Utah Grizzlies notch first shutout of season at Idaho

BOISE — The Utah Grizzlies shut out the Idaho Steelheads (8-2-0-1) 3-0 Saturday night in Quest Arena.

Ryan Kinasewich scored his league-leading 12th and 13th goals in the game, and goaltender Mitch O'Keefe stopped all 22 shots he saw for Utah's first shutout of the year.

Utah (5-3) jumped up 1-0 eight minutes into the first period on Kinasewich's first goal, which came on the power-play. James Sixsmith gave Utah a 2-0 lead on a delayed penalty 10:55 into the second period, firing the puck home from the right wing circle. Kinasewich made it 3-0, finding an empty net with 2:46 left in regulation.

Dylan Hunter (four games, five points) and Dustin Friesen (five games, seven assists) each extended their scoring streaks in the game as well.

Kinasewich is now five points away from tying Chris Taylor to become the all-time leading scorer in Grizzlies history. The Utah captain now has 13 goals and seven assists for 20 points in eight games this year and has at least two points in seven of the Grizzlies' eight games.

Utah scored a goal in each period and went 7-7 on the penalty-kill, a night after giving up five power-play goals to the Steelheads and losing 7-2 at the E Center. Utah has now won four of its last five games.

The Grizzlies continue their four-game stretch away from the E Center Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in Las Vegas. Face-off all three nights is scheduled for 8 p.m.

Utah returns home to start a 10-game home stand on Nov. 14, when they will host Las Vegas at 7 p.m.