Grizzlies Preview: March 12, 2021 Allen at Utah

Allen Americans (17-9-1, .648 Win %) at Utah Grizzlies (13-10-3-5 .548 Win%)March 12, 2021 | 7:10 PM | Game #32 | Maverik CenterReferee: Jacob RekuckiLinesmen: James McKenna, Andrew Collins.

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 opening game of the 3 game weekend series between Utah and Allen. It’s the 6th season meeting between the clubs. Utah received forwards Ty Lewis, Nick Henry and Travis Barron as each were reassigned from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Josh Dickinson will make his 2021 home debut after appearing in 2 road games for Utah last weekend.

Last Weekend

Wichita shut out Utah 3-0 on Friday night at INTRUST Bank Arena. Utah outshot Wichita 38 to 29. Josh Dickinson and Ty Lewis led Utah with 5 shots on goal. Utah lost 4-3 the next night despite going 2 for 4 on the power play.

Bradley and Cannone Leads Team in Assists 

Trey Bradley is tied with Pat Cannone for the team lead with 13 assists on the season. He had 3 helpers in the 4-3 win last Saturday. Bradley had a point in 8 of the 12 games played in February.

Special Teams

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 22 of the 31 games. On the season Utah is the number 2 power play unit in the league at 23.1 percent. Pat Cannone has 11 points on the power play to lead the team (4g, 7a). Ryan Lowney has 4 goals and 6 assists on the man advantage. The 30 power play goals are the most in the league.

Last Week’s Games

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2021 – Utah 3 Allen 5 - Matthew Boucher, Hunter Skinner and Trey Bradley score goals.

Friday, March 5th, 2021 – Utah 0 Wichita 3 – Utah outshot Wichita 38 to 29.  

Saturday, March 6th, 2021 – Utah 3 Wichita 4 -

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

Friday, March 12th, 2021 – Allen at Utah. 7:10 pm.

Saturday, March 13th, 2021 – Allen at Utah. 7:10 pm.

Sunday, March 14th, 2021 – Allen at Utah. 1:10 pm.

All times Mountain.

Next Week’s Games

Friday, March 19th, 2021 – Utah at Rapid City. 7:05 pm.

Saturday, March 20th, 2021 – Utah at Rapid City. 7:05 pm.

Recent Transactions

Forwards Ty Lewis, Nick Henry and Travis Barron were all reassigned to the Grizzlies from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Henry had 4 goals and 2 assists on February 20th-21st vs Rapid City. Henry scored the game winning goal 50 seconds into overtime on February 20th and scored 3 goals and 1 assist on February 21st. Forward Braylon Shmyr was released on March 11th. Shmyr had 3 goals and 3 assists in 11 games for Utah.

Defenseman Miles Gendron signed a PTO with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on March 10th. Gendron has 6 goals and 5 assists in 24 games for Utah this season. Defenseman Garrett Johnston signed a PTO with the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights on March 9th. Johnston had 3 assists in 30 games this season. Forward Yuri Terao was suspended and removed from the roster. Terao had 1 goal in 14 games this season. Forward Ty Lewis was recalled to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on March 7th and brought back to Utah on March 11th. Riley Woods was loaned to Colorado on March 7th. Forward Josh Dickinson was reassigned to Utah from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on March 5th. Dickinson had 16 goals and 14 assists in 29 games for the Grizz last season. Dickinson has 60 points in 63 games for Utah over the last 2 plus seasons. Josh was the ECHL Player of the Month for October 2019, after back to back hat tricks on October 16th vs Wichita and at Allen on October 18th.

Lots of Close Games

18 of the 31 games Utah has played this season have been 1 goal contests.

Grizzlies Among League leaders

Matthew Boucher leads all rookies in goals (9) and is tied for 1st in points (21). His 13 assists are tied for 3rd among rookies. Boucher’s 92 shots on goal lead all rookies and Cedric Pare is 3rd in shots among rookies with 70. Hunter Skinner leads the league with 2 shootout goals. Skinner is 2nd among defenseman with 6 goals. Ryan Lowney leads all league defenseman with 4 power play goals and 10 power play points. Pat Cannone is 2nd in the league with 11 power play points. Ryan Lowney is tied for 3rd with 10 power play points.

Season Series vs Allen

Utah is 1-2-0-2 vs Allen this season. Hunter Skinner leads Utah with 5 points vs Allen (3g, 2a). Friday night will be the 6th season meeting between the clubs. The teams will meet 18 times during the regular season.

Utah 3 @ Allen 5 (Mar 3 2021)

Utah 1 @ Allen 2 (Feb 9 2021) SO

Allen 3 @ Utah 4 (Jan 31 2021)

Allen 3 @ Utah 2 (Jan 30 2021) SO

Allen 5 @ Utah 2 (Jan 29 2021)

2020-21 Number of Times Grizzlies Face Different Opponents

Allen – 18 games.

Rapid City – 16 games.

Tulsa – 12 games.

Kansas City – 11 games.

Wichita – 9 games.

Fort Wayne – 3 games at Maverik Center from June 3-5.

Wheeling – 3 games. Only 3 games vs an Eastern Conference opponent

2020-2021 Regular Season Totals (league rankings)

Overall record: 13-10-3-5

Home record: 8-3-1-3

Road record: 5-7-2-2

Win percentage: .548 (4th in Western Conference).

Streak: Lost 4.

Standings Points: 34

Last 10: 4-5-0-1

Goals per game: 2.94 (6th in the league). Goals for: 91

Goals against per game: 3.26 (12th). Goals against: 101

Shots per game: 32.52 (4th).

Shots against per game: 29.42 (5th).

Power Play: 22.0 % - 30 for 125 (2nd). – The 30 power play goals are the most in the league.

Penalty Kill: 83.2 % - 89 for 107 (9th).

Penalty Minutes: 381 (12.29 per game).

Shorthanded Goals: 5 (3rd) Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 5 (Tied for 10th)

Players Used: 40

Attendance: 24,039 (1,603 per game).

Record When Scoring First: 8-4-1.  Utah has scored first in 13 of the 31 games.

Team Leaders (2020-21 season)

Goals: Matthew Boucher (9)

Assists: Trey Bradley/Pat Cannone/Boucher (13)

Points: Boucher (22)

Plus/Minus: Matt Abt (+8) Jack Jenkins and Alex Lepkowski leads active Grizzlies at +4.

PIM: Teigan Zahn (48)

Power Play Points: Pat Cannone (11)

Shots on Goal: Matthew Boucher (93) 

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

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

Wins: Brad Barone (5)

Save %: Parker Gahagen (.930)

Goals Against Average: Gahagen (2.12).

Forwards: Travis Barron, Matthew Boucher, Trey Bradley, Pat Cannone, Josh Dickinson, Nick Henry, Matt Hoover, Christian Horn, Jack Jenkins, Ty Lewis, Mitch Maxwell, Cedric Pare, Jared Pike, Joe Wegwerth. AJ White.

Defenseman: Brandon Fehd, Ryker Killins, Alex Lepkowski, Ryan Lowney, Hunter Skinner, Teigan Zahn.

Goaltenders: Brad Barone, Kevin Carr.