WEST VALLEY, Utah (ABC-4 Sports) - The Utah Grizzlies (4-2) defeated the Idaho Steelheads 5-2 Wednesday night at the E-Center. Dylan Hunter recorded a hat trick in the win as the Grizzlies won their third-straight game. The Grizzlies went 3-8 on the power-play.
Utah never trailed in the contest, leading 1-0 in the first period, following a power-play score from Dylan Hunter at 6:26. Idaho added a power-play goal of their own 4:01 later and 1-1 was the score at the first intermission.
Hunter added a five-on-three power-play goal 1:35 into the second to give Utah a 2-1 lead before the Steelheads evened the score again at 9:12. After goaltender Parker Van Buskirk denied a Mathieu Tousignant penalty-shot at 12:16 of the period, Dylan Hunter was awarded one at 14:30 and finished off the hat trick as he ultimately scored the game-winning goal. Vlady Nikiforov scored unassisted at 16:25 to finish the three-goal period and give Utah a 4-2 lead.
The Grizzlies killed off a 4:32 shorthanded situation to start the third before AJ Perry scored a power-play goal to give Utah a 5-2 lead at 9:37.
Van Buskirk (4-1) stopped 27 of 29 shots for his fourth-straight win. Captain Ryan Kinasewich added two assists in the game for Utah and now has 16 points in the team’s first six games.
The Grizzlies and Steelheads rematch Friday at the E-Center. Face-off is again scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
