Utah Grizzlies trail early, bounce back to swamp Reign

WEST VALLEY CITY — The Utah Grizzlies skated past the Ontario Reign 6-2 Friday night at the E-Center.

Tom May led Utah (14-6) with one goal and three assists.

Utah scored two goals in each period after falling behind 1-0 just 19 seconds into the game on Ontario's first shot. The Grizzlies then proceeded to score four straight goals to take control of the contest.

Utah trailed 1-0 for 6:12 before Evan Kotsopoulos fed Jadren Beljo from behind the net for his first pro goal 6:31 into the first period. Shea Guthrie then gave Utah its first lead of the night with 3:14 left in the first on his first of two power-play goals in the contest.

May and Guthrie added second-period goals for Utah to make it 4-1 before Ontario answered with a power-play goal to make it 4-2 with 30 seconds left to go in the period.

AJ Perry sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 30 seconds left to play after an insurance goal by Vlady Nikiforov made it 5-2 with 8:14 left in regulation.

Mitch O'Keefe stopped 25 of 27 Ontario shots for his league-leading 10th win of the season.

Utah completes its 10-game home stand tonight when it welcomes Idaho to the E-Center. Face-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.