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Paying tribute to the local fire and police departments, the Utah Grizzlies were decked out in specialty "Guns 'N Hoses" jerseys as they squared off against the Rapid City Rush on Saturday night at the Maverik Center.

Playing in front of a near-capacity crowd, both teams emblazoned the scoreboard but it was Utah that provided the most thunder, defeating the Rush en route to its seventh consecutive home victory, 5-4.

Two players garnered the limelight for the Grizzlies: Anaheim Ducks prospect Kenton Helgesen and rookie Josh MacDonald. The duo would each complete two-thirds of a hat trick.

Helgesen's two goals were his initial in a Grizzlies uniform, and the second proved to be the game-winner. The first score came with two minutes remaining in the first after a beautiful cross-ice pass by captain Brent Gwidt.

And with only five seconds remaining in the second and a bevy of traffic in front of the net, Helgessen persistently kept batting the puck at Rush goalie Danny Battochio until one finally trickled through to give the Grizzlies a healthy 5-3 lead, which they needed as Rapid City would score in the third to make things interesting.

"That kid was huge for us tonight and he continues to get better and better," Grizzlies coach Tim Branham said of Helgesen. "That line was huge for us tonight and it was huge for us last night. It provided three of our five goals."

Only six minutes had expired in the game and MacDonald had already scored twice.

The first was on a nifty wrap-around past the pads of Battochio. The second occurred when teammate Ryan Walters threaded the needle of the Rapid City defense to an open MacDonald, who promptly deposited the puck into the back of the net.

The other Utah goal came courtesy of the stick of Erik Higby one minute into the second period. It was Higby's eighth goal of the season.

Two of Rapid City's four goals came courtesy of forward Mikhail Stefanovich, and Brian O'Rourke and Benjamin Dieude-Favel provided the other two. —

ECHL standings

EASTERN CONFERENCE

East GP W L OL SL Pts GF GA

Manchester 45 28 12 1 4 61 136 120

Adirondack 41 26 11 2 2 56 116 91

Elmira 44 23 20 1 0 47 118 136

Reading 44 20 17 4 3 47 128 116

Norfolk 46 19 25 1 1 40 126 150

North GP W L OL SL Pts GF GA

Toledo 41 26 11 1 3 56 124 96

Kalamazoo 41 17 19 4 1 39 117 138

Wheeling 41 17 19 2 3 39 120 131

Brampton 41 14 19 5 3 36 106 138

South GP W L OL SL Pts GF GA

Florida 43 30 12 0 1 61 137 88

Atlanta 44 25 16 2 1 53 127 130

South Carolina 43 22 16 3 2 49 121 105

Greenville 45 21 18 6 0 48 130 144

Orlando 41 17 18 2 4 40 126 135

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Central GP W L OL SL Pts GF GA

Missouri 41 34 5 1 1 70 145 83

Allen 44 25 16 2 1 53 132 125

Tulsa 39 20 15 2 2 44 108 99

Wichita 45 10 27 4 4 28 91 154

Midwest GP W L OL SL Pts GF GA

Fort Wayne 40 24 14 2 0 50 129 101

Indy 46 23 21 2 0 48 110 117

Cincinnati 42 20 17 3 2 45 122 121

Quad City 42 19 19 2 2 42 110 126

Evansville 42 15 22 4 1 35 121 150

West GP W L OL SL Pts GF GA

Utah 44 26 16 2 0 54 147 129

Idaho 45 22 18 4 1 49 124 120

Colorado 42 22 18 2 0 46 125 107

Rapid City 41 17 21 2 1 37 100 120

Alaska 43 16 22 2 3 37 112 138

Saturday's games

Reading 3, Adirondack 2

Greenville 2, Florida 1

Elmira 4, Wheeling 3, SO

Idaho 2, Atlanta 1, SO

South Carolina 6, Norfolk 1

Toledo 2, Fort Wayne 1

Indy 3, Evansville 2

Cincinnati 3, Quad City 2, OT

Tulsa 5, Allen 2

Missouri 5, Wichita 2

Utah 5, Rapid City 4

Colorado 7, Alaska 2

Sunday's games

Wheeling at Brampton, Noon

Idaho at Atlanta, 12:05 p.m.

Fort Wayne at Kalamazoo, 2 p.m.

Tulsa at Allen, 3:05 p.m.

Quad City at Toledo, 3:15 p.m.