Independence, Missouri – The Utah Grizzlies scored a season high 7 goals as Reed Lebster led the club with 2 goals and 1 assist and Robbie Stucker had 1 goal and 2 assists in a 7-4 victory over the Kansas City Mavericks on Friday night at Cable Dahmer Arena. 

Neil Shea got Utah on the board 6:52 into the contest for his 7^th goal of the campaign. 1:57 later it was Robbie Stucker scoring from the right point to extend Utah’s lead. Reed Lebster made it a 3-0 game when he scored on a pass from Luke Manning 12:10 in. Danny Dzhaniyev scored Utah’s fourth goal 17:12 in on a rebound from a Robbie Stucker shot. Utah led 4-0 after 20 minutes of play.

Maxim Barbashev scored unassisted for his first goal in a Utah uniform 6:54 into the second period. Kansas City’s Nolan Sullivan scored unassisted 10:25 in and exactly five minutes later Will Gavin scored for the Mavericks to make it a 5-2 game. Utah led by 3 goals after 2 frames.

Lebster scored his second goal of the night 7:33 into the third period to make it 6-2 Utah. Jackson Berezowski 9:50 in and Casey Carreau 15:09 in each scored for Kansas City to cut into Utah’s lead to 6-4.  Evan Friesen scored on an empty net 16:43 to complete the scoring and to give Utah a three goal victory.

Utah’s Dylan Wells saved 37 of 41 in net as he earned his team leading 6^th win. Kansas City’s Jack LaFontaine stopped 23 of 29.

Noah Ganske and Luke Manning each had 2 assists for Utah. Manning has 1 goal and 6 assists in his last 5 games. Maxim Barbashev had 1 goal and 1 assist for his first multiple point game as a Grizzly. Ganske and Stucker were each a +4 for Utah in the win.

Grizzlies’ road trip continues at Kansas City on Saturday night. Utah hosts Idaho on December 26-27. Face-off both nights are at 7:10 pm and tickets are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.

3 stars

1. Reed Lebster (Utah) – 2 goals, 1 assist, +3, 4 shots.
2. Will Gavin (KC) – Second career pro goal.
3. Robbie Stucker (Utah) – 1 goal, 2 assists, +4, 3 shots.