Grizzlies Deliver Massive Third Period Comeback in Tahoe
Stateline, Nevada – The Utah Grizzlies scored five third period goals in a 4 minute 11 second stretch to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 7-4 victory over the Tahoe Knight Monsters on a Friday night at Tahoe Blue Event Center.
Reilly Connors gave Utah a 1-0 lead as he scored 42 seconds into the contest. Tahoe scored power play goals from Luke Adam 5:50 in and Trent Swick 19:56 in as they took a 2-1 lead after one frame.
Utah’s John Gelatt tied it up 8:45 into the second period. Tahoe retook the lead on Jake McGrew’s 12th goal of the campaign 13:37 in.
The Knight Monsters extended their lead on Kevin Wall’s goal 3:22 into the third period. Utah's Evan Friesen redirected a Luke Antonacci shot 15:18 into the third period to make it a 4-3 game. 40 seconds later Reilly Connors tied it up with his second goal of the night. Utah got their 6th power play of the game as Trent Swick got a boarding minor 16:57 in. Reed Lebster scored from the left circle 17:28 in for his fifth game winning goal of the season to give Utah a 5-4 lead. Tyler Gratton added some insurance with an empty net goal 18:59 in. Lebster scored his second goal of the night with an empty net goal 19:29 in. The Grizzlies get the three goal victory as their road record goes to 14-11-2 on the season.
Utah has scored 16 goals in the first two games in the series. The Grizzlies have scored 9 third period goals in their last two games. Reilly Connors has 4 goals and 1 assist in his last 2 games. Reed Lebster has 2 straight two goal games in Tahoe. Lebster is second in the league with 26 goals this season. Utah has 10 power play goals in their last 8 games.
Dominic Basse gets the victory as he stopped 29 of 33 for Utah.
Earlier in the day, defenseman Saige Weinstein was reassigned to Utah from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles.
The Grizzlies will look for a three-game sweep at Tahoe on Saturday night at 8:05 pm. The next homestand for the Grizzlies will be on February 10 vs Idaho at 7:10 pm and February 13-14, 16 vs Bloomington. Tickets for every Grizzlies home game are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.
3 stars
1. Reed Lebster (Utah) – 2 goals, +1, 7 shots.
2. Reilly Connors (Utah) – 2 goals, +2, 9 shots.
3. Evan Friesen (Utah) – 1 goal, 1 assist, +1, 2 shots.
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