Grizzlies Preview: Utah at Idaho Feb 28, 2020

Grizzlies Preview: Utah at Idaho, Feb. 28, 2020

Utah Grizzlies (33-16-9, 75 points) @ Idaho Steelheads (32-17-7, 71 points)

CenturyLink Arena. Friday February 28, 2020. 7:00 pm MST. Classic Country AM 1370/104.3 FM HD2.

Boise, Idaho – It’s game 2 of the 3 game series at CenturyLink Arena as the Utah Grizzlies take on the Idaho Steelheads on Friday night at 7:00 pm.

It’s a big game in the Mountain division standings as the Grizzlies are in 2nd place with 75 standings points, 4 ahead of Idaho, who is in 3rd place with 71 points. It’s been a busy week for the Grizz as it’s the 5th game of a 6 game in 8 day stretch.

Forward Nick Henry makes his Grizz debut tonight as he was reassigned from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Henry was drafted in the 4th round, 94th overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He was in the WHL from 2017-2019, where he had 78 goals and 128 assists. He made his professional debut last season appearing in 3 games for the Eagles. He has played in 38 games for Colorado this season and has 8 points. Henry will wear number 15 for Utah tonight.

Forwards Tim McGauley, Ryan Wagner, Josh Dickinson and defenseman Peter Tischke were each assigned to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles yesterday.

Tonight’s game can be heard on Classic Country AM 1370 and in HD radio at 104.3 FM HD2. It is also the feature game on the ECHL’s Facebook page.

Grizzlies Defense Has Dominated

Utah has allowed only 9 regulation goals in the last 8 games. Utah has allowed just 1 goal in a game 20 times this season. Grizz also have 3 shutouts this year. This season the Grizz are 2nd in goals allowed per game (2.57) and shots allowed per game (27.09). They have outscored opponents 195 to 149 this season.

Last Game: Idaho 4 Utah 3 (Shootout)

Ryan Wagner had 2 goals and Mitch Maxwell had 1 goal in a 4-3 shootout loss to Idaho. Wagner’s 2nd goal tied the game with 55 seconds left in the 3rd period. Maxwell now has 2 goals and a shootout game winner on his resume vs Idaho this season. Martin Ouellette stopped 32 of 35 shots. For Idaho Brett Supinski had 1 goal and 1 assist and AJ White had 2 assists. Both Supinski and White had shootout goals for Idaho. Utah outshot Idaho 38 to 36.

Scoring First Is Important

Utah is 21-3-1 when scoring first this season, a .860 winning percentage.

Grizz Looking for Some Wins in Boise

Utah has 2 wins vs Idaho this season. They won 5-4 on November 1st at CenturyLink Arena and won 2-1 in a shootout on January 20th. The road team won the first 5 games of the season series while the home team has won the last 3. 7 of the 9 games have been 1 goal contests. Yuri Terao, Travis Barron and Griffen Molino each has 2 goals vs Idaho this year. Taylor Richart leads with 4 assists. Idaho goaltender Tomas Sholl has been public enemy number 1 to Grizzlies fans as he has allowed 7 goals in 7 games vs Utah with a .966 save percentage and a 0.98 Goals Against Average.

Utah 3 @ Idaho 4 )Feb 26 2020) SO

Utah 1 @ Idaho 2 (Feb 8 2020)

Utah 0 @ Idaho 4 (Feb 7 2020)

Idaho 1 @ Utah 2 (Jan 20 2020) SO

Idaho 1 @ Utah 0 (Nov 3 2019)

Idaho 3 @ Utah 2 (Nov 2 2019) OT

Utah 5 @ Idaho 4 (Nov 1 2019)

Idaho 3 @ Utah 1 (Oct 12 2019)

Idaho 3 @ Utah 2 (Oct 11 2019)

Richart and Williams are the Ironmen of the Team

Taylor Richart and Eric Williams are the only 2 players to have appeared in all 58 games this season.

Grizzlies Among League Leaders

Forward Tim McGauley leads league in assists (42). Tim is 2nd in plus-minus (+35) and is also tied for 2nd in points (62). Griffen Molino is 4th in points (59), 5th in assists (37) and 3rd in plus-minus (+32). Taylor Richart is tied for 2nd in goals by a defenseman (12). He also leads all blueliners in shots on goal (177). Richart leads league in defenseman power play goals (8). Yuri Terao has 5 game winning goals, tied for 2nd most among rookies. Connor Yau is 2nd in plus-minus among rookies (+27) and 5th among all league defenseman. Mason McDonald leads the league in shootout wins (3). Martin Ouellette is 3rd in the league in wins (22).

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 90 goals at home so far this season. Grizz have outscored opponents 90 to 66 at Maverik Center and have a record of 18-7-2-2.

Upcoming Promotions

March 13th Allen at Utah – AFCU Friday.

March 14th Allen at Utah – Military Night (Specialty jersey’s). Beer Fest. Lucky’s Family Night.

2019-2020 Regular Season Totals

Overall record: 33-16-5-4

Home record: 18-7-2-2. Utah has outscored opponents 90 to 66 at home this season.

Road record: 15-9-3-2. Utah is outscoring opponents 105 to 83 on the road this season.

Last 10 games: Utah is 6-2-0-2.

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

Goals against per game: 2.57 (2nd). 

Shots per game: 33.22 (8th).

Shots against per game: 27.09 (2nd). 

Utah has outshot opponents in 42 of the 58 games this season.

Power play: 19.6 % (7th).

Penalty Kill: 84.0 % (7th). 

Record When Scoring First: 21-3-1 (.860 win %). League average is a .758 win %.

Team Leaders

Goals: Ty Lewis/Griffen Molino (22)

Assists: Tim McGauley (42) – Leads league.

Points: McGauley (62) – 2nd in league.     

Plus/Minus: McGauley (+35) – 2nd in league.

PIM: Patrick McGrath (86)

Power Play Points: Tim McGauley/Taylor Richart (15) – All 15 of McGauley’s points are assists. Richart has 8 goals and 7 assists on P.P.

Shots on Goal: Taylor Richart (177)

Shooting Percentage: Josh Dickinson (17.6 %)

Game Winning Goals: Yuri Terao/Griffen Molino (5)

Wins: Martin Ouellette (18)

Save %: Hunter Miska (.947) Ouellette has a .927 Save %

Goals Against Average: Miska (1.62)

Hat Tricks This Season

Josh Dickinson – 2 (October 16th, 18th).

Tim McGauley – 1 (December 6th).

Joe Wegwerth – 1 (December 27th).

Ty Lewis – 1 (January 13th).

4 Goal Game – Ty Lewis – 1 (December 17th).