Ahead of game three, the Colorado Eagles assigned Tim McGauley to the Grizzlies while Cole Ully and Grayson Downing both remained out of the lineup. Kevin Carr got the start as Utah looked to take a series lead in front of a home crowd.
First Period
- Good start, at least possession wise in the first minute!
- McGauley gets his first shot of the game on a very nifty little dangle.
- Josh Dickinson remains hot, corralling the puck in the defensive zone on the penalty kill, and then flying in to score his third of the series short-handed!
- Really sweet shot from an absolutely flying Michael Economos, but he rings iron.
- Turner Ottenbreit is a one man wrecking machine out there tonight. Not only is he making some big plays in his own zone, he’s throwing some monster hits.
- Big save from Carr to deflect the puck up and over the back of the net.
- Beautifully nonchalant glove save from Carr short-handed.
- Nothing particularly glitzy from Travis Barron, just rock solid hockey.
- Dickinson nearly got number two, but Tomas Sholl snagged it.
- Dickinson with another nifty move, but Ty Lewis just misses the net. Aaaaand Dickinson is down. Not good.
- Seems ok though.
- Idaho ties it up with five seconds to go in the period.
- Gage Ausmus takes a hit after the buzzer sounds, and the Grizzlies aren’t too pleased.
- 1-1 after 20, shots 13-12 for Utah.
Second Period
- Tempers appear to be fraying just a touch five minutes in…
- Big block and then clear by Taylor Richart on the PK.
- Both teams are looking far better on the PK than they are on the PP.
- The net comes off its moorings in a wild scramble, and Carr’s not afraid to defend his own blue paint! A crowd quickly gathers.
- Shouldn’t even be surprised that it’s Kale Kessy whenever a crowd gathers.
- Lot of zone time for Idaho, though not a whole lot of counted shots resulting.
- However, when Idaho IS getting shots, Carr has been rock solid.
- On the other hand, please go establish some possession in the Steelheads’ zone.
- Gorgeous, gorgeous passing play between Dickinson, McGauley and Herbert. Alas, Sholl is a good goalie.
- Yet another great save from Carr. Do we sound like a broken record yet?
- Idaho definitely getting the better end of this period.
- OH MAN. Joey Ratelle JUST missed burying the puck right as Kyle Schempp and Austin Carrol got out of the box.
- Barron to the box for rouging with 2:02 to go. The boos from the crowd are definitely the loudest they’ve been sine the Grizz goal.
- Kevin Carr is the reason this game is tied.
- 1-1 after 40, shots 19-30 for Idaho.
Third Period
- Pretty energetic start to the third. Both teams are throwing their weight around with enthusiasm.
- Another strong save from Carr.
- MCGAULEY GOAL!!!! Welcome back Timmy! (And Dickinson has another multi-point game.)
- Much better period thus far for the Grizz.
- Uhg. Spoke to soon. Puck bounces off the post and in to tie it up at 5:50.
- And just like that, the momentum has swung right back to Idaho.
- Ratelle’s gonna fight someone before this night is over.
- Or you know, Teigan Zahn is gonna fight someone. He and Keegan Kanzig drop the gloves, but it’s over pretty quickly.
- Dickinson with another beautiful move.
- Pretttty sure that should have been tripping as a Grizz player flew in to get a shot.
- Shots have evened up considerably, 29-34 with ten to go.
- Hero shift from Richy. Blocks a shot in the defensive zone which leads to an offensive zone rush, then flies back to make a couple more big shot blocks in the defensive zone.
- We’re seeing some nice hockey now from both sides.
- That thunderous Utah shot from Davis at the point did not miss by much, ringing iron before it went wide.
- Utah doing a good job at keeping the shots away from Carr in the past five or so minutes, but Idaho is still getting a lot of chances to get possession in the offensive zone.
- Ratelle and Carroll get a really good pair of looks that leads to absolute mayhem. Ratelle goes in swinging.
- Richart continues to be his usual rock solid, 100% dependable self, with a little extra playoff spark.
- The crowd always appreciative of the Captain laying the boom.
- Not entirely sure what sparked off that newest series of ref you suck chants. Pretty sure that was a clean hit on Herbert.
- Travis Barron draws a crowd with 15 seconds to go after an offside call.
- Power play Utah with 8 seconds to go. Shots are 40-35 Idaho.
OT
- Sooooo…Marchment got roughed over, Herbert jumped to his defense…and HERBERT got a penalty…ok then. Needless to say, that wasn’t exactly a popular call here.
- Didn’t matter in the end, because they killed it off.
- Pretty quiet OT, though Utah’s outshot Idaho 3-1 in it.
- It’s been pretty even, but Idaho is starting to show bits and pieces of that offensive zone time they had before.
- Lewis and an Idaho player barrel into Utah’s net, but they and Carr all appear to be more or less fine.
- Ahh bugger. The slowest of slow trickling pucks slides over the line, and Idaho wins game three.
Kyle Schempp’s game winner earned him the first star, while Josh Dickinson got second star with his team-leading goal and assist, and Tim McGauley took third star in his return. Carr also had an excellent game.
“He’s been good.” Tim Branham said about his leading scorer these playoffs, “Obviously his skill set is high for this level, he’s a determined player and plays in every situation for us. He’s done extremely well these playoffs.”
“[McGauley] was a good player for us for many months there, and deserved a call up, that’s for sure,” He continued. “He was buzzing coming down here and playing again, so for as long as we have him we’ll use him.”
“We knew it would be a tight series,” he said, of the team in general, “We were able to get on top of them in Game 1, last two games went to over time, anything can happen. We have to pay attention to smaller details, gotta be willing to pay the price. Idaho works hard for their goals and we’ve got to work harder to stop them from scoring.”
“You’ve got to want it more than them,” he said when asked what needs to change for games four and five. “You know it’s gonna be a crap bounce that goes in, or a hard working play, you’ve gotta work hard for those. I thought we deserved this game to be honest, it is what it is, we’re down 2-1 in the series, only thing we control is Friday. We’ve got to make sure we come out with the same start that we had, clean up a few things in our own end, I’m not liking the goals that are going in. I’m not talking about Kevin Carr, I’m talking about our team. Dumb plays are leading to goals against, and we’ve got to make sure that we clean those things up.”
“Kevin gives us a chance to win every night. He’s done extremely well, made some big saves for us, kept us in it at times. That’s what you need out of your goaltender this time of year.”
“I thought we came out hard, I thought we took it to them. We hit two posts, had some odd man rush situations, and those are the bounces that we didn’t get. We’ve got to work harder for them next time and make sure we bear down in those opportunities, and hopefully our luck will change.”
The Grizzlies get a chance to change their luck tonight.
Goals
- First Period: Dickinson (SH)
- Second Period: McGauley (Dickinson)
- Third Period: None
- OT: None
UTA: 0/5 (15 PIM)
IDH: 0/4 (17 PIM)
Photo courtesy of Action Sports Photography
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