West Valley City • The Utah Grizzlies suffered their most frustrating loss of the season Friday night at the Maverik Center, falling to the ECHL-leading Alaska Aces, 4-2.

It was frustrating because Utah took a 2-1 lead early in the third period.

It was frustrating because Alaska quickly tied the game on a power play.

It was frustrating because the Aces' go-ahead goal by Wes Goldie with 1:19 left looked to be batted in illegally with a stick above the shoulders.

Instead, referee Joe Sullivan allowed the goal and Alaska added an empty-net score with 13 seconds to send Utah to its fifth loss in the past eight games.

After watching a replay of Goldie's goal, Grizzly coach Kevin Colley said, "It looked like it was high. I'd have to see a different angle to be 100 percent [certain]."

On the other hand, Colley said, " ... The bounce they got, they worked hard for it. And we got lackadaisical at the wrong time."

Utah captain Nick Tuzzolino had a talk with Sullivan after the Aces took a 3-2 lead.

"He said he talked to his linesman and all three saw it the same way," Tuzzolino said. "They said it was below the crossbar and it wasn't hit with a hand. It was hit with a stick."

The win bumped Alaska's record to 13-4-1. The Grizzlies dropped to 10-6 after losing to the Aces for the first time in three games this season.

Utah was positioned to beat Alaska again with 17:08 left in the game, after Matt Reber batted his own rebound past Aces' goalie Adam Courchaine.

Apparently unhappy with some aspect of the play leading to Reber's goal, the Alaska bench spent the entire time before the ensuing faceoff barking at Sullivan.

Seventy-five seconds later, Tuzzolino was called for hooking.

Fifteen seconds after the penalty, Alaska's Dan Kissel tapped a rebound past Grizzly Andrew Engelage to tie the game.

Asked about the agonizing nature of the loss, Colley said, "Points now are just as important as April. But we can use an excuse. ... We have to find ways to win. We set ourselves up to do that in the third, but there was no urgency. We gave them two points."

The Grizzlies, who were 0-for-4 on their power play, faces the Aces again Saturday night.

"We have to capitalize on our power play," said Tuzzolino, "and our [penalty killing] didn't shut them down like we shut down everything else. With those things it's hard to come out with a win. But we have to come back tomorrow night and be ready to go." —

Storylines Aces 4, Grizzlies 2

R Alaska's Wes Goldie scores a controversial go-ahead goal with 1:19 remaining, lifting the Aces to a 4-2 win over Utah.

• The Grizzlies own a 2-1 lead early in the third period but cannot hold it. They lost for the fifth time in eight games.