(WEST VALLEY CITY, UT) – Jon Puskar’s pair of goals in the first period helped the Utah Grizzlies to a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes, but an issue with the ice surface that threatened player safety prior to the start of the second period halted play, postponing the remainder of this contest to Sunday afternoon, January 7th, at 1 p.m. MST at the Maverik Center.
Utah struck three times in the opening period to eventually take a 3-1 lead into the intermission. Jon Puskar scored his first of two in the contest 2:55 into the action when he went on a two-on-one rush down the ice. His passing lane was blocked off by a diving Michael Sdao, but Puskar managed to bank a shot off of the shoulder of Rush net-minder Adam Vay and in, giving Utah a 1-0 lead (Taylor Richart had the lone assist). The Grizzlies lead went to 2-0 when Ryan Olsen pocketed a loose rebound in front of Vay’s crease on a scramble in front with 6:36 gone by in the first (Mitch Jones and Sam Windle assisted). Peter Sivak cut the Utah lead in half shortly after Olsen’s tally to get his team on the board. With 9:48 left in the first, Sivak took a loose puck to the short side of Kevin Carr’s net in the Utah zone. Sivak settled, and ripped a shot over the shoulder of Carr to put the Rush on the board and cut Utah’s lead to 2-1 (Kenton Miller and Pavel Jenys assisted). Puskar got the last word in the first when he deflected a Charley Graaskamp wrister from the blue line over Vay’s shoulder to give Utah a 3-1 advantage heading into the second with 5:42 left in the first (Graaskamp and Chris Leibinger assisted).
Before the start of the second period, as the Zambonis re-surfaced the ice, a groove formed as a result of a zamboni pass that came roughly three feet off of the boards that encompassed the circumference of the rink. The Maverik Center ice crew, with the help of the game’s officials, worked valiantly during a delay of over an hour to repair the ice and bring it back to a safe standard of play, but it was determined by the officiating crew, led by #24 Mike Zalcman, that this game would be postponed in the interest of player safety. The game will resume with the Grizzlies up 3-1 heading into the second period on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. MST at the Maverik Center.
The Rush and Grizzlies will play their regularly scheduled game for tomorrow night, January 6th, at 7:05 p.m. MST.
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