FORWARDS: The Grizzlies are in some serious need of an offensive spark. They've layed two consecutive rotten goose eggs on the board and haven't scored in seven straight regulation periods. Houston's Lane Lambert earned first-star honors for being at the right place at the right time to tap in the winning goal.DEFENSEMEN: A splendid game by both defensive units, so a good case could be made for giving both sides a check mark. However, the Grizzlies had several breakdowns -- an errant clearing attempt and mistimed anticipation for starters -- in the OT that led to the only goal.
GOALIES: It hardly seems fair that one of these two stellar goaltenders had to lose this thriller. But the edge, if there is one, goes to Frederic Chabot -- simply because he was the one who didn't give up a goal. The loss was agonizing for Utah's Corey Hirsch, who had shut down the Aeros in consecutive regulation periods.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Neither team scored on the power play, but a few boneheaded plays by the Grizzlies gave Houston too much time on the ice with the man-advantage. Utah ended with 20 PIMs, four more than Houston. Both penalty-killing units have been brilliant, but the Grizz need to snap out of their oh-fer funk (0-56 slump on PPs).
COACHING: Utah's Bob Bourne wanted to keep up the physical nature of this series as he put tough defenseman Brad Miller back into the lineup to dish out a few bruises. Houston's Ron Low just looks like the Albert Einstein of the IHL simply by inserting Chabot in the line.