Bulls Have Their Winning Streak Snapped By Utah: Game Recap

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San Francisco Bulls v Utah Grizzlies, March 17th, 2013 – Photo courtesy of Mike Tkacheff via the San Francisco Bulls web page – SFBulls.com

The Bulls struggled as their three game winning streak is snapped as they fall six to two to the Utah Grizzlies. The Utah Grizzlies score six straight goals in the final two periods to easily beat the Bulls. Jordan Clendenning come back to haunt his former team as he has a five point night. Christian Ouellet led the Bulls with two goals. Goalie Taylor Nelson had his second rough outing in a row with six goals allowed. The Bulls finished the season series with the Grizzlies as they go 2-5.

First Period:

The Bulls would have a strong first period as they look to build on their last two offensive performances. The Bulls would get an early power play opportunity on a holding call on Utah. The Bulls would convert on the chance with Christian Ouellet’s 16th goal of the season. Mikael Tam and Simon Denis-Pepin would combine for the assists. The Bulls would give the Grizzlies a power play chance, but the penalty kill would step up and keep Utah off of the board. Dylan King would drop the gloves with former Bull Martin Lee right before the end of the first. The Grizzlies out shot the Bulls 11 to seven in the first.

Second Period:

The offense would explode in the second as the two teams combined for four goals. The Bulls would strike first with Christian Ouellet scoring his second goal of the game and his 17th of the season to give the Bulls a two goal lead. Kory Falite and Jordan Morrison would get the credit for the assists. The Grizzlies would get their breakthrough at the 12:29 mark. Colin Vock would give the Grizzlies their first goal with his 25th of the year. Former Bull Jordan Clendenning would come back to bite the Bulls as he knotted up the game at two with his seventh of the year. The Grizzlies would take the lead with their third straight goal of the period. Colin Vock would score his second goal of the game with 51 seconds remaining in the period. The Grizzlies would out shoot the Bulls 11 to 10 in the second period.

Third Period:

The third period became ugly as the Grizzlies expanded their lead and the two teams began to engage in chippy play. The two teams racked up 99 of the combined 117 penalty minutes in the third period alone. The Grizzlies extended their lead to two goals as they scored just 28 seconds into the third period Adam Estoclet’s eight goal of the season. David Eddy took just 37 seconds to give the Grizzlies a three goal lead with his third of the year. Eddy added his second straight power play goal of the game four and half minutes later to give him four on the season and push the Grizzlies to six goals. The Grizzlies out shot the Bulls eight to seven in the period and 30 to 24 in the game.

The Bulls played well to start the game as they jumped out to a two goal lead over Utah, but then the Grizzlies struck back with a vengeance as they scored six straight. Former Bulls’ forward Jordan Clendenning was a thorn in their side as he scored five points on the evening. Clendenning had the game tying goal late in the second period and then he was credited with an assist on each of the next four goals. David Eddy and Colin Vock both had two goals for the Grizzlies. The Bulls’ leading scorer was Christian Ouellet as he scored both of the Bulls’ goals on the evening. Taylor Nelson struggled for the second straight game as he allowed six goals on 30 shots during the game. The Bulls fall to 24-35-7 on the season as they still sit four points from clinching their first playoff berth, while the Grizzlies improve to 26-29-12 to increase their lead to nine points over the Bulls for the seventh seed in the West. The Bulls return to action this weekend as they face off with the Stockton Thunder for the final time this season on this Friday and Saturday.

Three Stars:

  1. Jordan Clendenning – Utah
  2. Colin Vock – Utah
  3. Christian Ouellet – San Francisco