Flurry of shots in the third period can’t stop Bakersfield’s victory.

By Jon Gilbert

| Special to The Tribune

West Valley City • The Utah Grizzlies fought to the final horn — even pulling their goalie for a sixth skater with just more than a minute left — but were always a pass too long, a stride too late or a brilliant save away from scoring, costing them a 1-0 loss to the Bakersfield Condors on Friday at the Maverik Center.

Utah (17-19-0-4) outshot Bakersfield 21-2 in an energetic third period, but Bakersfield (10-27-3-1) rode the fantastic play of goalie Bryan Pitton to the win in front of 6,688.

At a glance

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Highlights

The Utah Grizzlies are edged by the Bakersfield Condors despite outshooting their opponent 38-17.

» Utah goalie Andrew Engelage saves 16 shots behind stellar defense but has a second-period wobbler slip past.

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"We had more than enough chances to score," coach Kevin Colley said. "For whatever reason, we couldn’t find the back of the net tonight. It has nothing to do with effort."

The first period and first half of the second were largely uneventful, with neither team finding consistency beyond the offensive blue line. The Condors’ score finally came on an offensive zone faceoff. The puck squirted to the slot, and Utah defenseman David Strathman got tripped up. That caused the Grizz to lose track of Aaron Lewadniuk, who slapped the on-end puck backhanded past Utah goalie Andrew Engelage to create a 1-0 hole that Utah couldn’t fight out of.

"I thought we were really solid, to be honest," Engelage said.

They were more than solid, really. Bakersfield managed only 17 shots to Utah’s 38, thanks mainly to the Grizzlies’ disruptive defense. Offensively, the build-up was often crisp, but the finishing just missed time after time.

At 2:10 in the third, Pat McIlveen received a slick pass in stride at the blue line, crossed the face of the goal and had his backhanded wrister fly high. Just more than two minutes later, Colin Vock crossed to Logan MacMilian for an open-net opportunity, but MacMilian was unable to get his stick down to slap it home. Vock had a nifty one-on-one rush foiled by a late poke of the puck from a defender’s stick with three minutes remaining.