Grizzlies Preview: Grizzlies Going for the Sunday Sweep

Utah Grizzlies(29-21-5-6, 69 points, .566 win %) @ Tulsa Oilers (26-26-8-3, 63 points, .500 Win%)

BOK Center. May 16, 2021. 3:05 pm MST. Mixlr.

It’s the last game of the series at BOK Center as the Grizzlies go for the sweep. series at BOK Center. It’s the 12th and final season meeting between the clubs. Utah finds themselves in 4th place in the Western Conference with a .566 winning percentage, .050 percentage points ahead of Rapid City, who’s in 5th with a win rate of .516. Utah has a season high 6 game winning streak, longest current run in the league. It is the 3rd game of the series. Utah is 11-2-0-1 in the 3rd game of a series this season.

6 Game Winning Streak Leading Scorers

Utah has outscored opponents 20-10 in the last 6 games. AJ White (3 goals, 4 assists) and Trey Bradley (1 goal, 6 assists) leads Utah with 7 points in the 6 game streak. Hayden Hodgson (3 goals, 2 assists) and Ty Lewis (2 goals, 3 assists) each has 5 points. Travis Barron, now with the Colorado Eagles of the AHL, had 4 goals on May 4 vs Rapid City in the first game of the streak. Utah has also received outstanding goaltending in the last 6 games. Parker Gahagen is 4-0 with a 1.51 goals against average, a .941 save percentage and 1 shutout in his last 5 games. Peyton Jones has won 2 in a row and has saved 43 of 45 in his 2 games on the trip.

Last Night: Utah Wins 2-1 in Shootout

Trey Bradley got the shootout game winner and goaltender Parker Gahagen saved 29 of 30, and 2 of 3 in the shootout to lead Utah to a win. Hayden Hodgson scored Utah’s lone goal in regulation for his 3rd goal in the last 4 games. Both teams ended the game with 30 shots on goal.

May 14, 2021: AJ White Scores Game Winner 18 Seconds Into OT

Utah won 3-2 in overtime on Friday night at BOK Center. AJ White scored 2 goals last night, including the game winner 18 seconds into the extra session on a Trey Bradley pass. It was White’s 6 multiple point game of the year. AJ has been hot during the 6 game winning streak, scoring 7 goals, including 3 multiple point games. White has a +4 rating over the last 6 games. This season White leads the team with 7 power play goals and 3 game winning goals. He is 4th on the team with 12 goals.

Peyton Jones Earns 7th Win of Season

Jones has won back to back games for the Grizzlies. Last Friday night he saved 28 of 30 to get his first win vs Tulsa. The rookie out of Penn State saved all 15 shots he saw in the final 2 periods of Utah’s 3-2 win last Saturday vs Rapid City to complete the 4 game sweep.

Bradley’s Been Hot

Trey Bradley has 8 points (1 goal, 7 assists) in the last 8 games. Bradley got the main assist on the game winner in overtime on May 14. A scoring change on the May 14th win gave Bradley a 2nd assist on the night. He now has 26 assists on the season, which leads the team. Last night he scored the game winner in the 2nd round of the shootout.

Parker Gahagen Wins Goaltender of the Week

Gahagen saved 83 of 89 last week vs Rapid City in 4 games. Gahagen got the win in each of the first 3 games of the homestand vs Rapid City, which was highlighted by a 16 save shutout on May 5. In 9 games with Utah this season Gahagen is 5-1-1-1 with a 1.83 goals against average and a .936 save percentage. In 3 AHL games this season with the Colorado Eagles Gahagen has a 2-0 record with a .939 save percentage and a 2.09 goals against average.

Season Series vs Tulsa

Matthew Boucher has 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists) in 11 games vs Tulsa. Cedric Pare has 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) vs the Oilers. Trey Bradley leads Utah with 6 assists vs Tulsa. On the Oilers side Adam Pleskach has 8 goals and 8 assists in 11 games vs Utah. Matt Lane has 11 points (2 goals, 9 assists) in 11 games.

It's a match-up of the top 2 clubs in shots per game. Tulsa leads the league by averaging 33.40 shots per game. Utah is in 2nd at 33.38. Utah is 5-4-1-1 vs Tulsa this season.

Utah 2 @ Tulsa 1 (May 15 2021) SO

Utah 3 @ Tulsa 2 (May 14 2021) OT

Utah 0 @ Tulsa 2 (May 1 2021)

Utah 3 @ Tulsa 6 (Apr 30 2021)

Tulsa 1 @ Utah 2 (Mar 28 2021) OT

Tulsa 3 @ Utah 6 (Mar 27 2021)

Tulsa 3 @ Utah 1 (Mar 26 2021)

Tulsa 2 @ Utah 4 (Mar 24 2021)

Utah 2 @ Tulsa 3 (Jan 10 2021) SO

Utah 0 @ Tulsa 1 (Jan 9 2021)

Utah 2 @ Tulsa 3 (Jan 8 2021) OT1

Last Week’s Games

Tuesday, May 4, 2021 – Rapid City 3 Utah 5 – Utah scored 4 shorthanded goals and a power play goal. Travis Barron had 4 goals and Ty Lewis scored shorthanded in the 2nd period. Parker Gahagen saved 28 of 31. Trey Bradley had 2 assists.

Wednesday, May 5, 2021 – Rapid City 0  Utah 2 – AJ White and Ty Lewis each had 1 goal and 1 assist. Parker Gahagen had a 16 save shutout.

Friday, May 7, 2021 – Rapid City 1 Utah 5 – Hayden Hodgson and Trey Bradley each had 1 goal and 1 assist. AJ White and Matt Hoover each had 2 assists. Utah scored 5 goals in the first period. Parker Gahagen saved 30 of 31.

Saturday, May 8, 2021 – Rapid City 2 Utah 3 - Matthew Boucher scored 2 power play goals in the 2nd period. Hayden Hodgson got the game winner with 1:55 left in regulation. Peyton Jones saved all 15 shots he saw in the final 2 periods for his team leading 6th win of the season.

All times Mountain.

This Week’s Games

Friday, May 14, 2021 – Utah 3 Tulsa 2 (Overtime) – AJ White scored 2 goals, highlighted by the game winning goal 18 seconds into overtime. Charlie Gerard added a goal. Alex Lepkowski had 2 assists. Peyton Jones saved 28 of 30.

Saturday, May 15, 2021 – Utah 2 Tulsa 1 (Shootout) – Hayden Hodgson scored a 2nd period goal. Trey Bradley got the game winner in the shootout. Parker Gahagen saved 29 of 30 and 2 of 3 in the shootout for his 5th win of the season.

Sunday, May 16, 2021 – Utah at Tulsa. 3:05 pm. Utah is 11-2-0-1 in the 3rd game of a series.

Next Week’s Games

Wednesday, May 19, 2021 – Allen at Utah. 7:10 pm.

Friday, May 21, 2021 – Allen at Utah. 7:10 pm.

Saturday, May 22, 2021 – Allen at Utah. 7:10 pm.

Sunday, May 23, 2021 – Allen at Utah. 1:10 pm.

2020-2021 Regular Season Totals (league rankings)

Overall record: 29-21-5-6

Home record: 17-6-3-3. Utah has outscored opponents 100 to 83 at home.

Road record: 12-15-2-3

Win percentage: .566 (4th in Western Conference).

Streak: Won 6.  Season High.

Standings Points: 69

Last 10: 7-3

Goals per game: 2.84 (12th). Goals for: 173

Goals against per game: 3.05 (9th). Goals against: 186

Shots per game: 33.38 (2nd). Tulsa is 1st as they average 33.40.

Shots against per game: 29.38 (3rd).

Power Play: 16.7 % - 40 for 239 (8th).

Penalty Kill: 83.3 % - 189 for 227 (7th).

Penalty Minutes: 839 (13.75 per game).

Shorthanded Goals: 10 (Tied for 3rd)

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 8 (Tied for 10th)

Players Used: 50.

Record When Scoring First: 19-7-2-1

Team Leaders (2020-21 season)

Goals: Matthew Boucher (22)

Assists: Trey Bradley (26)

Points: Boucher (47)

Plus/Minus: Jack Jenkins (+9)

PIM: Teigan Zahn (86) Cole Fraser leads the league with 136 PIM with 47 of those coming with Utah.

Games Played: Cedric Pare (59) – Pare missed his 2nd game of the season last night.

Power Play Points: Ryan Lowney (14) AJ White leads team with 7 power play goals.

Shots on Goal: Matthew Boucher (193)

Shooting Percentage: AJ White (14.3 %) – Minimum 40 shots.

Game Winning Goals: AJ White (3)

Wins: Peyton Jones (7)

Save %: Parker Gahagen (.936) – Minimum 5 games

Goals Against Average: Gahagen (1.83). – Minimum 5 games

Roster

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

Defenseman: Luke Bafia, Brandon Fehd, Cole Fraser, Garrett Johnston, Alex Lepkowski, Ryan Lowney, Wyatt McLeod, Teigan Zahn.

Goaltenders: Parker Gahagen, Peyton Jones, Garrett Metcalf.

Active Streaks

Goal Streaks: Hayden Hodgson (1)

Assist Streaks: Matt Hoover, Wyatt McLeod (1).

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Hodgson (4).

Multiple Point games

11 - Matthew Boucher

9 – Trey Bradley

6- Charlie Gerard, AJ White.

5 - Riley Woods, Cedric Pare,  Ryan Lowney, Ty Lewis.

4- Pat Cannone, Hunter Skinner,  Matt Hoover.   

3 - Miles Gendron, Travis Barron.

2 - Diego Cuglietta, Nick Henry, Joe Wegwerth, Mitch Maxwell, Hayden Hodgson, Alex Lepkowski.

1 - Jack Jenkins,  Braylon Shmyr, Ian Scheid, Matt Abt, Ryker Killins, Josh Dickinson, Brayden Gelsinger, Brandon Fehd.

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.

Many 1 Goal Games

32 of the 61 games Utah has played this season have been 1 goal contests. The last 3 games have been decided by 1 goal. 6 of the 11 games vs Tulsa have been decided by 1 with 5 of those games going past regulation. This season the Grizzlies have played in 17 games past regulation.