It’s a Party of Five in Utah’s Victory over Kansas City
West Valley City, Utah – The Utah Grizzlies score five unanswered goals, including four in the third period as they defeated the Kansas City Mavericks 5-2 in front of a crowd of 5165 at Maverik Center.
Neither team scored in the first period with both clubs registering 9 shots on goal. Kansas City took a 1-0 lead on Damien Giroux’s 10th goal of the season 2:41 into the second frame. 2 minutes 2 seconds later Cade Borchardt scored his league leading 22nd goal of the season to extend KC’s lead. Utah got on the board as Cody Corbett scored from a sharp angle 16:45 in as he scored his first goal in a Utah uniform. Utah now has a second period goal in 16 of their last 17 games. The Mavericks led 2-1 after 40 minutes of play.
Andrew Nielsen tied it up on a laser from the right point 1:56 into the third period. Derek Daschke scored the game winner on a power play 13:48 in. Daschke now has 5 goals on the season and he is averaging 1 point per game with 24 points in 24 games. Mick Messner added Utah’s second power play goal of the period 17:03 in. Keaton Mastrodonato and Neil Shea each picked up assists on each of Utah’s two power play goals. Cole Gallant capped off the night with an empty netter 17:35 in.
Gallant and Messner each had 1 goal and 1 assist in the victory. Jake Barczewski was solid in net for his fourth straight start has he stopped 30 of 32. Utah won the special teams battle as they went 2 for 3 on the power play and 3 for 3 on the penalty kill.
The Grizzlies are 5-2 over their last 7 games. Utah has scored 37 goals over their last 8 games. The Grizzlies ended Kansas City’s 8 game road winning streak.
The weekend series continues on Saturday night at 7:10 pm. Tickets are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.
3 stars
- Derek Daschke (Utah) – 1 goal, 5 shots.
- Mick Messner (Utah) – 1 goal, 1 assist, +2, 2 shots.
- Andrew Nielsen (Utah) – 1 goal, +2, 3 shots.