Grizzlies Weekly: Utah's Homestand Continues This Weekend

Grizzlies Weekly: Utah Homestand Continues This Weekend

West Valley City, Utah – The Utah Grizzlies 6 game homestand continues with a 3 game series against the Rapid City Rush on February 19th, 20th and 21st. Friday and Saturday will be 7:10 pm face-offs while Sunday the 21st will start at 1:10 pm.

Grizzlies got 3 out of 6 standings points vs Wichita last weekend. Wichita won 3-2 in a shootout last Friday as both teams took 31 shots on goal through overtime. Utah got goals from Diego Cuglietta, who was playing for the first time since January 10th at Tulsa and AJ White. Last Saturday Wichita won 4-2 and Utah responded with a 6-1 win on Sunday afternoon to complete the series.

Matthew Boucher led all Grizzlies skaters with 5 points last weekend (2 goals, 3 assists). Braylon Shmyr was outstanding in his first 2 games in a Utah uniform. Shmyr made his Grizzlies debut on February 13th and scored a first period goal. Shmyr had a 3 poing game in the Valentine’s day win with 1 goal and 2 assists. Matt Hoover had 3 assists last weekend and they were his first 3 professional points.

The Grizzlies have the number 1 power play unit in the league at 21.7 percent.  Utah has a power play goal in 15 of 22 games. Grizzlies went 3 for 12 in 4 games last week on the man advantage.

Goaltender Evan Buitenhuis saved 53 of 56 shots last weekend in his first 2 Utah starts. Buitenhuis played the previous 2 seasons with the Worcester Railers.

The Rapid City Rush the following weekend on February 19th-21st. Tickets every home game this weekend is available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000. Capacity is limited to 1800 with social distancing and masks required. For continuing updates on the Grizzlies and the 2020-21 season, follow the Grizzlies on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

FloHockey is the live streaming home for the ECHL and the Utah Grizzlies. Get the FloSports iOS and Android apps to watch the event live and on-the-go. For more information go to https://www.flohockey.tv/. Audio streaming for every Grizzlies game is available on Mixlr. (https://mixlr.com/utah-grizzlies).

Last Week’s Games

February 9th, 2021 – Utah 1 Allen 2 (Shootout) – Matthew Boucher scored a 2nd period power play goal. Utah outshot Allen 32 to 25.

February 12th, 2021 – Wichita 3 Utah 2 (Shootout) – Diego Cuglietta and AJ White scored goals for Utah. Evan Buitenhuis stopped 29 of 31 in his first Utah start.

February 13th, 2021 – Wichita 4 Utah 2 – Braylon Shmyr scored a first period goal in his Grizzlies debut. Jack Jenkins added a 2nd period goal.

February 14th, 2021 – Wichita 1 Utah 6 – Matthew Boucher (2 goals, 1 assist) and Braylon Shmyr (1 goal, 2 assists) each had 3 points. Cedric Pare, Jared Pike and Trey Bradley added goals for Utah. Matt Hoover and Ryker Killins each had 2 assists. Evan Buitenhuis stopped 24 of 25 in his first win of the season.

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

Friday, February 19th, 2021 – Rapid City at Utah. 7:10 pm.  

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

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

Lots of Close Games

13 of the 22 games Utah has played this season have been 1 goal contests.

Point Streaks and Trends

Matthew Boucher has 5 multi point games this season. Boucher has 6 points in 6 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.

Grizzlies Among League leaders

Brad Barone is 3rd in the league in save percentage at .935. Matthew Boucher leads all rookies with 17 points and his 11 assists are tied for all rookies. Boucher’s 68 shots on goal are 2nd among rookies and Cedric Pare is 3rd in shots among rookies with 53.

2020-21 Roster

Forwards: Matthew Boucher, Trey Bradley, Pat Cannone, Diego Cuglietta, Matt Hoover, Christian Horn, Jack Jenkins, Mitch Maxwell, Cedric Pare, Jared Pike, Braylon Shmyr, Yuri Terao, Joe Wegwerth. AJ White,

Defenseman: Garrett Johnston, Ryker Killins, Alex Lepkowski, Ryan Lowney, Kris Myllari, Hunter Skinner, Teigan Zahn.

Goaltenders: Brad Barone, Evan Buitenhuis. Kevin Carr.

2020-2021 Regular Season Totals (league rankings)

Overall record: 10-5-3-4

Home record: 6-3-1-2

Road record: 4-2-2-2

Win percentage: .614 (3rd in Western Conference).

Streak: Won 1.

Standings Points: 27

Last 10: 4-2-1-3

Goals per game: 3.05 (5th in the league). Goals for: 67

Goals against per game: 2.95 (Tied 7th). Goals against: 65

Shots per game: 31.95 (6th).

Shots against per game: 29.32 (4th).

Power Play: 21.7 % - 18 for 63 (1st). – Utah is 4 for 18 in the last 5 games.

Penalty Kill: 82.5 % - 66 for 80 (9th). Utah is 17 for 18 on the penalty kill in the last 5 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 22 games.

Team Leaders (2020-21 season)

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

Assists: Boucher (11)

Points: Boucher (17)

Plus/Minus: Matt Abt (+8) Jack Jenkins leads active Grizzlies at +7.

PIM: Teigan Zahn (28)

Power Play Points: Cannone (8)

Shots on Goal: Matthew Boucher (68) 

Shooting Percentage: Ian Scheid (18.8 %) Joe Wegwerth (18.2 %) leads active Grizzlies.

Game Winning Goals: Pat Cannone (2)

Wins: Peyton Jones/Brad Barone (4)

Save %: Evan Buitenhuis (.945)

Goals Against Average: Buitenhuis (1.42).