Grizzlies Preview: Utah at Wichita on Sunday Afternoon

Utah Grizzlies (19-16-4-6, 48 points, .533 win %)@Wichita Thunder(29-12-4-1, 63 points, .685 win%)

Grizzlies Game #46. INTRUST Bank Arena. April 11, 2021. 3:05 pm MST. Mixlr.

Referee: Cameron Fleming

Linesman: Dan Kovachik, Davids Rozitis.

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 last game of the 3 game series at Wichita and it’s the last game of the Grizz 6 game road trip. It’s the 8th of 9 season meeting between the clubs.

Grizzlies Are Great in 3rd Game of Series

Utah is 7-2-0-1 in the 3rd game of a series this season. It’s the 2nd time Utah has faced Wichita in a 3 game series. Utah won 6-1 on Valentine’s Day over Wichita to complete a 3 game set at Maverik Center.

Last Night

In a goaltender’s special the Wichita Thunder won 1-0 over the Grizzlies on Saturday night. Utah’s Garrett Metcalf was great, stopping 27 of 28 in the loss. The only goal in the game was scored with 11.2 seconds left in the 2nd period as Ryan White redirected a Matteo Gennaro shot. Utah took 53 shots in the game last night. It was the most shots taken by Utah in a game this season. Previous high was a 51 shot game vs Allen on March 13.

Friday Night: Wichita 5 Utah 4

Wichita scored 3 unanswered goals in the first 27 minutes of the game last night. Utah responded with 4 goals in a 7 minute 51 second stretch to take a 4-3 lead. Wichita scored 2 goals early in the third period 1 minute and 42 second span to take a 5-4 lead and held on to beat Utah 5-4. Matthew Boucher earned his 9th multiple point game of his rookie campaign with 1 goal and 2 assists. Boucher has a point in 7 of 8 games. Boucher has a point in 12 of his last 16 games. AJ White had 1 goal and 1 assist.

Some of League’s Top Rookies in Wichita This Weekend

Matthew Boucher leads all rookies in goals (17), assists (23), points (40) and shots on goal (144). Utah forward Cedric Pare is 5th among rookies with 25 points and he is also 3rd in shots on goal among 1st year pros with 106 and 3rd with 12 goals. Wichita’s Jay Dickman is 2nd among rookies with 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists). Dickman is also 2nd in shots among rookies with 108. Dickman has a +20 rating, tied for 3rd best overall in the league with his teammate Anthony Beauregard.

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.

Many April Road Games

7 of the next 10 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. Grizzlies will be at home for 11 of their last 17 games.

1 Goal Games

25 of the 45 games Utah has played this season have been 1 goal contests. 5 of the last 6 games have been decided by 1 goal.

Grizzlies Among League leaders

Matthew Boucher leads all rookies in goals (17), assists (23), points (40) and shots on goal (144). Pare is 3rd in shots among rookies with 102 and is 5th in points (25) and 3rd in goals (12). Hunter Skinner leads the league with 3 shootout goals. Skinner is 2nd in goals among defenseman with 7. Ryan Lowney, Miles Gendron and Skinner are tied for 3rd in goals among defenseman with 7 each. Lowney leads all league defenseman with 5 power play goals.

Utah Series vs Wichita

It’s the 8th time these teams will meet this season. Current Wichita goaltender Evan Buitenhuis played in 2 games against Wichita as a member of the Grizzlies. He stopped 53 of 56 shots against the Thunder, including a 24 for 25 performance in a 6-1 Utah win. Buitenhuis saved 39 of 43 on Friday night for Wichita and got a 53 save shutout last night.

4 of the 7 games have been decided by 1 goal. Matthew Boucher leads Utah with 8 points vs Wichita (3 goals, 5 assists). Matt Hoover has 1 goal and 3 assists in 5 games. AJ White has 2 goals and 1 assists in 7 games.

Wichita has outscored Utah 19 to 17 in the season series.

February 12, 2021 – Wichita 3 @ Utah 2 (Shootout) – Diego Cuglietta and AJ White tally goals for Utah.

February 13, 2021 – Wichita 4 @ Utah 2 – Braylon Shmyr and Jack Jenkins each score a goal. Utah outshot Wichita 31 to 26.

February 14, 2021 – Wichita 1 @ Utah 6 – Matthew Boucher had 2 goals and 1 assist.

March 5, 2021 – Utah 0 @ Wichita 3 – Evan Weninger 38 save shutout.

March 6, 2021 – Utah 3 @ Wichita 4 – Josh Dickinson, Miles Gendron and Hunter Skinner score goals in the loss.

April 9, 2021 – Utah 4 @ Wichita 5 – AJ White, Matt Hoover, Pat Cannone and Matthew Boucher scored in the loss. Utah outshot Wichita 43 to 36.

April 10, 2021 – Utah 0 @ Wichita 1 – Utah outshot Wichita 53 to 28.

2020-2021 Regular Season Totals (league rankings)

Overall record: 19-16-4-6

Home record: 12-5-2-3

Road record: 7-11-2-3

Win percentage: .533 (4th in Western Conference).

Streak: lost 2.

Standings Points: 48

Last 10: 4-5-0-1

Goals per game: 2.87 (11th). Goals for: 129

Goals against per game: 3.27 (13th). Goals against: 147

Shots per game: 33.27 (2nd).

Shots against per game: 29.84 (5th).

Power Play: 18.1 % - 34 for 188 (5th).

Penalty Kill: 81.7 % - 134 for 164 (10th).

Penalty Minutes: 578 (12.84 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: 12-5-1-1

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 (146) – 5th in league.   

Shooting Percentage: Nick Henry (20.0%) – Minimum 20 shots.

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

Wins: Brad Barone/Kevin Carr (5)

Save %: Parker Gahagen (.930) – Minimum 3 games

Goals Against Average: Gahagen (2.12). – Minimum 3 games

Roster

Forwards: Travis Barron, Matthew Boucher, Trey Bradley, Pat Cannone, Josh Dickinson, 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, Miles Gendron, Garrett Johnston, Alex Lepkowski, Ryan Lowney, Michael Prapavessis, Teigan Zahn.

Goaltenders: Kevin Carr, Trevor Gorsuch, Garrett Metcalf.

Active Streaks

Goal Streaks: 0

Assist Streaks: 0

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

Matthew Boucher has a point in 7 of his last 9 games. Pat Cannone and Ryan Lowney have a point in 5 of their last 7 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)

Thursday, April 1, 2021 – Utah 2 Allen 3 (Shootout) – Cedric Pare and Matthew Boucher scored goals. Utah outshot Allen 33 to 30. Trevor Gorsuch saved 27 of 29 through overtime.

Friday, April 2, 2021 – Utah 0 Allen 3. -Trevor Gorsuch saved 34 of 37.  

Saturday, April 3, 2021 – Utah 3 Allen 2 (Shootout) – Miles Gendron and Ryan Lowney scored goals for Utah. Trey Bradley got the game winner in the shootout. Kevin Carr earned his 5th win of the season.

This Week’s Games

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 at Wichita. 3:05 pm.

Next 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.