Grizzlies Preview: Saturday Night Showdown at Maverik Center

Kansas City Mavericks(21-20-6-2, 50 points, .510 win %)@Utah Grizzlies(20-17-5-6, 51 points, .531 win%)

Grizzlies Game #49. Maverik Center. April 17, 2021. 7:10 pm MST. Mixlr.

Referee: Kyle Lekun

Linesman: James McKenna, 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

3rd Times a Charm

Tonight is the 3rd game of the series at Maverik Center. The Grizzlies are 8-2-0-1 in the 3rd game of a series.

This Week’s Games

Wednesday, April 14, 2021 – Kansas City 5 Utah 4 (Overtime) – Charlie Gerard had 2 goals. Cole Fraser tallied a goal in his first Grizzlies home game. Matthew Boucher tied the game with 7.8 seconds left in regulation. Utah outshot Kansas City 40 to 29. Ty Lewis had 1 assist and was a +3. Boucher, Ryan Lowney and Travis Barron were each a +2. Kansas City defenseman Willie Corrin had 2 goals and 1 assist. Brodie Reid scored the game winner for KC with 3:15 left in overtime.

Friday, April 16, 2021 – Kansas City 2 Utah 1 – KC’s Jared VanWormer scores GWG with 11 seconds left in regulation. AJ White scored a 2nd period power play goal. Utah outshot KC 41-35.

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.

2020-2021 Regular Season Totals (league rankings)

Overall record: 20-17-5-6

Home record: 12-6-3-3

Road record: 8-11-2-3

Win percentage: .531 (Tied with Rapid City for 4th in Western Conference).

Streak: lost 2.

Standings Points: 51

Last 10: 4-4-1-1

Goals per game: 2.83 (11th). Goals for: 136

Goals against per game: 3.23 (12th). Goals against: 155

Shots per game: 33.35 (3rd). Utah has taken 200 shots in the last 5 games.

Shots against per game: 30.04 (5th).

Power Play: 17.9 % - 35 for 196 (5th).

Penalty Kill: 81.4 % - 140 for 172 (9th).

Penalty Minutes: 598 (12.46 per game).

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

Players Used: 47.

Attendance: 40,375 (1,682 per game).

Record When Scoring First: 13-6-2-1

Team Leaders (2020-21 season)

Goals: Matthew Boucher (18)

Assists: Boucher (24)

Points: Boucher (42)

Plus/Minus: Jack Jenkins (+9)

PIM: Teigan Zahn (67)

Power Play Points: Ryan Lowney/Pat Cannone (13) AJ White leads team with 6 power play goals.

Shots on Goal: Matthew Boucher (159)  

Shooting Percentage: AJ White (14.3%) – Minimum 30 shots.

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

Wins: Brad Barone/Kevin Carr (5)

Save %: Garrett Metcalf (.960) – Minimum 3 games

Goals Against Average: Metcalf (1.24). – 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, Peyton Jones, Garrett Metcalf.

Active Streaks

Goal Streaks: AJ White (1)

Assist Streaks: Hayden Hodgson, Cedric Pare, Pat Cannone (2)

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Hodgson, Pare, Cannone (2).

Boucher Enjoying the Home Cooking Maverik Center

Matthew Boucher has a point in 8 of his last 12 games. Boucher had a 10 game home point streak come to an end last night. In the last 11 home games Boucher has 17 points including 4 multi point contests.  

Pat Cannone Has Been Great

Cannone has a point in 7 of his last 10 games.

Multiple Point games

10 - Matthew Boucher

5 - Trey Bradley, Riley Woods, Cedric Pare

4- Pat Cannone, Hunter Skinner, Charlie Gerard.

3 - Miles Gendron, 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.

Many April Road Games

6 of the next 7 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. Utah begins a 6 game road trip next weekend at Allen on April 23-25.

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.

The Match-up vs Kansas City.

It’s the last game of the 3 game series. It’s the 8th of 11 season meeting between the clubs. They will also meet for a big 3 game set on May 27-29 at KC. Utah is 14-9-3-1 vs KC in the last 3 seasons. Utah this season is 3-2-2 vs the Mavericks. Pat Cannone leads Utah with 9 points vs KC (3 goals, 6 assists). Matthew Boucher has 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) vs KC. Cedric Pare has 7 points in 7 games. Defenseman Miles Gendron has 3 goals in 6 games vs KC. For the Mavericks watch out for Brodie Reid, who has 8 goals and 4 assists in 7 games vs Utah. Reid scored the overtime game winner on April 14 at Maverik Center. Jared VanWormer and Phil Marinaccio each had a game winner vs Utah.

Kansas City 5 @ Utah 4 (Apr 14 2021) OT

Utah 3 @ Kansas City 2 (Feb 6 2021)

Utah 4 @ Kansas City 2 (Feb 5 2021)

Kansas City 5 @ Utah 2 (Jan 18 2021)

Kansas City 5 @ Utah 4 (Jan 16 2021) OT

Kansas City 1 @ Utah 4 (Jan 15 2021)

Recent Transactions

Grizzlies released goaltender Trevor Gorsuch. Gorsuch was 2-2 in 6 games for Utah with a .912 save percentage and a 2.89 goals against average. Defenseman Miles Gendron was reassigned to Utah on Friday afternoon. Gendron is tied for 3rd in the league for goals by a defenseman with 7. Goaltender Peyton Jones was reassigned to Utah from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on April 13. Jones is 4-2-3 with a 3.30 GAA and a .880 save percentage in 9 games with Utah this season. Peyton got the start on Wednesday night and saved 22 of 27. 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).

Local Boy in Net

Grizzlies signed goaltender Garrett Metcalf on March 16th. He has appeared in 4 games with Utah, saving 96 of 100 shots with a 1.24 goals against average. 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.