Grizzlies blow big early lead, winning streak vs. Condors

By Linda Hamilton
Deseret Morning News
Published: Friday, Feb. 15, 2008 12:14 a.m. MST
E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
WEST VALLEY CITY — A four-game winning streak and three-nothing lead in the first nine minutes Thursday did the Utah Grizzlies very little good as the Bakersfield Condors came back from whatever the Grizzlies threw at them to win 7-6 in a Valentine's Day overtime shootout in the E Center.

Utah had beaten Bakersfield twice earlier in the season including 9-3 last Saturday night, which included a hat trick by Scott Burt, and Utah coach Jason Christie said it seemed his players were expecting more of the same.

"Too many guys think it's point night," Christie charged. "That's the perfect game for them. That's what they want them to do."

Bakersfield likes to play fast-break hockey, and the Grizzlies gave them a couple of 3-on-1 breaks on which they scored, the second one cutting Utah's lead to 6-5 at 12:41 of the third period.

A Grizzly giveaway at the blue line while killing a penalty at 19:00 of the third turned into a Mark Derlago score when he picked up a loose puck in the right-wing faceoff circle and shot in unassisted at 19:49.

In the shootout, the Condors scored four times out of five opportunities to Utah's two shootout scores.

Story continues below
Utah got a hat trick from rookie Keith Johnson, including the game-opener and the one that made it 6-4, and Condor Andrew Ianeiro had two goals and an assist. Utah's Ryan Kinasewich had three assists, as did Condor Joe Dustin.

The Condors and Grizzlies are the two most-penalized teams in the National Conference of the ECHL and they combined for 23 minors and two majors Thursday.

"The thing is, we can't take a penalty like that with a minute left in the game," Christie said about the call against forward Justin Johnson, who dropped his gloves near the Condor bench but didn't get a response from the enemy, meaning he got an unsportsmanlike conduct minor, on which the tying goal came.

"And then, on a 3-on-2 on a penalty kill, you can't turn the puck over on the blue line," Christie added. "(Garett) Bembridge turned the puck over on the penalty kill on the blue line; it went back 3-on-1. We can't do that on penalty kill.

"Too many penalties — hooking, tripping. That's lazy penalties. Lazy."

The Grizzlies and Condors meet again in the E Center tonight and Saturday night.

"That's a team over there that's hungry. We've got to expect it. We've got to make sure that we accept our roles and be ready to play (tonight)," Christie said.

Utah fell to 26-20-0-5, and Bakersfield is 15-24-2-7.

Earlier in the day, forward Justin Bourne was recalled to the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the first player to leave Utah's roster since Jan. 31. Bourne had 15 goals and 14 assists in 46 Grizzly games.

E-mail: lham@desnews.com

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.