Grizz Win 6-4 in the Black Hills

Grizzlies Win 6-4 in the Black Hills

Rapid City, South Dakota – Dylan Fitze scored 2 goals and 1 assist and Cameron Wright had 2 goals to lead the Utah Grizzlies to a 6-4 victory over the Rapid City Rush on Friday night at The Monument.

Dylan Fitze gave Utah a 1-0 lead on a power play goal 5:50 into the contest. Utah is now 9-3 this season when scoring first. Rapid City’s Max Coatta tied the game 13:13 into the first. The score was tied 1-1 after 1 period. Utah outshot RC 12 to 6.

In the second period Cameron Wright scored 4:21 in. Coatta scored his second of the game 6:57 in. 12 seconds later Cam Strong retook the lead for Utah. The Grizzlies led 3-2 after 40 minutes of play. Utah is now 9-1 when leading after 2 periods.

Coatta completed the hat trick 18 seconds into the third period. Fitze scored his second of the game 3:43 in to give Utah the lead. Wright scored his second of the game 5:24 in. Rush forward Lucas Feuk scored his first goal of the season 13:47 in. Grizz forward Keaton Jameson scored an empty net goal to complete the scoring as Utah ended a 6 game losing streak.

Wright led Utah with 9 shots on goal. He leads all league rookies with 107 shots on goal this season. Wright got the game winner, which was his 4th of the season.

Utah’s Garrett Metcalf saved 26 of 30 to earn the victory as he goes to 6-1 on the season. RC’s Daniil Chechelev stopped 30 of 35 in the loss.

Utah was 2 for 4 on the power play and was 3 for 3 on the penalty kill. Utah outshot RC 36 to 30.

The rubber match of the three game series is on Saturday night at 7:05 pm. Utah is 2-2 vs Rapid City this season. Utah’s next home game is on January 16th at 3:10 pm vs Idaho for Sensory Friendly Day and Nickelodeon Day.

3 stars

1. Max Coatta (RC) – 3 goals, +3, 6 shots.
2. Cameron Wright (Utah) – 2 goals, +1, 9 shots. GWG.
3. Dylan Fitze (Utah) – 2 goals, 1 assist, 4 shots.