Outliers Blast by Warbirds

PARK CITY, U.T. - Utah steamrolled Casper 6-2 at the Black Rock Event Center on Friday night. An early lead carried the Outliers through the rest of the contest, never trailing to the Warbirds on the way to their 25th win of the season.

Utah’s head coach Richard Bohan credited an efficient trip out of the tunnel to the victory. He said, “We started quickly and had good pressure throughout the first period.”

Forward Zach Palik exemplified that early pressure with a goal just 32 seconds into the contest. Nabbing another tally to cap the scoring in the third period, Palik accomplished a 20-goal rookie season.

Outliers forward Grant Barksdale converted on a breakaway with about four and a half minutes remaining in the second period thanks to a feed from defenseman Jonas Pettersson. The Norway-native’s 16 assists place him tied with alternate captain Mags Sagadiev for fourth on the roster.

Casper finally converted in the waning minutes of the middle frame with forward Devin Schaeffer capitalizing, but the comeback attempt lasted just a minute into the third period.

Opening up the final inning with a bang, Utah forward Luke Goldberg marked a goal to increase the lead back to two. Under two minutes later forward Leon Buff grabbed another score to jump up to a 4-1 lead. Midway through the same frame, defenseman Valters Budenieks jumped on the board for even more insurance.