From Deseret News archives:
Grizzlies suffer power outage vs. Wolf Pack
Heck, maybe they'll even let the Utah Grizzlies have two extra players on the ice and see if they can beat them. One extra guy certainly did Utah no good Wednesday night.
Even though the Grizz had a bonus skater for a good chunk of the game, the disadvantage in man power turned out to be in Hartford's advantage. Despite being undermanned for more than a period of play, the Wolf Pack breezed to a 3-0 victory at the E Center.
It's not really a surprise considering the disparity in the AHL standings and the head-to-head history between these two teams.
Utah fell to a league-worst 16-39-1-4 while losing its fourth straight to Hartford this season. And with the sweep, the Atlantic Division-leading Wolf Pack, who edged the Grizz in overtime Monday, improved to 40-19-2-2.
It's scary to think what the score might have been if the Grizzlies had been given any more power-play opportunities. They were shut out for the 11th time this season despite having a man advantage 11 different times and for a total of about 24 minutes, including one stretch for five straight minutes.
Even with overwhelming odds in Utah's favor, Hartford was the team that finally ended up scoring during one of the Grizz's powerless plays. After a scoreless first 45 minutes of play for both teams, Jozef Balej punched in the game-winner early in the third period with an unassisted shorthanded goal.
Proving that they're better than the Grizzlies at equal strength as well, Alexandre Giroux and Jeff Hamilton added goals later on in the final period.
To sum it up, this game showed why Hartford's penalty-kill unit is ranked No. 2 in the AHL. And, if you're wondering, Utah's power-play squad is not the No. 1-ranked penalty-killing unit — it just seemed that way.
"Obviously, special teams were the difference tonight. We were outworked," said Utah assistant coach Gord Dineen. "As many penalties as they killed, they outworked us on the power play."
Dineen credited Hartford's aggressive forechecking and Utah's lack of crisp passing and hustle for the power outage.
"They got to us. We were out of sync," he said. "When they outwork you in those situations, it carries over to the rest of the game."
Utah's offensive struggles were pretty much summed up during one five-minute power play that stretched over from the second period into the third. Hartford's Jamie Lundmark was penalized three minutes longer than usual because of a high-sticking major. But it was the Grizzlies who had stick problems after that.
Utah only managed to fire off three shots in the long penalty, and it took three minutes to set up a play. Most of the golden opportunity was spent chasing the puck the wrong way.
Hartford goalie Steve Valiquette wasn't exactly in a giving mood Wednesday, either. He made 26 saves to notch his sixth shutout of the season and improve to 15-9-1.
The bright spot for Utah, which plays again Friday and Saturday at home against Cincinnati, is that Hartford also went scoreless (0-for-5) on its power-play attempts.
E-mail: jody@desnews.com
