Utah Grizzlies: Grizz get aced, axed by Alaska

WEST VALLEY CITY — In the end, Alaska proved to be too strong, too organized, too explosive and ultimately too good for the Utah Grizzlies.

Facing elimination in Game 5 of its best-of-seven Kelly Cup opening round playoff series against Alaska, Utah took an unlikely lead early in the third quarter via a Vladimir Nikiforov goal. With goaltender Mike Mole playing out of his mind, it seemed the Grizzlies could be on their way to picking up an unlikely win to send the series back to Alaska for Game 6.

The Aces, however, made sure that didn't happen.

Alaska came storming back just a minute and a half later and scored four goals over six backbreaking minutes en route to a powerful 5-2 win Saturday night at the E Center in front of 2,960 fans. With the victory, the Aces won their first-round series against the Grizz, 4-1.

"We just fell short. That seemed to be a common theme in a few games in this series," said Mole, who saved an amazing 24 shots in the second period to give his team a chance. "It's a tough way to go down, but we've gotta be proud of the guys. We went down fighting, and nobody really gave up, and battled right to the end. That's a good team (in Alaska). You gotta give them credit."

Following two scoreless periods, Saturday's game exploded early in the third period.

Nikiforov slotted home Mark Pavli's initial shot 3:23 into the third period to put the Grizz up 1-0, but Alaska forward Josh Soares erased Utah's advantage with a nifty move from behind Mole's goal less than two minutes later.

And the Alaska avalanche came nearly four minutes later, as Soares, Lance Galbraith and Colin Hemingway all scored for the Aces within two minutes to go up 4-1 and effectively end the series.

"They've got a good team over there," said Utah coach Kevin Colley. "They've got a lot of experience over there. We wanted it so bad. Sometimes when you want things too bad, you don't have the experience and you tend to make the mental errors."

Midway through the third period, he added, "That's what happened, but I praise the guys for never giving up — the whole year. The guys showed a lot of heart and pride."

In particular, Mole's heart and pride was there for all to see in Game 5, as he repeatedly turned back Alaska's attack in the second period with save after save after save.

"He was awesome. He was awesome. One word to describe it," Colley said. "He wanted to redeem himself after last night, and he didn't even play bad last night — it's just the competitor he is. Hat's off to him."

When all was said and done, however, Mole's heroics couldn't help the Grizzlies overcome deficiencies in other areas. Aside from Nikiforov and James Sixsmith, just about every Utah forward struggled during the series and could never got going.

And — whether it was because of fatigue or something else — the Grizz compounded those struggles in Game 5 by getting buried in their own end. "We couldn't get it out of our zone at times," said Nikiforov. "They capitalized off our turnovers. Couldn't make that first pass, and guys were just puck watching and not battling as hard at times, including me. It was just tough."

Aces win series, 4-1

ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs

First round

Game 1: Alaska 2, Utah 0

Game 2: Alaska 2, Utah 0

Game 3: Utah 3, Alaska 2 (OT)

Game 4: Alaska 5, Utah 2

Game 5: Alaska 5, Utah 2

E-mail: drasmussen@desnews.com