When your hockey team is fighting for a playoff spot, it helps to have someone turn in the best offensive performance any single player has had all season. Friday night at the E Center, Utah's Greg Leeb scored two goals and two assists to lead the Grizzlies to a 4-2 win over the Kansas City Blades.
"Greg's great. He's been our go-to guy for the last couple of weeks," said Utah Coach Bob Bourne. But Utah had never gone to him quite this much. Hockey statisticians grant one point for every goal or assist credited to a player. Leeb was the first Utah player to amass four points in a single game since Jan. 22, 2000. His two goals salvaged what could have been a disastrous night for the normally low-scoring Grizzlies, who otherwise appeared a little sloppy.
The win puts Utah in a three-way tie with Houston and Chicago for the final playoff spot. Each team has 79 points in the IHL's Western Conference standings. That means each team is tied for second, third and fourth place behind conference-leading Manitoba. Kansas City is the lone team out in the five-team conference, but not by far. The Blades have 72 points.
Utah is at a slight disadvantage, however, because the Grizzlies already have played more games than any other team in the conference. Their one advantage, however, is that they play the rest of their games at home, beginning with a huge rematch Saturday night at the E Center against Kansas City.
"There's not much you have to tell them," Bourne said of his team. "With a playoff spot on the line, I would hope inspiration doesn't have to be a huge part of my job. But we have to understand that we need to play better than we have."
Utah outshot Kansas City but had trouble scoring early in the game. The Blades scored the game's first goal at the 9:58 mark of the first period on a slap shot from the blue line by defenseman Brian Helmer. By that time, Utah had outshot the Blades 9-3 and had squandered several good opportunities.
However, the Grizzlies tied the score less than two minutes later when a close shot by Jamie Wright hit the goalie's skate and trickled in. Utah then took the lead for good as Leeb scored his first goal with just under five minutes left in the first period. The play was set up by John Purves, whose cross-ice pass caught the goalie and the defense flat-footed. The Grizzlies took a 3-1 lead at the 3-minute mark of the second period when a pass from Leeb found Purves alone on goal.
Kansas City scored its second goal on a fluke shot from well beyond the blue line during a routine line change. Steve Lingren's shot was hard and on-target, and it seemed to catch Utah goalie Mike Bales by surprise.
Leeb's final goal — a shot from the side that seemed to bounce off the goalie and in — sealed the victory near the start of the third period.
E-mail: even@desnews.com