Blades 4, Grizzlies 2
WEST VALLEY CITY -- Because the stakes were so high, Friday night's hockey game was billed as being one of playoff-caliber for the Utah Grizzlies.Unfortunately for the 10,024 fans in attendance at the E Center, it may very well be the closest they get to a playoff game this season.
The Grizzlies dug themselves deeper into their ever-growing hole with a 4-2 loss the Kansas City Blades. With the untimely setback, Utah (31-31-8) now finds itself 10 points behind the Blades (37-28-6) in the race for the sixth and final playoff spot for the IHL's Western Conference.
"It was a big game and we didn't play big," said a dejected Utah coach Butch Goring. "We've created a very, very difficult task now."
If Friday's game is any indication -- and it is -- the Grizzlies will need a huge backhoe and a minor miracle to dig themselves out of this pit. They've only got 12 games to make up a double-digit point deficit, and that should be nearly impossible considering how well Kansas City has been playing of late.
"It's still possible (to make the playoffs)," said Grizz center Micah Aivazoff, who scored one goal and had an assist. "No one in here is throwing in the towel yet. We've got to claw and scratch our way back. Hopefully everyone's still got some fight in them."
That doesn't leave much room for hope, judging the lackluster performance the Grizzlies gave on Friday. Utah, coming off of five days of rest, had as much fight in it as a tomato can for most of the game. And the Blades didn't waste much time to knock them into submission, either.
Jean-Guy Trudel and Vlastimil Kroupa scored back-to-back goals only a minute-and-a-half apart to put Kansas City up 2-0 only 8 1/2 minutes into the contest. Those quick goals proved to be as effective as a sucker punch in deflating the Grizzlies.
To add salt to the injury, the Blades tossed in another goal early in the second period to go up 3-0. That goal was especially tough to swallow for the Grizz, as Dale Craigwell broke away from the pack to punch in a shorthanded score to ruin Utah's power play opportunity.
"They got up three goals on us, and it's a tough hill to climb when a team can just sit back and trap us," Aivazoff said.
Aivazoff helped give the Grizz a bit of life with a nice pass from the corner to Rob Bonneau, who chipped in Utah's first goal at 5:24 of the second period.
But Brendan Yarema upped the lead to three again later in the period after a great pass from Pat Ferschweiler, who zipped the puck through the slot to open things up for Yarema on the opposite side.
Aivazoff tallied his 22nd goal of the season with two minutes left in the second to again trim the lead to two, but that was all the offense the Grizz could muster. Utah had some fantastic opportunities midway through the third, but a handful of close-range shots wouldn't find their way past Kansas City goaltender Patrick Lalime.
"We didn't really play very well until we got down a bunch of goals," Goring grumbled. "It's disappointing to play the way we did."
The win was a breakthrough for Kansas City, which had never won in regulation against the Grizzlies at the E Center. The Grizzlies had a 10-1-1 record against the Blades at home -- including in Denver and Utah -- before the loss.
The Grizzlies don't have much time to feel sorry for themselves, though. They travel to Las Vegas for a game tonight (8 p.m. MST) and then they're in Long Beach on Sunday.
"We knew all along these three games were huge, but we wanted this first one at home the most," Aivazoff said. "Not to win it is tough to take."