Grizzlies Weekly: Utah 6 Game Homestand Starts Friday

Grizzlies Weekly: Utah Return for 6 Game Homestand

West Valley City, Utah – The Utah Grizzlies are back home for a 6 game homestand after a successful 3-1 road trip against Mountain division opponents last week in the central time zone. Utah outscored opponents 16 to 7 on the trip.

The Grizzlies will face the Tulsa Oilers on December 27th, 28th and 30th. It will be the only time the Oilers will visit Maverik Center. The Rapid City Rush will be at Maverik Center for the first time this season on January 3rd-5th for a 3 game series.

Tim McGauley had a record breaking night for the Grizzlies on December 17th at Wichita. He broke the franchise record for assists in a game (6) and points in a game (7), breaking the records previously held by current assistant coach Ryan Kinasewich, who had 5 assists and 6 points on January 16th, 2008 vs Phoenix. In the 4 games on the trip, McGauley had 3 goals and 9 assists. His 12 points for the week is the most by any player in the league for a 1 week stretch. He is the heavy favorite for league Player of the Week honors.

If McGauley doesn’t win Player of the Week, it would probably be Ty Lewis getting the honors. Lewis had 6 goals and 4 assists in the 4 games last week. The 10 points are second most by any player in the league in a week this season. Lewis had 4 goals and 2 assists on December 17th at Wichita. The 4 goal game is only the third player to have 4 goals in a game. The others are Kelly Klima, who had 4 goals against Utah on October 25th and former Grizzly Ralph Cuddemi, who scored 4 for Reading on November 24th.  

The performances by Griffen Molino last week would be worthy of league Player of the Week honors most weeks. Molino had 2 goals and 1 assist to complete the road trip in style at Wichita on December 21st. For the Week, Molino had 3 goals, 5 assists and was a +8. He was one of three players to have a +8 last week. His teammate, Tim McGauley was a +8 and former Grizzlies defenseman Turner Ottenbreit was a +8 for Allen.

Goaltender Martin Ouellette went 3-0 last week. He is off to a 5-0 start to his Grizzlies career after being acquired in a trade with the Atlanta Gladiators on December 12th. Ouellette has a 1.20 Goals Against Average and a .955 Save percentage for Utah. He was named ECHL Goaltender of the Week after winning 2 games at Maverik Center on December 13th and 14th against the Newfoundland Growlers.

Tickets are available now at utahgrizzlies.com, the Maverik Center box office or by calling (801) 988-8000. You can also get tickets at any Smith’s Tix location.

Rio Tinto Kennecott Partners with the Grizzlies

For every goal scored at home this season Rio Tinto Kennecott will donate $100 to UCAIR, the Utah Clean Air Partnership. The Grizzlies have scored 39 goals at home so far this season.

Last Week’s Games

December 17th – Utah 8 Wichita 2 – Ty Lewis 4 goals, 2 assists. Tim McGauley 1 goal, 6 assists. Griffen Molino 1 goal, 3 assists. Martin Ouellette 20 of 22 saves. Taylor Richart and Mitch Maxwell 1 goal each. Utah was 3 for 3 on the power play, 5 for 5 on the penalty kill and had 1 shorthanded goal.

December 19th – Utah 1 Tulsa 3 – Taylor Richart scored lone goal for Utah. Mason McDonald 29 of 31 saves. Tulsa 1 for 4 power play, Utah 0 for 3 power play. Tulsa outshot Utah 32 to 25.

December 20th – Utah 4 Kansas City 5 – Tim McGauley 2 goals, 2 assists, +4. Griffen Molino, Sasha Larocque and Taylor Richart were each a +3. Ty Lewis and Jack Jenkins each had 1 goal.

December 21st – Utah 3 Wichita 1 – Griffen Molino 2 goals, 1 assist. Martin Ouellette 33 of 34 saves. Ty Lewis 1 goal, 1 assist.

Grizzlies get 6 out of 8 standings points on a road trip that saw the team play in 3 different states, playing 4 games in 5 days. The final 3 games were played in 3 days in 3 different states.  

Upcoming Promotions

December 27th Tulsa at Utah – AFCU Friday.

December 28th Tulsa at Utah – Lucky’s Family Night.

December 30th Tulsa at Utah – Maverik Monday – Buy one get one free tickets with Maverik Adventure Card.

January 3rd Rapid City at Utah – Knock Your Socks Off presented by Ford (Sock Drive). AFCU Friday.

January 4th Rapid City at Utah – Ladies Night.

January 5th Rapid City at Utah – Postgame Skate.

Grizzlies Among League Leaders: Forward Tim McGauley leads the league in Plus/Minus (+24) Griffen Molino is second in Plus/Minus (+22). Patrick McGrath is 4th in penalty minutes with 86.

2019-2020 Regular Season Totals

Overall record: 14-9-4-1

Home record: 7-4-2.

Road record: 7-5-2-1.

Last 10 games: Utah is 7-1-2 

Goals per game: 3.36 (9th in the league).

Goals against per game: 2.82 (6th). 

Shots per game: 30.14 (17th).

Shots against per game: 28.00 (3rd). 

Power play: 20.7 % (6th). Grizz went 5 for 11 last week on the power play.

Penalty Kill: 84.1 % (Tied 9th). 

Scoring By Period

First Period: Utah 25 Opponents 22.

Second Period: Utah 35 Opponents 28.

Third Period: Utah 30 Opponents 24.

Total Scoring: Utah 94 Opponents 79.

Team Leaders

Goals: Griffen Molino (11)

Assists: Tim McGauley  (21)

Points: McGauley (31)

Plus/Minus: McGauley (+24) – Leads league.

PIM: Patrick McGrath (86) – 4th in league.

Power Play Points: Travis Barron (9)

Shots on Goal: Taylor Richart (79)

Game Winning Goals: Yuri Terao (3)

Wins: Martin Ouellette (5)

Save %: Martin Ouellette (9.55)

Goals Against Average: Ouellette (1.20)

Previous Week's Record: Utah went 3-1

This Week's Games: Utah hosts Tulsa on December 27th, 28th and 30th.