Grizzlies Preview: Utah at Wichita, March 6, 2021

Utah Grizzlies (13-9-3-5, .567 Win %) at Wichita Thunder (19-6-3 .732 Win%)March 6, 2021 | 6:05 PM | Game #31 | 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 meeting out of 9 between Utah and Wichita this season. It’s the last game of the 6 game road trip and 2nd game of the weekend series.

Last Night

Wichita shut out Uta 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.

Point Trends and Streaks

Riley Woods has a point in 10 of 13 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 21 games this season. Ty Lewis has 6 assists in 4 games for Utah this season.

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.

Josh Dickinson Returned to Grizzlies

Dickinson became the 40th player to appear in a game for Utah this season as he was reassigned from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on March 5th. He tied for the team lead with 5 shots. Dickinson has 59 points in 61 games with Utah over the past 2 plus seasons. Josh played in 5 games with the Eagles earlier this season and overall has 45 games of AHL experience with Colorado and San Antonio.

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 21 of the 30 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.

Utah vs Wichita

The Grizzlies are taking on the Thunder for the 5th 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.

Utah 0 @ Wichita 3 (Mar 5 2021)

Wichita 1 @ Utah 6 (Feb 14 2021)

Wichita 4 @ Utah 2 (Feb 13 2021)

Wichita 3 @ Utah 2 (Feb 12 2021) SO

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.

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 3 Allen 5 – Matthew Boucher, Hunter Skinner and Trey Bradley each scored in the loss.

Friday, March 5th, 2021 – Utah 0 Wichita 3 – Thunder’s Evan Weninger 38 save shutout. Grizzlies outshot Thunder 38 to 29.

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.

2020-2021 Regular Season Totals (league rankings)

Overall record: 13-9-3-5

Home record: 8-3-1-3

Road record: 5-6-2-2

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

Streak: Lost 3.

Standings Points: 34

Last 10: 4-5-0-1

Goals per game: 2.93 (6th in the league). Goals for: 88

Goals against per game: 3.23 (11th). Goals against: 97

Shots per game: 32.57 (3rd).

Shots against per game: 29.27 (5th).

Power Play: 23.1 % - 28 for 121 (2nd). – Utah has 7 power play goals in the last 6 games. 10 for 39 last 8 games. 

Penalty Kill: 82.0 % - 85 for 103 (9th).

Penalty Minutes: 368 (12.27 per game).

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

Players Used: 40

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

Record When Scoring First: 8-3-1.  Utah has scored first in 12 of the 30 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 (92) 

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).