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The Idaho Steelheads, behind two goals by Bryce Van Brabant and goalie Landon Bow's 27 saves, denied the Grizzlies' comeback bid as Utah lost consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 17 as Idaho escaped with a 3-2 shootout win on Saturday night at the Maverik Center in ECHL action.
Things were looking bleak for the Grizzlies as they were unable to solve the riddle of Bow until late in the game. Down 2-0 with less than 10 minutes remaining, Michael Pelech and Jon Puskar electrified the crowd by tying the contest and sending it into overtime.
Unfortunately for the Grizzlies, however, they came up unsuccessful in overtime and failed to register a successful shot attempt during the shootout.
"I thought we deserved a better fate," Grizzlies coach Tim Branham said. "But I'm happy with the way we fought back and battled and gained a point. Both goalies were outstanding and Monday [against Idaho at 1:30 p.m.] is going to be a huge test for us.
Only 21 seconds had elapsed in the third period when Van Brabant launched a slapshot that got by Utah goalie Ryan Faragher for his second goal of the night to make it 2-0.
The first came at 1:35 in the first period as Van Brabant's bouncing puck at 1:35 escaped the pads of Faragher for a 1-0 lead.
Bow was spectacular during the first 50 minutes, stopping 24 shots on net before Pelech was successful. For his part, Faragher kept the Grizzlies within striking range as Utah's netminder stopped Brian Nugent stone cold on a breakaway.
A torrid pace of play continued in the second period. Bow denied Jon Puskar with a sprawling leg save and Faragher snatched a Joe Basaraba shot out of midair. —
ECHL standings
EASTERN CONFERENCE
North GP W L OL SL Pts GF GA
anchester 52 29 14 5 4 67 200 177
Reading 50 31 17 1 2 65 190 145
Brampton 50 28 16 3 3 62 182 178
Adirondack 50 26 14 6 4 62 182 160
Wheeling 50 27 18 5 0 59 176 155
Elmira 50 9 35 6 1 25 109 199
South GP W L OL SOL Pts GF GA
Florida 48 33 10 2 3 71 178 138
South Carolina 52 29 20 2 1 61 161 145
Greenville 51 28 18 4 1 61 169 170
Orlando 52 26 18 6 2 60 194 190
Cincinnati 51 24 23 4 0 52 143 151
Atlanta 51 20 24 6 1 47 172 197
Norfolk 50 18 28 4 0 40 138 184
Western Conference
Central GP W L OL SOL Pts GF GA
Toledo 50 35 12 2 1 73 206 145
Fort Wayne 50 30 15 5 0 65 184 153
Quad City 51 29 20 0 2 60 159 152
Tulsa 55 24 26 5 0 53 156 174
Kalamazoo 51 24 23 1 3 52 142 167
Wichita 48 15 29 3 1 34 136 189
Indy 52 15 33 2 2 34 132 204
Mountain GP W L OL SOL Pts GF GA
Allen 55 34 16 3 2 73 217 163
Colorado 51 33 14 1 3 70 189 149
Idaho 52 28 17 5 2 63 179 166
Alaska 48 25 16 1 6 57 155 151
Utah 51 25 21 3 2 55 162 175
Missouri 50 24 19 2 5 55 165 169
Rapid City 51 18 25 8 0 44 163 193
Saturday's games
Reading 4, Elmira 1
Greenville 5, Florida 4
Wheeling 5, Kalamazoo 4
Atlanta 4, Adirondack 3, OT
South Carolina 5, Manchester 3
Fort Wayne 4, Brampton 3, OT
Rapid City 4, Allen 3, OT
Indy 6, Tulsa 2
Toledo 3, Wichita 2
Missouri 2, Quad City 1
Idaho 3, Utah 2, SO
Colorado at Alaska, late