DULUTH, GA – The Utah Grizzlies scored 3 power play goals, a shorthanded goal and an empty net goal to lead them to a 5-2 victory over the Atlanta Gladiators on Tuesday night at Infinite Energy Arena.
Atlanta scored first as Zach Malatesta got his 5th goal of the season with 2:59 left in the first period. Utah outshot Allen 15 to 11 in the first but the Gladiators led 1-0 after 20 minutes of play.
The Grizzlies got on the board as Josh Dickinson scored on a backhand in the slot for a shorthanded goal 6:33 into the second period to tie the game. Dickinson has 12 goals and 6 assists in 15 games this season.
Utah added a power play goal as Mitch Maxwell converted on a rebound 11:22 in for his 6th of the year. Atlanta’s Avery Peterson tied the game with 4:07 left in the second. It was Peterson’s 10th of the season. With 12 seconds left in the period, Griffen Molino scored on the power play and Utah led 3-2 after 40 minutes.
In the third period Taylor Richart scored his 11th of the year 3:32 into the third. Richart leads the league in defenseman power play goals with 7. Ty Lewis added an empty net goal with 6.7 seconds left to complete the scoring. Lewis leads the team with 20 goals on the season.
Every goal in the game was scored by either the power play, shorthanded or on an empty net.
With the victory and the 2 standings points to start their nine game road trip, the Grizzlies are now in 2nd place in the Mountain Division with 57 points.
Molino had 1 goal and 2 assists. Tim McGauley had 3 assists and is now tied for the league lead in points with Allen’s Tyler Sheehy. Each has 54 points. McGauley passed Sheehy for the league lead in assists. McGauley now has 37 helpers while Sheehy has 35.
Utah is 5-for-10 on the power play in the last two games. Utah is 7-for-25 on the man advantage in the last five contests.
The Grizz continue the road trip on Wednesday night at Atlanta. Face-off is at 5 p.m. MST and can be seen on ECHL.TV and heard on Classic Country 1370. Next home game for the Grizzlies is on February 17th vs Rapid City. Face-off is at 1 p.m.
3 stars: 1. Griffen Molino (Utah) – 1 goal, 2 assists; 2. Tim McGauley (Utah) – 3 assists; 3. Zach Malatesta (Atlanta) – 1 goal, 1 assist.
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