Grizzlies Preview: Feb. 28, 2021 Utah at Wheeling

Utah Grizzlies (13-6-3-5, .630 Win %) at Wheeling Nailers (6-14-4, .333 Win%)February 28, 2021 | 2:10 PM | Game #28 | WesBanco ArenaReferees: Andrew BruggemanLinesmen: Joe Sherman, CJ Murray.

Where to See and Hear the Game  

You can catch every game on Flohockey.TV, the new home for ECHL.TV. The games can also be heard on Mixlr, the new broadcast home for Grizzlies hockey.Watch Live:  https://www.flohockey.tv/Listen Live: https://mixlr.com/utah-grizzlies

The Match-up

It’s the rubber match of the 3 game weekend series at Wheeling. It’s the only 3 games vs an Eastern Conference opponent in the regular season. It’s also the only 3 games Utah will play in the eastern time zone.

Last Night: Lowney, Power Play Key to 4-3 Win

Ryan Lowney won the game with a power play goal with 5:01 left in the third period. It was 6 seconds into a power play. Last weekend Lowney scored power play goals 6 seconds and 15 seconds into a power play. AJ White and Miles Gendron scored first period goals. Hunter Skinner scored a very strange 2nd period shorthanded goal as he cleared the puck from his own zone and it somehow went past Wheeling’s Alex D’Orio to give Utah a 3-1 lead. Wheeling added 2 goals late in the 2nd period to tie the game. Trey Bradley had 3 assists. Riley Woods and Pat Cannone each had 2 assists.

Friday Night: 5 Unanswered for Wheeling

Utah took a 2-0 lead early as Pat Cannone scored a power play goal on a pass from AJ White 3:59 into the game. Matthew Boucher re-took the team lead for goals as he got his 8th of the season 17:01 into the first and it was 1 second after a power play. Utah officially was 1 for 3 on the power play on the evening. Wheeling scored 2 goals in a 23 second stretch as Matt Alfaro and Austin Fyten each scored for the home side. The Nailers added 3 in the third period with Nick Rivera getting the game winner 1:42 into the third. Both teams had 26 shots on goal. Utah’s Kevin Carr saved 21 of 25 and Wheeling’s Francois Brassard saved 24 of 26.

Bradley Takes Team Assists lead

Trey Bradley leads the team with 13 assists on the season. He had 3 helpers last night. Bradley has a point in 8 of the 11 games played in February.

February Leaders

It’s the last game in the month of February. Utah is 6-2-0-3 in February. They have standings points in 9 of 11. Ryan Lowney (3g, 7a) and Trey Bradley (2g, 8a) each have 10 points in the month. Matthew Boucher leads Utah with 5 February points. 4 other players have 6 points in February (AJ White, Riley Woods, Pat Cannone and Braylon Shmyr).

Special Teams

Utah went 2 for 8 on the man advantage last night, including the game winner scored by Ryan Lowney with 5:01 left in the 3rd. Utah is 9 for 26 on the power play the last 5 games. Utah has a power play goal in each of their last 12 wins. The only win that didn’t produce a power play goal was the first win of the season on December 12th, 2020 at Rapid City. Utah has a power play goal in 20 of the 27 games. On the season Utah is the number 1 power play unit in the league at 24.8 percent. Ryan Lowney and Pat Cannone each has 4 goals and 6 assists on the power play.

Utah is the least penalized team in the league at 10.52 PIM/game. Utah went 1 for 3 on the power play last Friday night and also scored 1 seconds after a power play. On 3 separate occasions this season the Grizz have scored within 5 seconds after a power play ended.

Expect A Really Close Game

17 of the 27 games Utah has played this season have been 1 goal contests. 6 of the last 10 games have been 1 goal games. For Wheeling 14 of their 24 games have been decided by 1 goal. The Nailers are 5-5-4 in 1 goal contests, while Utah is 8-1-3-5. 

Grizzlies Among League leaders

Brad Barone is 57 minutes away from qualifying for league leading stats. His .930 save percentage would be tied for the league lead. Matthew Boucher leads all rookies in goals (8) and points (20). His 12 assists are tied for 2nd among rookies. Boucher’s 84 shots on goal lead all rookies and Cedric Pare is 3rd in shots among rookies with 63. Hunter Skinner leads the league with 2 shootout goals. Ryan Lowney leads all league defenseman with 4 power play goals and 10 power play points. 

Matthew Boucher Making Case for Rookie of the Year

Boucher was the league’s player of the Week from January 18th-24th. He has 20 points in 22 games this season. Boucher leads the team in points and goals.

Matthew Boucher League Rankings Among Rookies

Points: 20 – 1st

Goals: 8 – 1st

Assists: 12 – Tied 2nd.

Shots: 84 – 1st.

Last Week’s Games

February 19th, 2021 – Rapid City 3 Utah 2 (Shootout) – Braylon Shmyr and Jack Jenkins scored goals for Utah. Utah outshot Rapid City 43 to 28. Evan Buitenhuis stopped 25 of 27.

February 20th, 2021 – Rapid City 4 Utah 5 (Overtime) – Nick Henry scored game winner 50 seconds into OT in his Grizzlies home debut. Ryan Lowney had 2 goals and 2 assists. Ty Lewis and Mitch Maxwell each had 2 assists.

February 21st, 2021 – Rapid City 3 Utah 4 – Nick Henry 3 goals and 1 assist. Ty Lewis 3 assists. Ryan Lowney 2 assists. Utah was 3 for 7 on the power play.

This Week’s Games (All games can be seen on Flohockey.tv and Mixlr)

Friday, February 26th, 2021 – Utah 2 Wheeling 5.

Saturday, February 27th, 2021 – Utah 4 Wheeling 3

Sunday, February 28th, 2021 – Utah at Wheeling. 2:10 pm.

All times Mountain.

Next Week’s Games

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2021 – Utah at Allen. 6:05 pm.

Friday, March 5th, 2021 – Utah at Wichita. 6:05 pm.

Saturday, March 6th, 2021 – Utah at Wichita.

2020-2021 Regular Season Totals (league rankings)

Overall record: 13-6-3-5

Home record: 8-3-1-3

Road record: 5-3-2-2

Win percentage: .630 (4th in Western Conference).

Streak: Won 1.

Standings Points: 32

Last 10: 5-2-0-3

Goals per game: 3.11 (6th in the league). Goals for: 84

Goals against per game: 3.07 (9th). Goals against: 83

Shots per game: 32.56 (4th).

Shots against per game: 29.30 (5th).

Power Play: 24.8 % - 27 for 109 (2nd). – Utah has 6 power play goals in the last 3 games. 9 for 26 last 5 games.  

Penalty Kill: 83.9 % - 78 for 93 (7th). Utah is 15 for 16 on the PK the last 6 games.

Shorthanded Goals: 5 (3rd) Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 4 (Tied for 8th)

Record When Scoring First: 8-3-1.  Utah has scored first in 12 of the 27 games.

Team Leaders (2020-21 season)

Goals: Matthew Boucher (8)

Assists: Trey Bradley (13)

Points: Boucher (20)

Plus/Minus: Matt Abt (+8) Jack Jenkins leads active Grizzlies skaters at +6.

PIM: Teigan Zahn (37)

Power Play Points: Ryan Lowney/Pat Cannone (10) Both have 4 goals and 6 assists.

Shots on Goal: Matthew Boucher (84) 

Shooting Percentage: Joe Wegwerth (18.2%) – Minimum 10 shots.

Game Winning Goals: Pat Cannone/Nick Henry (2)

Wins: Brad Barone (5)

Save %: Brad Barone/Parker Gahagen (.930)

Goals Against Average: Barone (2.08).