’Astous ended the scoring with an empty net goal with 35 seconds left. D’Astous led the league with 9 goals in the first round of the playoffs.
Ben Tardif and Zach Tsekos each had 2 assists. Tardif had 11 assists in the 7 game series. Luke Martin had 1 assist and was a +3 for Utah.
Trent Miner saved 31 of 33 in net for Utah. Miner won 3 games in the series. Tulsa’s Daniel Mannella stopped 30 of 34.
It’s the first playoff series win for the Grizzlies since 2016 when they defeated Colorado 4 games to 2. It was only the 2nd game 7 in Grizzlies franchise history. The other game 7 came on May 15, 1996 as they defeated Peoria 3-0 at Delta Center.
Utah advances to the Mountain Division Finals as they face Rapid City in a best of 7 series. Utah hosts Rapid City for the first 2 games of the series on Friday and Saturday night at Maverik Center. Face-off both nights is at 7:10 pm and tickets are available at utahgrizzlies.com.
3 stars
- Kyle Betts (Utah) – 1 goal, 1 assist.
- Trey Bradley (Utah) – 1 goal.
- Zach Tsekos (Utah) – 2 assists.
Second Round Playoff Series
Game 1: Friday, May 6, 7:10 p.m.: Rapid City at Utah
Game 2: Saturday, May 7, 7:10 p.m.: Rapid City at Utah
Game 3: Monday, May 9, 7:05 p.m.: Utah at Rapid City
Game 4: Tuesday, May 10, 7:05 p.m.: Utah at Rapid City
Game 5 Wednesday, May 11, 7:05 p.m.: Utah at Rapid City
Game 6 Monday, May 16, 7:10 p.m.: Rapid City at Utah
Game 7 Tuesday, May 17, 7:10 p.m.: Rapid City at Utah
Games 5-7 are If Necessary. All Times Mountain.
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