Outliers Shutout The Mustangs

UTAH OUTLIERS 3, OGDEN MUSTANGS 0 (Nov 18)

The Outliers were back in action on Saturday, at the Acord Ice Center in West Valley as they played host to the Ogden Mustangs. Utah was looking to build on some of their impressive play from the previous night and grab two points from the Mountain Division-leading Mustangs.

The opening period showed a lot of the familiar characteristics that show up when these two teams face off against each other. Skilled plays, big hits, and great saves were in abundance in the opening frame.

Utah got off to a quick start on this night and opened the scoring just 3:48 into the opening period. With the puck in Utah's zone and the Mustangs pressing for offense, Utah's Mason Keller made an excellent shot block at the point which resulted in a 2-on-1 odd-man rush for the Outliers. As Keller entered the Mustang's zone he slid a pass to teammate Maghzhan Sagadiev who rifled a shot top corner over the Ogden goalie's blocker for a 1-0 lead.

The first period ended with the Outliers leading 1-0 and outshooting the Mustangs by a 13-8 margin. Utah goaltender, Philip Rondina was up to the task and stopped everything fired at him.

In the second period, Ogden got off to a good start and began to carry some of the play in the Outliers zone. This caused Utah to get into some penalty trouble as they had to kill off three consecutive penalties during the second frame.

Despite being short-handed and having to weather some Mustang scoring chances, Utah was able to weather the storm and hold the visitors off the scoreboard. A major factor in that was goalie Phil Rondina who made several huge saves which brought his save total to 19 through two periods of play and kept Utah leading the game 1-0.

In the third period, Utah extended their lead to 2-0 at the 0:40 mark as they applied intense pressure on the forecheck in the Ogden zone. The Mustangs attempted to defend against Utah's offense as they moved the puck around the offensive zone but the home team created a shot opportunity that found its way to the stick of Garrett Joss and then into the back of Ogden's net.

The Outlier's solid defensive play and excellent goaltending held the Mustangs off the scoreboard and forced them to pull their netminder which allowed Magzhan Sagadiev to score into an empty net for his second goal of the game.

Rondina was solid the rest of the night and closed the game out with a 27-save performance to give Utah a 3-0 win and earn a much-needed win against their state rival.