A couple of rookies who hadn't seen much - make that any - action for quite awhile, proved to be the difference in the Salt Lake Golden Eagles' victory Saturday night.
Rookie right winger Tim Harris scored the winning goal - his first as a professional - and rookie goaltender Jason Muzzatti got his first professional shutout in leading the Eagles to a 2-0 victory over the Kalamazoo Wings before 9,207 at the Delta Center.Harris had only played in half of Salt Lake's games this year, less than any Eagle player who started the season with the team and he hadn't played in five games since Oct. 25. Muzzati, the former first-round draft choice for Calgary, had sat out three straight games since getting pulled in a 6-5 defeat a week earlier against San Diego.
But Coach Bob Francis went with both players Saturday and was happy he did.
"It's got to be encouraging," he said. "Harry (Harris) has got to be commended. He stepped into the lineup after not playing and showed a lot of character. And Jason played a solid game."
"It's good to get the goose-egg off my back," said Harris. "It's been a numbers game and after we got a win, the coach didn't want to make any changes. Hopefully I played well enough to be able to play the next game."
Muzzatti wasn't that impressed with his shutout. After losing four of his five career starts, he was ready to take any victory.
"I'm more happy about the win than the shutout," he said. "It's been tough to get a win this year. But you have to give credit to the guys in front of me. They had a great defensive effort. I wasn't facing any second shots."
As well as he played, it wasn't a spectacular performance by the former Michigan State star. He only faced 20 Kalamazoo shots on the night.
"We kept them on the perimeter for the most part. The guys really played solid defensively," said Francis.
The first, and winning goal as it turned out came at the 8:57 mark of the second period when Harris took the puck on the right angle and circled in toward the goal.
To his surprise no one took him and he had enough time to switch the puck six times before flipping a backhander to the left side of goalie Larry Dyck.
"Cherno (Rich Chernomaz) got it low to me . . . I looked up and saw I had a hole as I got closer it opened up wider. I kind of deked the guy and just hit it low," said Harris.
The Eagles got the clincher with less than four minutes left when Bryan Deasley took a pass from Todd Harkins in the slot and put it home.
Both the second and third periods ended in brawls as the two teams have grown to dislike each other after three games in four nights. On the night 21 penalties were called including 10 majors.
"Any time you get a three-game series, eventually its going to come to something like this," said Francis.
The Eagles continue their home stand with games Wednesday and Friday against Milwaukee. Then they play the Wings again Saturday night in Kalamazoo.