Grizzlies Preview: Utah at Wichita, March 5, 2021

Utah Grizzlies (13-8-3-5, .607 Win %) at Allen Americans (16-9-1 .635 Win%)March 5, 2021 | 6:05 PM | Game #30 | INTRUST Bank ArenaReferees: Riley YerkovichLinesmen: Mitchell Hunt, Dan Kovachik

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 5th game of the 6 game road trip. It’s the 4th time Utah has faced Wichita this season and the first time at INTRUST Bank Arena.

Happy Birthday Ty Lewis

Ty Lewis turns 23 years old today. He has 6 assists in 3 games this season for Utah. He has also appeared in 4 games for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Lewis led the Grizzlies with 25 goals last season. He returns to Wichita, where he scored 4 goals and 2 assists on December 17th, 2019 in a 8-2 Utah win.

Recent Transactions

Forward Josh Dickinson was reassigned from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Dickinson had 16 goals and 14 assists in 29 games for the Grizz last season. Dickinson has 59 points in 60 games for Utah over the last 2 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. Goaltender Evan Buitenhuis was traded to the Florida Everblades on March 3rd.

Point Trends and Streaks

Riley Woods has a point in 10 of 12 games this season. Pat Cannone had a 9 game point streak come to an end on Wednesday night at Allen. Cannone has 20 points in 20 games this season. Ty Lewis has 6 assists in 3 games for Utah this season.

Special Teams

Utah has 7 power play goals in 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 21 of the 29 games. On the season Utah is the number 1 power play unit in the league at 23.8 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.

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 2nd among rookies. Boucher’s 90 shots on goal lead all rookies and Cedric Pare is 3rd in shots among rookies with 64. 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.

Matthew Boucher Making Case for Rookie of the Year

Boucher was the league’s player of the Week from January 18th-24th. He has 21 points in 24 games this season. Boucher leads the team in points and goals. It’s an interesting battle for the league Rookie of the Year award. Another quality candidate is Wichita’s Jay Dickman, who has 8 goals and 13 assists this season.

Matthew Boucher League Rankings Among Rookies

Points: 21 – Tied 1st with Wichita’s Jay Dickman.

Goals: 9 – 1st

Assists: 12 – Tied 2nd.

Shots: 90 – 1st.

Utah vs Wichita

The Grizzlies are taking on the Thunder for the 4th time this season. Matthew Boucher and Braylon Shmyr each have 4 points vs the Thunder. Matt Hoover has 3 assists in 3 games. Utah was 1-1-0-1 vs Wichita in 3 games in February.

Wichita 1 @ Utah 6 (Feb 14 2021)

Wichita 4 @ Utah 2 (Feb 13 2021)

Wichita 3 @ Utah 2 (Feb 12 2021) SO

Active Streaks

Goal Streaks: Matthew Boucher, Hunter Skinner, Trey Bradley (1).

Assist Streaks: Riley Woods (4), Ty Lewis (3), Hunter Skinner, Mitch Maxwell, Miles Gendron, Alex Lepkowski (1).

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Woods (4), Lewis (3).

Last Week’s Games

February 26th, 2021 – Utah 2 Wheeling 5 – Pat Cannone and Matthew Boucher each scored first period goals.

February 27th, 2021 – Utah 4 Wheeling 3 – Ryan Lowney GWG with 5:01 left in the 3rd period.

February 28th, 2021 – Utah 1 Wheeling 6 – AJ White scored a power play goal.

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

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. 6:05 pm.

All times Mountain.

Next Week’s Games

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.

Forwards: Matthew Boucher, Trey Bradley, Pat Cannone, Josh Dickinson, Matt Hoover, Christian Horn, Jack Jenkins, Ty Lewis, Mitch Maxwell, Cedric Pare, Jared Pike, Braylon Shmyr, Yuri Terao, Joe Wegwerth. AJ White. Riley Woods.

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

Goaltenders: Brad Barone, Kevin Carr.

2020-2021 Regular Season Totals (league rankings)

Overall record: 13-8-3-5

Home record: 8-3-1-3

Road record: 5-5-2-2

Win percentage: .586 (4th in Western Conference).

Streak: Lost 2.

Standings Points: 34

Last 10: 4-4-0-2

Goals per game: 3.03 (6th in the league). Goals for: 88

Goals against per game: 3.24 (12th). Goals against: 94

Shots per game: 32.38 (5th).

Shots against per game: 29.28 (5th).

Power Play: 23.9 % - 28 for 117 (1st). – Utah has 7 power play goals in the last 5 games. 10 for 35 last 7 games. 

Penalty Kill: 82.0 % - 82 for 100 (10th).

Penalty Minutes: 362 (12.48 per game).

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

Players Used: 39

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

Record When Scoring First: 8-3-1.  Utah has scored first in 12 of the 29 games.

Team Leaders (2020-21 season)

Goals: Matthew Boucher (9)

Assists: Trey Bradley/Pat Cannone (13)

Points: Boucher (21)

Plus/Minus: Matt Abt (+8) Jack Jenkins leads active Grizzlies at +5.

PIM: Teigan Zahn (48)

Power Play Points: Pat Cannone (11)

Shots on Goal: Matthew Boucher (90) 

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).