Game Preview: Utah at Rapid City December 6th

Utah Grizzlies (8-8-2-1) at Rapid City Rush (14-5-3) Friday December 6, 2019. 7:00 pm MST.  

Classic Country 1370, 104.3 FM HD-2. ECHL.TV.  

It’s the 1st of a 2 game series in the Black Hills. It’s the 3rd season meeting between the clubs. Rapid City swept a 2 game series on October 25th and 26th.

October 25th – Rapid City Won 4-3. Josh Dickinson had 2 goals. Ryan Wagner 2 assists. Colin Jacobs added a goal. Mason McDonald stopped 25 of 29 shots. Utah 2 for 7 power play. Rapid City’s power play was 2 for 8. Kyle Klima had 4 goals.

October 26th – Rapid City Won 4-3 (shootout). Taylor Richart, Ryan Wagner and Yuri Terao each had a goal for Utah. Rapid City tied the game 3-3 with 1:17 left in regulation as Cedric Montminy scored. The game went into 7 rounds of a shootout and it was Montminy who had the game deciding goal. Utah was 1 for 8 on the power play and a perfect 5 for 5 on the penalty kill.

This Week’s Transactions

Forwards Ty Lewis and Tim McGauley return to the team for this weekend’s games at Rapid City. Lewis had 1 goal and 1 assist for the Grizzlies earlier this season. McGauley leads the team in assists (10) and plus/minus (+8).

Forward Griffen Molino returned to the Grizzlies last Saturday after playing for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles last Friday night, a game Colorado won 5-2 over Stockton. Molino has 5 goals and 4 assists on the year. He is a plus 5 on the season, appearing in 17 games for Utah.

Homestand Recap

November 22nd – Utah 2 Orlando 1 (Overtime) – Hunter Miska saved 29 of 30 shots. Eric Williams first period power play goal. JC Brassard game winner 1:52 into overtime. Utah was 1 for 5 on the power play. Penalty kill was 4 for 4. Utah outshot Orlando 33 to 30. 

November 23rd – Utah 2 Orlando 1 (Overtime)  – Garrett Klotz 1st period power play goal. Eric Williams game winner 4:51 into overtime. Hunter Miska stopped 25 of 26. Utah outshot Orlando 41 to 26.

November 27th – Utah 5 Florida 4 (Overtime) – Joe Wegwerth game winner 22 seconds into overtime. Felix Lauzon 1 goal 2 assists. Tim McGauley had 2 assists. Griffen Molino, Eric Williams and Garrett Klotz added goals. Utah was 2 for 4 on the power play.

November 29th - Utah 3 Florida 6 – Florida got a point from 11 different skaters as they evened up the series. Brandon Saigeon had 2 goals and Yuri Terao had 1 goal and 1 assist for the Grizz.

November 30th – Utah 5 Florida 4 (Shootout) – Joe Wegwerth 1 goal. Brandon Saigeon 1 goal and GWG in shootout. Jack Jenkins and Jake Jackson added goals for Utah. Grizz went 1 for 5 on the power play. Florida was 1 for 4 on the P.P. Mason McDonald stopped all 3 shots in the shootout. He stopped 27 of 31.

3 OT Winners Last Homestand.

The Grizzlies were 4-1 in concluded 5 game homestand. All of them went past regulation.

November 22nd – JC Brassard 1:52 into OT.

November 23rd – Eric Williams 4:51 into OT.

November 27th – Joe Wegwerth 22 seconds into OT.

November 30th – Brandon Saigeon shootout game winner.

Power Play Had a Good Homestand

Utah is 6 for 23 on the power play the past 5 games. The Penalty Kill is also getting the job done. They are 19 for 21 the last 5 contests. Grizz also has a shorthanded goal, which Yuri Terao scored in the second period on Friday. Grizzlies have 3 shorthanded goals this year.

Saigeon’s First As A Pro

Brandon Saigeon scored his first 3 professional goals in the last 2 games vs Florida. Saigeon had a big power play goal with 2:44 left in regulation. He also got the shootout game winner. He had 92 regular season points with 2 different OHL clubs last season. He had 6 goals and 10 assists for 16 points in 15 playoff games for the Oshawa Generals.

November Point Totals

7 points – Felix Lauzon (1 G, 6 A) & Yuri Terao (3 G, 4 A).

6 points – Taylor Richart (3 G, 3 A) & Tim McGauley (1 G, 5 A).

5 points – Joe Wegwerth (2 G, 3 A), JC Brassard (2 G, 3 A) & Garrett Klotz (3 G, 2 A).

Grizzlies Among League Leaders

Defenseman Taylor Richart is tied for 2nd among league defenseman with 5 goals. Richart's 3 power play goals is tied for the lead among blueliners. Taylor has 61 shots on goal, 4th most among defenseman. Patrick McGrath leads the league in penalty minutes with 70.

2019-2020 Regular Season Totals

Overall record: 8-8-2-1

Home record: 5-4-1.

Road record: 3-4-1-1.

Last 10 games: Utah is 5-5 

Goals per game: 3.21 (14th in the league).

Goals against per game: 3.21 (11th). 

Shots per game: 30.89 (12th).

Shots against per game: 28.47 (6th). 

Power play: 20.4 % (9th).  

Penalty Kill: 84.6 % (9th). 

Scoring By Period

First Period: Utah 19 Opponents 19.

Second Period: Utah 24 Opponents 23.

Third Period: Utah 14 Opponents 16.

Total Scoring: Utah 61 Opponents 61.

Previous Week's Record: Utah went 2-1.

Team Leaders

Goals: Josh Dickinson (9)

Assists: Tim McGauley (10)

Points: Travis Barron (13)

Plus/Minus: Tim McGauley (+8)

PIM: Patrick McGrath (70) – Leads League

Power Play Points: Travis Barron (8)

Shots on Goal: Taylor Richart (61)

Wins: Jeff Smith (3)

Save %: Hunter Miska (.947)

Goals Against Average: Miska (1.62)

Upcoming Promotions

December 11th Newfoundland at Utah – Wild Wednesday and Bud Light College Night.

December 13th Newfoundland at Utah – Teddy Bear Toss Presented by Ford. KSL Quarters for Christmas Night. Friday the 13th = $13 tickets.

December 14th Newfoundland at Utah – Star Wars Night.

Grizzlies Player Awards

Josh Dickinson – October 2019 Player of the Month. He also was ECHL Player of the Week from October 14-20, where he had back to back hat tricks.

Hunter Miska – November 18-24 Goaltender of the Week.

Grizzlies Reschedule February game vs KC

The regularly scheduled Friday February 21st game at Maverik Center has been moved to Sunday, February 23rd at 5:00 pm. Tickets that were distributed for the game on the 21st will be good to use for the 23rd.

4 Have Played Them All

3 Players have appeared in all 19 regular season games. Taylor Richart, Eric Williams and Kevin Davis.

About the Rush

Rapid City has done a good job in net. Their combined save percentage for the season is .918. Giovanni Fiore is the reigning league Player of the Week. Fiore has 12 goals and 16 assists for 28 points. He doesn’t even lead his team in scoring. That’s Peter Quenneville, who has 10 goals and 20 assists for 30 points. Quenneville has 7 goals and 8 assists in his last 8 games. Brennan Saunier has 9 goals this year and Tyler Coulter has 8. They won 4-2 vs Idaho on November 30th despite being outshot 51 to 13.