ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Utah Grizzlies (4-3-1-0) defeated the Alaska Aces (4-4-0-1) 4-2 Wednesday night at Sullivan Arena to open the three-game series.
Grizzlies goaltender Ryan Faragher improved to 4-0 by stopping 28 of 30 shots in the game. Rookie Matt Berry scored twice to make the game 3-1 and 4-2 and Charles Sarault (one goal, one assist) and Eric Knodel (two assists) both had multiple-point nights.
“Our transition game was really good and we had no lapses,” said Head Coach/General Manager Tim Branham. “We played a solid game for 60 minutes.”
After Utah recorded the first five shots of the contest, Alaska came back on a two-on-one and knocked in a rebound to take a short lived 1-0 lead. The Grizzlies responded just over five minutes later as Ryan Misiak fed Josh MacDonald for a blast to tie at 8:50. Alex Krushelnyski also added an assist on the play.
Utah went up 2-1 with 2:43 left in the first period as Charles Sarault blasted home a shot from the circle as he played a puck off of the wall that Eric Knodel sent in from the neutral zone for his first of two assists on the game.
The Grizzlies made it 3-1 on a five-on-three power-play goal by Berry for his first of the night as he buried a shot from the circle with 13 seconds left on the two-man advantage 8:20 into the second period. Alaska made it 3-2 on the power-play just over three minutes later.
Utah scored an insurance goal 8:27 into the third period as Charles Sarault, on a designed play, won a face-off, pushed ahead and centered a wide open Berry for his second of the game.
With Utah Grizzlies team release
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