Grizzlies Preview: Opener of 3 Game Homestand

Kansas City Mavericks(19-20-6-2, 46 points, .489 win %)@Utah Grizzlies(20-16-4-6, 50 points, .543 win%)

Grizzlies Game #47. Maverik Center. April 14, 2021. 7:10 pm MST. Mixlr.

Referee: Kyle Lekun

Linesman: Andrew Collins, Kollin Kleinendorst.  

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 vs Kansas City.

It’s the 1st game of the 3 game series. It’s the 6th of 11 season meetings between the clubs. They will also meet for a big 3 game set on May 27-29 at KC. Utah is 14-8-2-1 vs KC in the last 3 seasons. Utah this season is 3-1-1 vs the Mavericks. Pat Cannone leads Utah with 7 points vs KC (3 goals, 4 assists). Cedric Pare, AJ White, Matthew Boucher and Trey Bradley each has 5 points in 5 games. Defenseman Miles Gendron has 3 goals in 5 games vs KC. For the Mavericks watch out for Brodie Reid, who has 7 goals and 4 assists in 4 games vs Utah.

Utah 3 @ Kansas City 2 (Feb 6 2021) Final

Utah 4 @ Kansas City 2 (Feb 5 2021) Final

Kansas City 5 @ Utah 2 (Jan 18 2021) Final

Kansas City 5 @ Utah 4 (Jan 16 2021) Final OT1

Kansas City 1 @ Utah 4 (Jan 15 2021) Final

Recent Transactions

Goaltender Peyton Jones was reassigned to Utah from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Jones went 4-2-2 with a 3.10 GAA and a .889 save percentage in 8 games with Utah earlier this season. Jones appeared in 3 games with the Eagles. Utah forward Josh Dickinson was sent to the Chicago Blackhawks organization as part of a 3 team trade where Colorado acquired Carl Soderberg. In 68 games with Utah since the start of the 2018-19 season, Dickinson had 62 points (25 goals and 37 assists). Defenseman Miles Gendron was reassigned to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on April 12. South Carolina traded defenseman Cole Fraser to the Grizzlies for future considerations on April 8, 2021. Fraser has 2 goals and 2 assists in 18 games with South Carolina. He also has played in 46 games with the Allen Americans. Fraser was a 5th round pick (131st overall) by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Fraser is the 47th player to appear in a game for Utah this season and will make his home debut on Wednesday night.

Local Boy in Net

Grizzlies signed goaltender Garrett Metcalf on March 16th. He made his professional debut on March 28th as Utah won 2-1 and Metcalf saved 24 of 25 shots to earn his first pro win. Last night Metcalf saved 27 of 28 in his first pro road start. He was born in Salt Lake City on March 5th, 1996. Metcalf was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in the 6th round, 179th overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. He played with Long Island University in the 2020-21 season and had a 2-7 record with a .901 save percentage and a 4.02 GAA. Metcalf also played in 2 seasons at Mercyhurst University in 2019 and 2020. Garrett has good size at 6’4” and 190 pounds. Metcalf saved 63 of 65 shots last weekend at Wichita. He has allowed only 1 goal in each of his 3 starts.

1 Goal Games

26 of the 46 games Utah has played this season have been 1 goal contests. 6 of the last 7 games have been decided by 1 goal.

2020-2021 Regular Season Totals (league rankings)

Overall record: 20-16-4-6

Home record: 12-5-2-3

Road record: 8-11-2-3

Win percentage: .543 (4th in Western Conference).

Streak: Won 1.

Standings Points: 50

Last 10: 5-4-0-1

Goals per game: 2.85 (11th). Goals for: 131

Goals against per game: 3.22 (12th). Goals against: 148

Shots per game: 33.04 (3rd).

Shots against per game: 30.00 (5th).

Power Play: 18.0 % - 34 for 189 (5th).

Penalty Kill: 81.4 % - 136 for 167 (10th).

Penalty Minutes: 586 (12.74 per game).

Shorthanded Goals: 5 (Tied for 5th) Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 7 (Tied for 10th)

Players Used: 47. Cole Fraser made Grizz Debut last Friday night

Attendance: 36,828 (1,674 per game).

Record When Scoring First: 13-5-1-1

Team Leaders (2020-21 season)

Goals: Matthew Boucher (17)

Assists: Boucher (23)

Points: Boucher (40)

Plus/Minus: Jack Jenkins (+8)

PIM: Teigan Zahn (65)

Power Play Points: Ryan Lowney (13) Lowney leads team and all league defenseman with 5 power play goals.

Shots on Goal: Matthew Boucher (148)  

Shooting Percentage: AJ White (13.6%) – Minimum 30 shots.

Game Winning Goals: Pat Cannone/Nick Henry/Matthew Boucher/Cedric Pare (2)

Wins: Brad Barone/Kevin Carr (5)

Save %: Garrett Metcalf (.967) – Minimum 3 games

Goals Against Average: Metcalf (0.99). – Minimum 3 games

Roster

Forwards: Travis Barron, Matthew Boucher, Trey Bradley, Pat Cannone, Charlie Gerard, Hayden Hodgson, Matt Hoover, Christian Horn, Jack Jenkins, Ty Lewis, Mitch Maxwell, Cedric Pare, Jared Pike, Joe Wegwerth. AJ White.

Defenseman: Brandon Fehd, Cole Fraser, Garrett Johnston, Alex Lepkowski, Ryan Lowney, Michael Prapavessis, Teigan Zahn.

Goaltenders: Kevin Carr, Trevor Gorsuch, Peyton Jones, Garrett Metcalf.

Active Streaks

Goal Streaks: Trey Bradley, AJ White (1)

Assist Streaks: Hayden Hodgson (2) Matt Hoover (1)

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Hodgson (2).

Matthew Boucher has a point in 7 of his last 10 games. Pat Cannone and Ryan Lowney have a point in 5 of their last 8 games.

Multiple Point games

9 - Matthew Boucher

5 - Trey Bradley, Riley Woods, Cedric Pare

4- Pat Cannone, Hunter Skinner.

3 - Miles Gendron, Charlie Gerard, Matt Hoover, Ryan Lowney.

2 - Ty Lewis, Diego Cuglietta, Nick Henry, Joe Wegwerth, AJ White.

1 - Jack Jenkins, Mitch Maxwell, Alex Lepkowski, Braylon Shmyr, Ian Scheid, Matt Abt, Ryker Killins, Josh Dickinson, Travis Barron, Brayden Gelsinger, Brandon Fehd, Hayden Hodgson.

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

Friday, April 9, 2021 – Utah 4 Wichita 5. – Grizz scored 4 goals in the last 9:18 of the second period. Utah went 1 for 4 on the power play and outshot the Thunder 43 to 36. Matthew Boucher had 1 goal and 2 assists and AJ White had 1 goal and 1 assist.

Saturday, April 10, 2021 – Utah 0 Wichita 1 – Evan Buitenhuis 53 save shutout for Wichita.

Saturday, April 11, 2021 – Utah 2 Wichita 1. – Trey Bradley and AJ White scored goals. Garrett Metcalf saved 36 of 37.

Fun Fact: The Grizzlies took 119 shots in 3 games at Wichita.

This Week’s Games

Wednesday, April 14, 2021 – Kansas City at Utah. 7:10 pm.

Friday, April 16, 2021 – Kansas City at Utah. 7:10 pm.

Saturday, April 17, 2021 – Kansas City at Utah. 7:10 pm.

All times Mountain.

Next Week’s Games

Friday, April 23, 2021 – Utah at Allen. 6:05 pm.

Saturday, April 24, 2021 – Utah at Allen. 6:05 pm.

Sunday, April 25, 2021 – Utah at Allen. 1:05 pm.

Many April Road Games

6 of the next 9 games will be away from Maverik Center. The only 3 home games for Utah in April will be on the 14th, 16th-17th vs Kansas City. Utah is at home for 11 of the final 17 games in the regular season.

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.

3rd Times a Charm

The Grizzlies are 8-2-0-1 in the 3rd game of a series.