Grizzlies Weekly: Utah Earned 3 Game Sweep at Maverik Center

Grizzlies Weekly: Grizz Earned a 3 Game Sweep at Maverik Center

West Valley City, Utah – The Utah Grizzlies completed a 3 game sweep against the Kansas City Mavericks from March 10-12, winning each game by 1 goal. Utah is now tied for 3rd in the Mountain division with 59 points and are just 1 point behind Kansas City for 2nd place. The Grizzlies have been one of the hottest teams in the league as they have a standings point in 11 of their last 13 games.

Utah has won 5 games in a row over the last 2 weeks. 4 of the 5 wins during the streak have been decided by 1 goal. The Grizzlies have won the close games this season. They are 12-3-3 in one goal contests this year and 19-6-3 in games decided by 1 or 2 goals.

Last Saturday night was a special one at Maverik Center. The Stanley Cup was in the building for Affiliate Night as the Grizzlies honored their NHL affiliate, the 2022 Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. A big crowd of 8,139 saw the Grizzlies overcome a 4-2 deficit in the third period as Cameron Wright and Tarun Fizer scored goals in the third period. The game went to the 8th round of a shootout where Dakota Raabe scored the game winner. Trent Miner saved all 8 shots in the shootout as he picked up his team leading 11th win of the season.

The Grizz are on the road for a 3-game series at Allen on Thursday and Friday at 6:05 pm and Sunday at 1:05 pm. Utah has a standings point in 7 straight road games. The next homestand for the Grizzlies is on March 22, 24 and 26 vs Cincinnati and March 29, 31, April 1 vs Wichita. There are 15 games left in the regular season and 10 of them will be at home. Tickets for every Grizzlies home game are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.

Games Last Week

Friday, March 10, 2023 – Kansas City 1 Utah 2 – Cameron Wright scored the game winner 14:24 into the third period. Connor McDonald scored a goal in the first period. Lukas Parik saved 22 of 23 to earn his 9th win. Utah outshot Kansas City 34 to 23. Hugo Roy scored KC’s lone goal 8:58 into the third period.

Saturday, March 11, 2023 – Kansas City 4 Utah 5 (Shootout) – Utah overcame a 4-2 deficit in the third period as Cameron Wright and Tarun Fizer scored goals in the third period. The game went to a shootout where in the 8th round Dakota Raabe scored the game winner. Trent Miner saved 32 of 36 and all 8 shots he saw in the shootout. Cam Strong and Keaton Jameson scored first period goals. KC was 3 for 5 on the power play. Utah was 1 for 3.

Sunday, March 12, 2023 – Kansas City 2 Utah 3 – Tarun Fizer scored the game winning goal 4:32 into the third period. Dakota Raabe had 1 goal and 1 assist. Kyle Pouncy scored his 3rd goal of the season. Lukas Parik saved 27 of 29. Utah went 1 for 8 on the power play and was a perfect 5 for 5 on the penalty kill.

• Each win was decided by 1 goal. Utah is 12-3-3 on one goal games this season.
• Saturday night was a rare overtime game at Maverik Center. It was only the second game decided past regulation since Ryan Kinasewich became the Grizzlies coach before the 2021-2022 season. Kansas City was the opponent both times. Utah won 5-4 over KC on March 9, 2022. Utah is 4-3 in overtime/shootout games this season. It was the first time this season the Grizzlies were involved in a shootout.
• Utah went 7-1 vs Kansas City this season. KC won the season series opener on November 1, 2022 and Utah responded by winning 7 straight.

Games This Week

Thursday, March 16, 2023 – Utah at Allen. 6:05 pm. Credit Union of Texas Event Center.

Friday, March 17, 2023 – Utah at Allen. 6:05 pm. Credit Union of Texas Event Center.

Sunday, March 19, 2023 – Utah at Allen. 1:05 pm. Credit Union of Texas Event Center.

You can catch every game on FloHockey and audio on the Grizzlies YouTube channel.

All Times Mountain.

Bear Bites: Team Notes

Utah is 21-5 when scoring first. Utah has 55 goals in their last 13 games. Utah has scored 38 goals in their last 9 games. Utah is 2nd with 1037 penalty minutes. Utah is 12-1 when leading after 1 period. Utah is 21-1 when leading after 2 periods. Utah is 12-3-3 in one goal games. Utah won 3 straight 1 goal games vs Kansas City last week. Utah is 19-6-3 in games decided by 1 or 2 goals. Utah has a point in 7 straight road games. Utah is 6-1 on Sundays. The Grizz have standings points in 11 of their last 13 games. 

Grizzlies Player Notes

Captain Connor McDonald is a +11 in his last 12 games.

Aaron Thow is a +11 in his last 13 games. 

Dakota Raabe has a point in 10 of his last 12 games (5 goals, 8 assists). Raabe scored the shootout game winner vs Kansas City on March 11. 

Dylan Fitze has 15 points in his last 12 games (7 goals, 8 assists). Fitze has a point in 9 of his last 12 games. 

Cam Strong has 10 points in his last 12 games (4 goals, 6 assists). Strong is a +9 in his last 9 games.

Jordan Martel has 7 points in his last 5 games (2 goals, 5 assists).

Tarun Fizer has 21 points in his last 20 games (10 goals, 11 assists). Fizer is tied with Cameron Wright for the Grizzlies lead with 20 goals. 

Cameron Wright leads the league with 8 game winning goals. Wright leads all league rookies with 207 shots on goal. Wright has 14 points in his last 10 games (8 goals, 6 assists). 

Brycen Martin has 4 assists in his last 6 games. 

Keaton Jameson has a point in 4 of his last 5 games. 

Trent Miner was 8 for 8 in the shootout vs Kansas City on March 11.

Utah Grizzlies 2022-2023 Roster

Forwards (13): Dylan Fitze, Tarun Fizer, Keaton Jameson, Jordan Martel, Vladislav Mikhalchuk, Tyler Penner, Jared Power, Dakota Raabe, Christian Simeone, Cam Strong, Zach Tsekos, Johnny Walker, Cameron Wright.

Defenseman (8): Victor Bartley, Joey Colatarci, Brycen Martin, Connor McDonald, Kyle Pouncy, James Shearer, Cory Thomas, Aaron Thow.

Goaltenders (3): Garrett Metcalf, Trent Miner, Lukas Parik.

2022-2023 Utah Grizzlies Regular Season Totals (league rankings)

Overall record: 28-26-3

Home record: 13-13

Road record: 15-13-3

Win percentage: .518

Streak: Won 5

Standings Points: 59

Last 10: 7-2-1

Goals per game: 3.02 (Tied 21st) Goals for: 172

Goals against per game: 3.61 (21st)  Goals Against: 206

Shots per game: 30.77 (21st)  

Shots against per game: 35.09 (26th)

Power Play: 52 for 270 – 19.3 % (Tied 18th)

Penalty Kill: 195 for 248 – 78.6 % (17th)

Penalty Minutes: 1037. 18.19 per game. (2nd most in the league)

Shorthanded Goals: 4.

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 8. 

Record When Scoring First: 21-5.

Opposition Scores First: 9-21-3.  

Record in One Goal Games: 12-3-3.

SCORING          1ST       2ND               3RD               OT/Shootout       TOTAL                     

Utah Grizzlies     52         64                   52                   4                               167                            

Opposition           59         73                   71                   3                               206

Team Leaders (2022-23 Regular season)

Goals: Tarun Fizer/Cameron Wright (20). 

Assists: Andrew Nielsen (32). 

Points: Wright (45).

Plus/Minus: Connor McDonald (+6)

PIM: Nielsen (166)

Power Play Points: Nielsen (26)

Power Play Goals: Tarun Fizer (9)

Power Play Assists: Nielsen (20). 

Shots on Goal: Cameron Wright (207). 

Shooting Percentage: Johnny Walker (17.5 %) 10 for 57.   

Game Winning Goals: Wright (8)

Wins: Trent Miner (11)

Save %: Miner (.910).

Goals Against Average: Miner (3.12)

Active Streaks 

Goal Streaks: Tarun Fizer (2), Jordan Martel, Kyle Pouncy, Dakota Raabe (1)

Assist Streaks: James Shearer (4) Zach Tsekos (2) Vladislav Mikhalchuk, Jared Power, Raabe, Zach Tsekos, Cameron Wright (1)

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Wright (5) Shearer (4) Tsekos (2)

Best Grizzlies Home Attendances in the 2022-2023 Season

10,397 – January 28, 2023 – RC at Utah.

8,136 – March 11, 2023 – KC at Utah.

7382 – January 27, 2023 – RC at Utah.

6941 – February 24, 2023 – Allen at Utah.

6927 – December 30, 2022 – Idaho at Utah.

6494 – December 17, 2022 – KC at Utah.

6415 – February 4, 2023 – Allen at Utah.

6349 – November 18, 2022 – Idaho at Utah.

6325 – December 28, 2022 – Idaho at Utah. – Best Grizzlies Wednesday home crowd in 10 years.