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West Valley City • The Utah Grizzlies will be happy to not have to face the Allen Americans for a while, as the club dropped a heartbreaker in overtime, losing 6-5.
Saturday's game began with a feverish pace as both teams combined to tally 29 shots in the opening frame. The Americans' Greger Hanson picked up right where he left off Friday, following his empty-net goal with one at full strength past Grizzlies goalie Eric Levine to put Allen on the board 1-0.
The Grizzlies responded in just 22 seconds to level the score, a slap shot into the right-hand corner by Kenny Ryan past Allen's net-minder Joel Rumpert. Allen would go up 2-1 after Levine denied Aaron Gens, but unfortunately for the Grizzlies, Levine was unable to secure the puck, allowing Eric Roy to score easily.
In the second period it appeared the Grizzlies were about to even the contest but a shot by Camden Wojtala glanced off the crossbar.
Moments later, to the delight of the fans, the first fight of the year at the Maverik Center broke out between the Grizzlies' Alex Gallant and the Americans Mike DiPaolo.
It wouldn't take long for Allen to take a two-goal lead as Gary Steffes scored for the second consecutive night past the right pad of Levine halfway through the period. Just two minutes later the Americans took a commanding three-goal advantage as Aaron Gens found the back of the net.
But just when it appeared time to write t he Grizzlies off, they responded furiously, scoring two goals in 15 seconds. Kenny Ryan's second of the night made it 4-2 and Matt Berry followed to cut the deficit to one.
With the third period set up for a dramatic finish, Gens scored yet again to re-establish Allen's lead at two less than a minute in. A brilliant pass by Kenny Ryan allowed Ryan Walters to cut the deficit to one.
With time running out and the Grizzlies net empty, Walters electrified the crowd, evening the score with 25 seconds left and sending the contest into overtime.
Unfortunately it wasn't quite enough as Casey Pierro-Zabotel scored 32 seconds into the extra session to secure the victory for the Americans. The Grizzlies travel to face the Idaho Steelheads on Friday and return home to square off against the same club on Halloween. The puck will drop at 2 p.m.