WEST VALLEY CITY, UT – Joe Wegwerth and Ian Scheid each scored two goals and Jack Jenkins had one goal and two assists in the Utah Grizzlies 6-3 win over the Rapid City Rush on New Year’s Eve at Maverik Center.
The Grizzlies outshot the Rush 22 to 7 in the first period and got goals from Wegwerth, Jenkins and Scheid to lead 3-1 after 20 minutes of play. Scheid’s first professional goal was scored with one second left on a Grizzlies power play with 2:14 left in the period.
Rapid City’s Jack Suter scored 3:08 into the second period to cut into the Utah lead. Thirty-seven seconds later, Wegwerth scored his second of the night on a deflection from a Matt Abt shot to give Utah a 4-2 lead. Later in the period Scheid scored his second of the game. After the Scheid goal, Rush goaltender Adam Carlson was pulled in favor of David Tendeck. Carlson stopped 23 of 28 while Tendeck stopped all 11 shots he saw in relief. Utah led 5-2 after 40 minutes.
Rush forward Peter Quenneville scored 5:25 into the third. It stayed a 5-3 game until Utah defenseman Abt scored an empty net short-handed goal with 49 seconds left to complete the scoring. Utah outshot Rapid City 40 to 31. The Grizzlies were 1-for-3 on the power play while Rapid City was 0-for-3.
The middle game of the three-game series is Friday night at Maverik Center. Face-off is at 7:10 pm. Capacity is limited to 1,800 with social distancing and masks required. Tickets are available at utahgrizzlies.com.
3 Stars: Joe Wegwerth (Utah) – 2 goals, plus-3 rating, 5 shots on goal; 2. Ian Scheid (Utah) – 2 goals, plus-1, 5 shots on goal; 3. Jack Jenkins (Utah) – 1 goal, 2 assists, plus-4.
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