The Idaho Steelheads won for the seventh time in nine meetings this season against the Utah Grizzlies. A 3-1 win at CenturyLink Arena on Friday night that pushed Idaho one point ahead of Utah in the standings and into first place in the West Division for the first time since late October.
The Steelheads are 9-2-0 in their last 11 games.
Mike Ratchuk’s power play wrister at 11:35 of the first period zipped over the left shoulder of Jack Campbell and into the net to give the Grizzlies a 1-0 lead in Ratchuk’s Grizzlies debut.
That was the only scoring for the rest of the tightly contested first period, but the Steelheads wasted little time in the second. Andrew Carroll held a puck in at the right point in the Utah zone and flipped it over the oncoming Grizzlies players and into the right-wing face-off circle. Andre Morrissette picked it up and found Carson McMillan driving the net out of the right-wing corner. McMillan’s initial shot was stopped by Grizzlies goaltender Ryan Faragher, but McMillan stayed with it and jammed the rebound under Faragher for his 11th goal of the season.
Morrissette now has two goals and three assists during a four-game points streak.
The Steelheads and Grizzlies will finish off their home-and-home series at Maverik Center tomorrow night with puck-drop scheduled for 7:05pm MT.
