West Valley City » The Utah Grizzlies fell asleep for a good part of the second period Friday night in their home opener at the E Center, and the Idaho Steelheads made them pay by scoring twice in less than two minutes en route to a 3-2 victory. Although Utah outshot Idaho 37-25, the Grizzlies were unable to cash in on their chances while the Steelheads made Utah pay for sleepwalking.

"We had two or three five-minute stretches there where we just kind of laid down for them," Utah forward James Sixsmith said. "You gotta play the same hockey every shift for 60 minutes." Sixsmith had two assists in the game.

Utah took the lead at the 5:50 mark of the second period when Shea Guthrie found the back of the net. But Idaho waited less than five minutes to even the score when Tyler Spurgeon equalized. An Ashton Rome goal followed at the 11:33 mark and the Steelheads managed to preserve their lead.

Utah took the offensive in the third period, creating 13 shots compared with Idaho's eight. With 18:53 gone by, Utah pulled goalie Parker Van Buskirk in favor of a more offensive strike. It almost paid off. At the 19:35 mark, Dustin Friesen fired from distance but his shot was saved by Idaho goaltender Rejean Beauchemin. With eight seconds remaining, Jake Gannon's shot was deflected away from goal, landing in front of Dylan Hunter with an open side of the net. But an Idaho defenseman was able to pester Hunter's stick just enough to prevent him from firing a dangerous shot.

"You have to give [Beauchemin] credit," Grizzly coach Kevin Colley said. "He was aggressive and he won the battle tonight."

Gannon scored Utah's first goal. Five Grizzlies scored points but captain Ryan Kinasewich, who scored five points in the Grizzlies' season opener Oct. 16, wasn't one of them.