Grizzlies Fall 3-2 in Series Finale
Stateline, Nevada – The Utah Grizzlies fall to the Tahoe Knight Monsters 3-2 in the weekend series finale on Sunday evening. Noah Ganske had 1 goal and 1 assist and Reed Lebster had 2 assists to lead the Utah charge. Tahoe was led by 2 goals and 1 assist from Samuel Mayer, who scored the game winner 16:57 into the third period.
Noah Ganske gave Utah a 1-0 lead as he scored from the right wing 8:43 in. Grizzlies led 1-0 after 20 minutes of play, outshooting Tahoe 15 to 4 in the first period and 37 to 22 for the contest. Utah has taken 289 shots over their last 7 games.
Mayer got Tahoe on the board 58 seconds into the second period. Mayer fired a shot from the right point that was redirected by Tahoe captain Luke Adam 6:33 in to give the Knight Monsters a 2-1 lead.
Utah forward Evan Friesen tied the game 8:54 into the third period on a centering pass from Ganske. Utah has a third period goal in 15 of their last 16 games. Tahoe game winner was scored by Mayer from the left point with 3:03 left in regulation. Grizzlies got a late third period power play after Tahoe’s Casey Bailey was called for a boarding penalty 18:57 in. Utah had some chances on the power play but ran out of time as Tahoe held on for their third straight win.
Utah’s Dominic Basse stopped 19 of 22 in the loss. Tahoe’s Jacob Mucitelli saved 10 of 11 in the first 8:43 of the contest before he left the game. Jordan Papirny replaced Mucitelli and saved 25 of 26 as he earned his 10th win of the season.
Tyler Gratton led Utah with 7 shots. Danny Dzhaniyev was among four different Grizzlies skaters to have 4 shots on goal. Dzhaniyev leads the league with 135 shots on goal this season. Reed Lebster had a point in all three games in the weekend series at Tahoe (2 goals, 2 assists).
The Grizzlies return to Maverik Center for their first home game in 34 days as they host the Kansas City Mavericks for a three-game series on January 16-17 at 7:10 pm and January 18 at 3:10 pm. Tickets for every Grizzlies home game are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.
3 stars
- Samuel Mayer (Tahoe) – 2 goals, 1 assist, +2, 3 shots.
- Luke Adam (Tahoe) – 1 goal.
- Jordan Papirny (Tahoe) – 25 of 26 saves.
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