Beaucage Delivers a Virtuoso Performance in Utah’s 5-4 Comeback Victory
West Valley City, Utah – Alex Beaucage capped off an amazing 2 goal and 3 assists performance with the game winner 2:53 into overtime as the Utah Grizzlies overcame a 4-2 third period deficit as they won 5-4 in front of a big crowd of 8,519 at Maverik Center.
Beaucage got the party started as he scored on the game’s first shift 44 seconds into the contest. Rapid City tied it up on a Riley Ginnell one-timer 2:14 in. Rush took a 2-1 lead as Billy Constantinou got his third of the year 11:20 in. Later in the period Utah got a 5 on 3 power play and Brett Stapley scored as the puck bounced off of two Rapid City players 19:23 in. The score was tied 2-2 after one period.
Logan Nelson gave the Rush a 3-2 lead 1:56 into the second period. It was the only goal of the second frame as Rapid City outshot Utah 15 to 7 in the period.
The Rush extended the lead to 4-2 as Alex Aleardi scored on the power play 3:04 into the third period. Utah got back in the game as Brandon Cutler scored his team leading 27th of the season 7:45 in. Utah got a power play late in the period and Cutler scored his second of the night on a great pass from Brett Stapley 16:27 in to tie the score at 4-4. Stapley assisted on both of Cutler’s third period goals as he now leads Utah with 37 assists on the season.
Beaucage got Utah’s fifth goal of the night 2:53 into overtime. It was the Grizz fifth overtime win of the regular season as they are now 5-2 in games decided past regulation. The five point effort for Beaucage is a career-high for a single game.
Brandon Cutler had 2 goals and 1 assist. Brett Stapley had 1 goal and 2 assists. Will Cranley got the win in net for Utah as he stopped 26 of 30. Rapid City got 1 goal and 2 assists from Logan Nelson and 1 goal and 1 assist for Alex Aleardi. Rush goaltender Conner Murphy saved 23 of 28 in the loss.
The crowd of 8,519 at Maverik Center was the fifth time this season Utah has had more than 8,500 fans. The Grizzlies are averaging 5,989 fans per game and are on pace for their best average attendance since the 2002-2003 season where the Grizz averaged 6,353 fans per game.
The rubber match of the three-game set is on Monday night at 7:10 pm. Tickets are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.
3 stars
- Alex Beaucage (Utah) – 2 goals, 3 assists, 5 points, +2, 8 shots, 2 PIM.
- Brandon Cutler (Utah) – 2 goals, 1 assist, 4 shots.
- Brett Stapley (Utah) – 1 goal, 2 assists, 2 shots.
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