Grizzlies lose focus, drop home opener

WEST VALLEY CITY — The Utah Grizzlies did a lot of things right in their home opener Friday night. They figured out a way to score goals and they were much more disciplined compared to last weekend in Houston.

The Grizzlies basically played a great game, except for a one-minute span late in the third period. That stretch cost them as the expansion San Antonio Rampage beat the Grizzlies 5-4.

"We definitely had a mental letdown," said Grizzlies coach Don Hay. "We stopped working for that time frame, and really stopped thinking."

With Utah leading 3-2 heading into the third period, Hay said a defensive lapse along the boards at the 4:47 mark helped San Antonio's Filip Novak tie the game with his second goal.

Things got worse about 10 minutes later. The Rampage's Mike Green sent a puck across the goal mouth at 15:03 to an all alone David Morisset who easily hammered it in. Thirty-four seconds later, with the Grizzlies obviously pressing, the squad let San Antonio get away with a 3-on-1 odd man rush, which Juraj Kolnik burned past Utah goalie Corey Hirsch.

"We kind of lost our focus and let some 3-on-1s get away," said forward Jon Sim. "You can't expect Hirsch to save them all."

Despite trailing 5-3, Sim wasn't ready to concede. He'd already enjoyed a three-assist night, and 19:15, he added his fourth point by knocking in a rebounded shot by Alexei Komarov.

"I felt a little rusty out there at the start of the game, but I felt better as the game went on," said Sim.

Sim believes he deserves to be with the Dallas Stars in the NHL, and probably could've pouted after Dallas sent him to Utah earlier this week. He didn't though, and contributed on Utah's first three goals.

The Grizzlies jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead at 4:52 as David Oliver scored on assists from Sim and Jim Montgomery, who finished with four assists. The first of Utah's defensive blunders occurred three minutes later as Novak sent the puck into the crease from behind the net. Instinctively Utah captain Mark Wotton stuck his stick down to stop it, but instead redirected into his own net.

San Antonio finally scored a goal of its own on a power play tally by Jim Campbell at 5:57 of the second period, to go up 2-1.

The Grizzlies' John Erskine evened things up at the 11:00 mark on a wrister from the top of the left face-off circle. Not to be outdone, fellow defenseman Komarov unleashed a shot from the blue line that Rampage keeper Chris Mason never saw.