Shelast's OT winner completes weekend sweep of Grizzlies

The Idaho Steelheads (24-14-3) earned their fifth straight win against the Utah Grizzlies (15-14-11) and completed the three-game weekend sweep of their geographical rivals with another dramatic win this evening; a 4-3 overtime win capped off by a Tyler Shelast game-winning tally. After a scoreboard malfunction at the E-Center delayed the opening faceoff, the Grizzlies tacked on the game?s first goal. At 10:50 of the first period, Tim Verbeek fired a shot from the left wing circle in the Steelheads end to beat Idaho netminder Rejean Beauchemin to give Utah a 1-0 lead; James Brannigan and Tyler Wooddisse assisted on the power play goal. Less than five minutes later, a problem with the boards in one of the corners delayed the game for several minutes. The second period yielded only one goal as well; however, this one came from the Steelheads. At 8:30, Mark Bomersback scored his 11th of the year on the power play to tie the game at 1-1. Kris Sparre and Ben Nelson were credited with the assists on the goal. Each team tacked on two goals in the third period. Tim Verbeek netted his second of the game at 7:48 for his second power play goal of the night, assisted by Ryan Kinasewich and Rob Hennigar. Less than four minutes later, Bryan McGregor took a pass from Ben Nelson and one-timed his 15th of the season by Mike Mole in the Utah net; Darrell Hay also assisted on the goal. At 16:41, Hennigar scored an unassisted shorthanded goal as he followed his own shot to beat Beauchemin and give Utah a 3-2 lead. However, as this series has indicated, no Utah lead is safe against Idaho. With just over three minutes to go in regulation, Darrell Hay netted a wrister top shelf on Mole from the high slot to tie the game. It was a power play goal, with Nelson and Marty Flichel picking up the assists. In overtime, Tyler Shelast scored less than two minutes in to secure the victory for the Steelheads. Matt McKnight and Darrell Hay added the assists. Beauchemin?s record improves to 10-6-2 with the win; he stopped 14 of 17 Utah shots. Mike Mole?s record falls to 11-14-11; he stopped 26 of 30 shots in a losing effort for Utah. The Steelheads are back in action on February 4 in Bakersfield.