Tsekos Scores OT Game Winner in Wichita

Grizzlies Win 5-4 in Overtime on Tsekos Game Winner

West Valley City, Utah – Zach Tsekos scored the game winning goal 6:22 into overtime as the Utah Grizzlies defeated the Wichita Thunder 5-4 in front of a crowd of 10,397 on Star Wars Night at INTRUST Bank Arena.

Wichita scored the lone goal in the first period as Quinn Preston scored his 19th of the season on the power play 16:19 in. The Thunder led 1-0 after 1 period. Utah’s Dylan Fitze tied the game 6:20 into the second period as he redirected an Aaron Thow shot. Keaton Jameson made it 2-1 Utah 7:45 in. Less than a minute later Aaron Thow scored 8:26 in to make it a 3-1 game. Utah scored 3 goals in a span of 2 minutes and 6 seconds. Wichita’s Jake Wahlin scored shorthanded unassisted 13:15 in. Utah led 3-2 after 2 periods. The Grizzlies are now 19-1 when leading after 2 frames.

Wichita tied it up 3-3 as Cameron Hough scored 1:20 in. Utah retook the lead as Thow scored his second of the game 7:19 in. Thow ended the night with 2 goals and 1 assist. The Thunder tied it up 4-4 as Jay Dickman scored 9:47 in. The score remained tied through the end of regulation.

Utah outshot Wichita 13 to 2 in overtime and 58 to 41 for the game. Cameron Wright and Trent Miner got the assists on the Tsekos game winner. Wright ended the night with 3 assists as he now is tied with Andrew Nielsen for the team lead with 41 points. Miner now has 3 assists on the season. Miner saved 37 of 41 as he earned his team leading 9th win of the season. Wichita’s Justin Kapelmaster saved 53 of 58.

Utah now has a standings point in 6 straight road games. The Grizzlies have scored 40 goals over their last 9 games. The road trip continues on Sunday afternoon at 3:05 pm mountain time at Wichita. The Grizzlies return to Maverik Center for a 3 game series vs Kansas City on March 10-11 at 7:10 pm and March 12 at 3:10 pm. The world famous Stanley Cup will be at Maverik Center on Saturday, March 12th. Tickets for every Grizzlies home game are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.

3 stars

1. Zach Tsekos (Utah) – GWG, 1 goal, 1 assist, +1, 7 shots.
2. Jake Wahlin (Wichita) – 1 goal, +2, 6 shots.
3. Aaron Thow (Utah) – 2 goals, 1 assist, +2, 4 shots.