Grizzlies Win a 5-4 Thriller at Maverik Center
West Valley City, Utah – The Utah Grizzlies got 1 goal and 2 assists from Neil Shea, 2 goals from Keaton Mastrodonato and Jake Barczewski made 34 key saves as they defeated the Kansas City Mavericks 5-4 on a Saturday night at Maverik Center.
Neil Shea got Utah on the board first 12:17 in. Shea has scored 14 goals and 9 assists in 15 games this season. Shea has a point in 9 straight home games. Cody Corbett extended Utah’s lead 19:24 in as he now has scored a goal in back to back games. Utah led 2-0 after one period, outshooting KC 12 to 6.
Keaton Mastrodonato made it a 3-0 game as he scored his fifth goal of the season 9:46 into the second period. KC’s David Cotton scored a power play goal 12:10. Jake Barczewski made an unbelievable glove save crawling to his left with 3:05 left in the second period. Utah led 3-1 after 40 minutes of play.
Briley Wood gave Utah some insurance with his 12th goal of the season 2:13 into the third period to give the Grizzlies a 4-1 lead. Mavericks forward Jackson Berezowski found the back of the net 3:36 in. Max Andreev cut into Utah’s advantage 12:23 as he made it a one goal game. Mastrodonato scored on an empty net with 2:07 left in regulation. That goal turned out to be the game winner as Marcus Crawford scored from the high slot 18:58 in. The Mavericks put together a strong rally to try to tie up the game but the Grizzlies held on to complete a two-game weekend sweep, outscoring KC 10 to 6.
Utah is 6-2 over their last 8 games and they have scored 42 goals in their last 9 games. Jake Barczewski has been outstanding in net over his last 5 starts as he has a 4-1 record with a .920 save percentage and a 2.61 goals against average.
The Grizzlies begin a four game road trip on Wednesday night at Cincinnati. Utah’s next home game is on January 24, 2025 vs Wichita. Tickets for every Grizzlies home game are available at utahgrizzlies.com.
3 stars
- Neil Shea (Utah) – 1 goal, 2 assist, +2, 2 shots.
- Keaton Mastrodonato (Utah) – 2 goals, +2, 2 shots.
- Jake Barczewski (Utah) – 34 saves.
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