Grizz Win 6-3 in Complete Team Effort
West Valley City, Utah – The Utah Grizzlies got 1 goal and 1 assist from Keaton Mastrodonato and Vinny Duplessis saved 34 of 37 to earn his first professional victory in net as the Utah Grizzlies defeat the Tahoe Knight Monsters 6-3 on a Friday night at Maverik Center.
Mick Messner got Utah on the board 1:21 into the contest with his 6th goal of the season. Grizzlies captain Gianni Fairbrother scored his 7th of the year from the left wing 5:40 in. Grizz led 2-0 after 20 minutes of play.
Derek Daschke scored his 4th goal 57 seconds into the second. Daschke and Cole Gallant each appeared in their 100th professional game. Mastrodonato made it a 4-0 game 10:28 into the second period. Mastrodonato now has a 3-game goal scoring streak. Utah led 4-0 after 2 frames. The Grizz have scored a second period goal in 11 straight games and 35 of their 72 goals of the season have come in the middle frame.
Tahoe got on the board 12:14 into the third period as Logan Nelson got his 3rd of the year. Just over a minute later Craig Armstrong got his second of the season to extend Utah’s lead to 5-1. Tahoe scored 2 goals 20 seconds apart as Jake McGrew got his 7th of the campaign 17:34 in and Bear Hughes made it a 5-3 game 17:54 in. Neil Shea got an empty netter for the Grizz as he scored with 24 seconds left.
Tahoe outshot Utah 37 to 27. Neither team scored a power play goal as Tahoe was 0 for 2 and Utah was 0 for 3.
The Grizz are now 4-3-2 when scoring first this season. 4 may be the magic number for Utah as they are 6-1-1 when scoring 4 or more goals.
Luke Manning, Andrew Nielsen and Bryan Yoon each had 2 assists in the win. Yoon and Derek Daschke were each a +3 for the Grizz. Mick Messner was a +2 to lead Utah forwards.
The rubber match of the three-game series is on Saturday night for the Teddy Bear Toss and Ugly Sweater night. Tickets are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.
3 stars
- Vinny Duplessis (Utah) – 34 of 37 saves. First pro win.
- Keaton Mastrodonato (Utah) – 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 shots.
- Derek Daschke (Utah) – 1 goal, +3, 4 shots. 100th professional game.
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