Matchup: Utah Grizzlies at Idaho Steelheads. Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday at Qwest Arena. Game time each night is 7 PM.
And you are … Considering these two teams have played nine times already, it’s strange to say the Grizzlies are an unknown quantity. But they are. Head coach Kevin Colley hasn’t been shy about making roster moves with players coming and going faster than tabloid dating rumors. High-scoring forward Ryan Kinasewich is still there and so is longtime Steelhead Lance Galbraith, so there are still a couple names that fans will recognize.
Back in the Saddle: Forward Mark McCutcheon opened the regular season with the Steelheads before being recalled to the American Hockey League for more than two months. Since returning, though, the Cornell College alum has added some serious scoring punch to Idaho’s lineup. In nine games since his return, McCutcheon has registered a three-assist game, a four-assist game, a two-goal game, and another game where he had a goal and an assist.
The Idaho Steelheads (33-11-3) blanked the Utah Grizzlies (21-20-6) by a 1-0 score tonight at Qwest Arena. John Swanson tallied the lone goal of the game, and Mark Derlago assisted, prolonging his point streak to 13 games. The Steelheads are now 9-1-1 in their last 11 games, and are currently unbeaten in regulation in their last nine games, going 8-0-1 in the stretch.
Despite each team having multiple power plays in the first period, the Steelheads and Grizzlies battled to a scoreless tie through one frame of action.
At 6:52 of the second period, former Steelhead Kyle Radke, playing in his first game as a visitor to Qwest Arena, dropped the gloves with Steelheads enforcer Adam Huxley to a cheer from the crowd in attendance.
With just 1:47 left in the second period, John Swanson broke the scoreless tie when he fired home a rebound on the doorstep; Mark McCutcheon and Mark Derlago assisted on Swanson’s 13th goal. The assist extended Derlago’s point streak to 13 games.
Richard Bachman and Mitch O’Keefe continued the goaltenders’ battle through the third period, as the final horn sounded with the Steelheads maintaining the 1-0 advantage.
Bachman registered his second shutout of the campaign, stopping all 24 shots he saw to improve to 14-5-2. Bachman was slow to get up after a play near the midway point of the third period, but stayed in the game to finish the shutout. O’Keefe stopped 32 of 33 in the loss; he is now 14-9-4 for Utah.
The two teams will resume the series Friday night at Qwest Arena. The puck drops at 7PM. Saturday night is the series finale.