Utah Grizzlies lose 2-1, will play very early on Sunday

LAS VEGAS — The Las Vegas Wranglers held on to defeat the Utah Grizzlies 2-1 Saturday night at Orleans Arena.

The Wranglers took a 1-0 lead 1:49 into the game and made it 2-0 10:07 into the second period scoring both goals on the power play from Josh Lunden.

The Grizzlies made it 2-1 with 3:09 left in regulation as Kory Falite crossed the blue line and backhanded the puck into the Las Vegas net.

Utah called timeout with just under a minute left to setup a six-on-five situation with an empty-net and had the puck come just wide at the buzzer as they looked for the late equalizer. Utah outshot Las Vegas 12-4 in the third period and 26-19 in the game.

The Grizzlies and Wranglers meet again Monday at 12:59 a.m. in a game that will start just prior to midnight in Las Vegas.

Utah returns home March 5 to open four-games-in-six-nights set.