Grizz edge Steelheads

BOISE — The Utah Grizzlies defeated the Idaho Steelheads 3-2 Saturday night at CenturyLink Arena.

Utah took an early 2-0 lead with goals from Matt Reber and John Negrin 3:32 apart at 7:40 and 11:12 of the first period. Reber chased down a puck off a turnover, created by Chris Donovan, and rapped home a goal. Negrin blasted home a shot off a Utah face-off win with Armstrong and LoVecchio picking up assists.

The two teams traded power-play goals in the second period and Utah led 3-1 after 40 minutes. Following a timeout called by coach Kevin Colley, the Grizzlies took advantage of a five-on-three situation as Justin Dowling slammed in a shot on a rebound. Podge Turnbull picked up his first pro point on the play.

In the third period, the Steelheads scored an early shorthanded goal, but the Grizzlies held on with an aggressive style and good goaltending.

Utah also blocked numerous shots on a final penalty-killing situation that started with 3:29 left.

Andrew Engelage stopped 21 of 23 shots to earn the win in goal.