With Nolan De Jong loaned to the AHL San Jose Barracuda, the Grizzlies went into this game back down to nine forwards and five defensemen, counting Ryan Misiak as a defenseman. Even though Joe Cannata returned from Colorado, the Grizzlies went with the hot hand in Kevin Carr.
First Period
- That seemed like a really fast first five minutes. Shots 3-1 for Utah, not much by way of whistles, just good, quick hockey.
- Henke, Barron, and Richart all just barely missed the net in a very short period of time.
- And now Walters and Dzakhov with a pair.
- Kevin Carr is in the zone again.
- All your second chances belong to the Grizzlies.
- The more he plays, the more I like Dzakhov.
- This has been a very businesslike first period. Already half-way through, and there hasn’t been a penalty or many whistles.
- So I say that and Utah gets a power play.
- The puck support has been really good the past two games especially. As demonstrated there by Zahn and Raats.
- Carr makes a crazy series of saves, and the crowd is loving it.
- Walters gets held down in front of the net with, and we all resent that.
- Zahn with the penalty less than a minute before the end of the first.
Second Period
- McGauley and Barron had a really nice short-handed chance there.
- That was almost very bad…fortunately, Carr wasn’t going to let that one-on-none get past him.
- Well, we’re certainly not scoreless from lack of effort from the boys!
- JUST CALL HIM ROCKET RICHART!! 1-0 Utah!!
- And just to keep everyone excited, Economos and Crevier-Morin drop the gloves! It’s been a busy first five minutes!
- With Economos in the box for five minutes, Misiak appears to be taking shifts at forward.
- OH MAN, if Jack Walker had been facing the other way, that would have been a goal for sure.
- Uhg. After all that, Wichita ties it up.
- Cam Reid levels Joey Raats, and we’re off to the power play.
Third Period
- Walters gets hauled down on a breakaway, and somehow it’s Dzakhov going to the box for interference. That seems…not right. As Adrian Denny used to say, I don’t know about that.
- Economos to the box for high-sticking. And of course it’s Cam Reid who makes it 2-1.
- Walters has had some serious chances lately, but he’s just been so snake bitten.
- Power play time!
- THE SWEET CARROLL LINE MAKES IT 2-2!!
- Richart with a really sweet move, but Stuart Skinner is up for the challenge.
- A series of unfortunate events puts the puck right on Larkin’s stick. 3-2 for Wichita.
- Henke sure didn’t miss by much on that shot.
- Pretty sure Ausmus should have gotten a penalty there, but I guess we can call this even for that time where we should have gotten a call earlier!
- CARROLL SCORES AGAIN TO TIE IT AGAIN. Walters and Raats get the assists!
- Penalty for the Thunder!
- To OT we go!!
OT
- Good possession to open OT on the power play, but nothing doing.
- JACK WALKER IN OT!!!!!
- GRIZZLIES WIN 4-3!!
Walker’s OT game winner and assist on Carroll’s first goal earned him the first star of the game, Austin Carroll got second star with his two third period goals, and Taylor Richart, who started the scoring, earned third star honors. Kevin Carr also could have earned one of the stars, especially with his play in the first two periods before the team started scoring. Additionally, both Walker and McGauley had two assists each and were also stand-outs.
“I didn’t even know I scored, really,” Walker said when asked about his goal, “I just came around the net and was actually looking for a pass back-door, and it just kind of happened to find it’s way in, but I’ll take it, and it’s a good two points for the team!”
With just a couple of exceptions, Branham was pleased with his team’s effort. “I thought those first two periods we played pretty well, pretty hockey,” he said, “Bad break there at the end of the second, there was four or five mistakes that led to that goal, we can’t allow that to happen in the last two minutes of the period. And then the third period, Wichita’s a good team. They are. They’re a good team, they have a good goaltender, we probably could have had five or six goals. The goalie played well, so did ours. Kevin made some big stops there. What can you say? The boys’ resiliency, they never stopped working, there was no panic on the bench. Austin Carroll, big game for him.”
Branham had further words of praise for all three stars of the game. “[Carroll’s] a good player, spent three years in the American League, he knows how to play the game the right way, plays hard, plays physical, he can score goals, he’s got good hands for a big man. Another player I thought played really well today was Taylor Richart. He just had a solid game all around, offensively, defensively, he was really good. And then Jack Walker, he’s really picking it up. He’s becoming a really big part of this team and he’s doing a good job.”
“That was a huge third period.” Carroll himself said, “More than anything, the boys just came together huge. Being down a goal once, coming back, being down a goal again, and coming back, and then Walker there in overtime just to finish it off, it’s a big character win and I know we’re all happy and coaches are happy as well, so it’s a good feeling.”
The Grizzlies will look to carry the momentum from these three wins into their upcoming road trip, where they hope that playing hard and keeping things simple will serve them as well in Cincinnati, Wheeling, and Fort Wayne as it has this week.
Photo Courtesy of Tim Broussard and staff.
belowthehashmarks.com 