Grizzlies Preview: Rapid City at Utah, Feb. 20, 2021

Rapid City Rush (10-15, .400 Win%) at Utah Grizzlies (10-5-3-5, .609 Win %)February 20, 2021 | 7:10 PM | Game #23 | Maverik CenterReferees: Alex Normandin (#26)Linesmen: Kollin Kleinendorst (#87), Craig Peterson (#58). 

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 a 2nd of a 3 game weekend series at Maverik Center. It’s the 9th out of 16 games in the regular season between the Western Conference rivals. Utah has standings points in 18 of 23 games this season and has a record of 5-1-1-1 vs Rapid City this season.

Today’s Transactions

Goaltender Kevin Carr, Defenseman Miles Gendron and Forwards Ty Lewis and Nick Henry have each been reassigned from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Lewis led the Grizzlies with 25 goals last season. The 22 year old Lewis has 30 goals and 34 assists in 51 games for Utah over the past 2 seasons. Lewis played in 3 games with the Eagles this season. Nick Henry played in 1 game for Utah last season. Last season Henry played in 42 games for Colorado (AHL) and had 3 goals and 6 assists. Henry appeared in 2 games with the Eagles this season. Gendron appeared in 2 games with Colorado (AHL) this season. Miles has 9 points (4 goals, 5 assists) in 16 games for Utah this season. Gendron had 2 goals at Kansas City on February 6th in his final game before getting called-up to Colorado. Carr has played in 3 games for Utah this season. This is Kevin’s 3rd season with the Grizzlies.

Diego Cuglietta Traded to Indy

Cuglietta was traded to the Indy Fuel. Cuglietta has 11 points (2 goals, 9 assists) in 12 games this season for Utah.

Grizzlies Signed Defenseman Brandon Fehd

Grizzlies signed former Rapid City defenseman Brandon Fehd. He played in 100 games for the Rush, scoring 3 goals and 14 assists. Fehd was with the Grizzlies in training camp prior to the 2017-18 season. He also has 4 games of experience with the Indy Fuel this season and previous SPHL time with 4 different teams.

Passing Last Year’s Total

When Nick Henry, Ty Lewis and Brandon Fehd make their team debuts for Utah, they will be the 37th, 38th and 39th players to appear in at least 1 game this season. Last season in 62 games, Utah used 37 players.

Last Night

Grizzlies lost 3-2 in a shootout, outshooting the Rush 43 to 28. Braylon Shmyr scored a power play goal 14:28 into the second period. 28 seconds later Jack Jenkins made it a 2-1 Utah lead. Jenkins leads all active Grizzlies skaters in plus/minus at +8. Rush defenseman Ian Edmondson tied the game with 9:25 left in regulation. The game went all the way to the 6th round of the shootout and RC’s Avery Peterson scored the game winner. Rush goaltender Adam Carlson was the number 1 star with his 41 of 43 save performance as well as 5 for 6 in the shootout.

Shmyr Has Made Great First Impression.

Braylon Shmyr has a goal in each of his 3 games since joining the Grizzlies last weekend. Shmyr has 3 goals and 2 assists in 3 games. Braylon had 3 goals and 4 assists against Utah in the 2018-19 season when he was with Allen. He was claimed off waivers on Feb. 10, 2021 from the Allen Americans. Shmyr has previous experience with 2 different AHL clubs and ECHL experience with Allen, Norfolk and Jacksonville. Shmyr’s best pro season was with the Allen Americans in the 2018-19 season, where he scored 20 goals and 24 assists in 64 games.

Evan Buitenhuis Continues to Shine

Evan Buitenhuis has a .940 save percentage and a 1.55 goals against average in 3 starts this season. Prior to coming to the Grizzlies, Evan spent 2 seasons with the Worcester Railers, where he won 24 games over 2 seasons.

Special Teams

Utah is 5 for 22 on the power play in the last 5 games. Pat Cannone leads the club with 8 power play points (3 goals, 5 assists). Utah has a power play goal in 16 of their 23 games this season. They have also scored 2 goals that were within 5 seconds after a power play ended. Utah is the number 1 power play unit in the league at 21.8 percent.

Not to be outdone, the Grizzlies penalty kill is 20 for 21 over the last 6 games. Utah is the least penalized team in the league at 10.70 PIM/game.

Point Streaks and Trends

Braylon Shmyr has a goal in each of his 3 games with Utah. Matthew Boucher has 5 multi point games this season. Boucher has 6 points in 7 games in February. Pat Cannone has a 6 game point streak, though he has missed the last 4 games. Christian Horn has an assist in 3 straight games. Cedric Pare has a point in 6 of his last 8 games.

Matthew Boucher Making Case for Rookie of the Year

Boucher was the league’s player of the Week from January 18th-24th. He has 17 points in 18 games this season. Boucher leads the team in points (17) and assists (11).

Matthew Boucher League Rankings Among Rookies

Points: 17 – 1st

Goals: 6 – Tied 3rd

Assists: 11 – Tied 3rd.

Shots: 71 – 1st.

Grizzlies Among League leaders

Brad Barone is 2nd in the league in save percentage at .935. Matthew Boucher is tied for all league rookies with 17 points and his 11 assists are 3rd  all rookies. Boucher’s 71 shots lead all first year players. Cedric Pare is 3rd in shots among rookies with 55. Hunter Skinner leads the league with 2 shootout goals.

Rapid City Series

Utah is 5-1-1-1 vs the Rush this season.

Rapid City 3 @ Utah 2 (Feb 19 2021) Shootout

Utah 4 @ Rapid City 5 (Jan 23 2021) Final OT

Utah 3 @ Rapid City 2 (Jan 22 2021) Final

Rapid City 2 @ Utah 3 (Jan 2 2021) Final

Rapid City 3 @ Utah 4 (Jan 1 2021) Final

Rapid City 3 @ Utah 6 (Dec 31 2020) Final

Utah 3 @ Rapid City 1 (Dec 12 2020) Final

Utah 4 @ Rapid City 6 (Dec 11 2020) Final

Utah is 16-8-0-2 at home vs Rapid City in the last 5 seasons.

Diego Cuglietta has 8 points in 6 games vs RC (1g, 7a). Cuglietta was the league player of the week the first weekend of the season for his 2 games at RC. Joe Wegwerth, Jack Jenkins has 6 points in 6 games vs RC and Trey Bradley has 6 points in 5 games vs RC, Pat Cannone and Matthew Boucher each has 5 points.

Utah has had 5 different goaltenders start games vs the Rush this season.

Upcoming Games vs Rush

Feb. 20 Rapid City at Utah 7:10 pm MST

Feb. 21 Rapid City at Utah 1:10 pm MST

Mar. 19 Utah at Rapid City 7:05 pm MDT

Mar. 20 Utah at Rapid City 7:05 pm MDT

May. 4 Rapid City at Utah 7:10 pm MDT

May. 5 Rapid City at Utah 7:10 pm MDT

May. 7 Rapid City at Utah 7:10 pm MDT

May. 8 Rapid City at Utah 7:10 pm MDT

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

Friday, February 19th, 2021 – Rapid City 3 Utah 2 (Shootout)

Saturday, February 20th, 2021 – Rapid City at Utah. 7:10 pm.

Sunday, February 21th, 2021 – Rapid City at Utah. 1:10 pm.

2020-2021 Regular Season Totals (league rankings)

Overall record: 10-5-3-5

Home record: 6-3-1-3

Road record: 4-2-2-2

Win percentage: .609 (3rd in Western Conference).

Streak: Lost 1.

Standings Points: 28

Last 10: 4-2-0-4

Goals per game: 3.00 (5th in the league). Goals for: 69

Goals against per game: 2.96 (8th). Goals against: 68

Shots per game: 32.43 (5th).

Shots against per game: 29.26 (4th).

Power Play: 21.8 % - 19 for 87 (1st). – Utah is 5 for 22 in the last 6 games.

Penalty Kill: 83.1 % - 69 for 83 (8th). Utah is 20 for 21 on the penalty kill in the last 6 games.

Shorthanded Goals: 4 (Tied for 3rd) Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 4 (Tied for 11th)

Record When Scoring First: 7-2-1.  Utah has scored first in 10 of the 23 games.

Team Leaders (2020-21 season)

Goals: Pat Cannone/Matthew Boucher/Cedric Pare (6)

Assists: Boucher (11)

Points: Boucher (17)

Plus/Minus: Matt Abt/Jack Jenkins (+8)

PIM: Teigan Zahn (32)

Power Play Points: Cannone (8)

Shots on Goal: Matthew Boucher (71) 

Shooting Percentage: Braylon Shmyr (27.3 %) 11 shots.  

Game Winning Goals: Pat Cannone (2)

Wins: Peyton Jones/Brad Barone (4)

Save %: Evan Buitenhuis (.940)

Goals Against Average: Buitenhuis (1.55).