Grizzlies Preview: Wichita at Utah, January 17th, 2020

Wichita Thunder (18-17-7) at Utah Grizzlies (20-11-7). Maverik Center. Friday January 17, 2020. 7:00 pm MST.  Classic Country 1370, 104.3 FM HD-2. ECHL.TV.  

West Valley City, Utah – The Utah Grizzlies begin a 5 game homestand tonight at Maverik Center against the Wichita Thunder. It’s the 5th season meeting between the clubs, with Utah winning 3 of the 4 previous games.

It’s Singles night at Maverik Center where you can get a $10 corner ticket and get seated among other singles. It’s also an AFCU Friday, where tickets start at $8 when you pay at the Maverik Center box office using your AFCU debit or credit card.

Grizz are coming off a 4 game road trip where they had a record of 2-1-1 and got 5 of 8 standings points. Utah lost 6-5 in overtime on January 14th at Allen to complete the trip. Ty Lewis led the Grizz with 7 points on the trip (4 goals, 3 assists). Tim McGauley had 6 points in 4 games (3 goals, 3 assists) and Yuri Terao had a great time on the road as he has 4 goals in his last 3 games.

Utah has outscored Wichita 18-7 in the 4 previous meetings. On December 17th Tim McGauley broke a single game franchise record in assists (6) and points (7). The interesting part of it all was McGauley wasn’t even the number 1 star of the game. That went to Ty Lewis, who had 4 goals and 2 assists in the 7-1 Utah win.

Goaltender Martin Ouellette was loaned to the AHL’s Providence Bruins and forward Griffen Molino was loaned to the AHL’s Ontario Reign. Ouellette has a record of 11-1-1-1 in 14 games with Utah. He has a 2.11 goals against average and a .924 save percentage since being acquired from the Atlanta Gladiators in a trade. Providence’s ECHL affiliate is Atlanta. Molino is 2nd in the league with a plus-minus rating of +29. He is 2nd on the club with 42 points (15 goals, 27 assists).

Utah Captain Taylor Richart is going to be the captain of the Western Conference in the 2020 ECHL All-Star Classic Skills Competition. Richart has 9 goals and 13 assists this season. Richart and Eric Williams are the only 2 players to have appeared in every game for the Grizzlies, who have the 3rd best winning percentage in the Western Conference at .618,

Saturday is the 19th annual Guns N Hoses Night at Maverik Center. 2 Charity games begin at 12:30 pm, with doors open at 11:30 am. The Grizzlies game tomorrow is at 7 pm against Wichita. Tickets are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.

2019-2020 Regular Season Totals

Overall record: 20-11-5-2

Home record: 11-5-2-1. Utah has outscored opponents 64 to 48 at home this season.

Road record: 9-6-3-1. Utah is outscoring opponents 71 to 59 on the road this season.

Last 10 games: Utah is 6-2-1-1.

Goals per game: 3.55 (6th in the league).

Goals against per game: 2.82 (4th). 

Shots per game: 32.66 (10th). Utah is averaging 41.2 shots per game in the last 9 games.

Shots against per game: 27.97 (3rd). 

Power play: 19.4 % (8th).  

Penalty Kill: 83.6 % (9th). 

Scoring By Period

First Period: Utah 31 Opponents 32.

Second Period: Utah 53 Opponents 38.

Third Period: Utah 46 Opponents 30.

Total Scoring: Utah 135 Opponents 107.

Record When Scoring First: 13-2-1 (.844 win %). Opponents have scored first in last 6 games.

Team Leaders

Goals: Ty Lewis (18)

Assists: Tim McGauley (32) – Leads League.  

Points: McGauley (48) – Leads League.  

Plus/Minus: McGauley (+34) – Leads league.

PIM: Patrick McGrath (86)

Power Play Points: Travis Barron (10) Richart and McGauley each have 9 points.

Shots on Goal: Taylor Richart (120)

Game Winning Goals: Yuri Terao (5)

Wins: Martin Ouellette (11)

Save %: Hunter Miska (.947) 

Goals Against Average: Miska (1.62)