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The Utah Grizzlies are starting to catch fire at the right time. Garnering five of a possible six points in their three game series against the Tulsa Oilers, the Grizzlies won, 3-1.

One of the elements to Utah's success this season has been the steady and often spectacular play of goalie Ryan Faragher and Saturday night was no exception. Stopping all but one of the 20 shots the Oilers fired his way, the Grizzlies keeper tallied his 24th win of the season, good for fourth most in a season in franchise history.

With an all important game upcoming against the Idaho Steelheads next Wednesday that may decide the winner in the race for first place in the Western Division, Faragher understands the importance of these final games.

"These points are huge, we know we can't afford to give any games away at this point of the season. We need to lay it all on the line and give our best effort if we hope to win the division."Continuing a trend in which the home team has scored the first goal in the season series between the two clubs, Matt Berry got Utah on the board in the first on a dazzling wrap-around for a 1-0 lead. Tulsa would respond later in the period as Shawn Bates slapshot leveled the contest at 1-1.

The Grizzlies power play had been relatively quiet against Tulsa in the series, having been successful on one of eight attempts. However, Barry Almeida would change that as the forward made Oiler goalie Jussi Olkinuora pay the price for failing to secure a rebound, putting Utah ahead 2-1. Not only did the goal give Utah the lead, it proved to be the game winner.

"It was a great team effort tonight. We have a big game against Idaho Wednesday and we needed to get these two points," Almeida said.

In the third, Bryan Moore blistered the net at 6:22 to complete the scoring for the evening. —

ECHL standings

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic GP W L OL SL Pts GF GA

x-Manchester 68 38 21 4 5 85 209 198

Adirondack 66 35 25 2 4 76 176 169

Reading 66 33 24 5 4 75 205 179

Elmira 67 35 28 3 1 74 190 197

Norfolk 66 29 32 4 1 63 187 208

North GP W L OL SL Pts GF GA

y-Toledo 66 42 19 2 3 89 203 159

Wheeling 67 34 25 3 5 76 202 199

Kalamazoo 66 33 28 4 1 71 211 218

Brampton 65 19 35 7 4 49 159 235

South GP W L OL SL Pts GF GA

x-S.Carolina 66 39 18 6 3 87 200 148

x-Florida 65 42 21 0 2 86 202 156

Orlando 65 31 25 4 5 71 207 207

Atlanta 66 31 28 5 2 69 172 205

Greenville 66 28 29 8 1 65 190 220

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Central GP W L OL SL Pts GF GA

Missouri 65 49 11 3 2 103 216 144

Allen 66 37 22 3 4 81 203 188

Tulsa 64 32 27 3 2 69 167 170

Wichita 66 16 38 6 6 44 141 226

Midwest GP W L OL SL Pts GF GA

Fort Wayne 66 37 21 6 2 82 220 179

Cincinnati 66 34 23 5 4 77 200 183

Quad City 65 33 26 4 2 72 179 184

Indy 67 31 33 3 0 65 162 181

Evansville 66 26 31 7 2 61 186 220

West GP W L OL SL Pts GF GA

Idaho 66 35 22 6 3 79 187 171

Utah 67 36 25 3 3 78 207 192

Colorado 65 35 26 3 1 74 203 175

Rapid City 66 27 32 3 4 61 162 196

Alaska 66 26 33 4 3 59 179 218

x-Clinched Playoff Berth

Saturday's games

Florida 5, Greenville 3

Manchester 3, Adirondack 0

Kalamazoo 5, Wheeling 1

South Carolina 2, Atlanta 0

Brampton 3, Elmira 1

Cincinnati 4, Toledo 1

Norfolk 3, Orlando 1

Fort Wayne 3, Evansville 1

Allen 4, Missouri 1

Quad City 4, Wichita 1

Utah 3, Tulsa 1

Colorado 4, Idaho 2

Rapid City at Alaska, late

Sunday's games

Toledo at Brampton, Noon

Missouri at Allen, 3:05 p.m.