Grizzlies Preview: Utah Goes for Sweep

Rapid City Rush(29-26-3-1, 62 points, .525 win %) @ Utah Grizzlies (26-21-5-6, 63 points, .543 Win%)

Maverik Center. May 8, 2021. 7:10 pm MST. Mixlr.

It’s the last game of a big 4 game series at Maverik Center between the division rivals. It’s also the 16th and final meeting between the clubs. Utah has a record of 11-2-1-1 vs RC. Utah is home for 8 of the last 14 games. Grizzlies are in 4th place by a .018 winning percentage margin over Rapid City in the standings.

Grizz Score 5 in First Period Last Night

The Grizzlies scored 5 goals in the first period on Friday night and cruised to a 5-1 win. Garrett Johnston scored his first of the season 4:05 in. 30 seconds later Teigan Zahn also scored his first goal of the season. Hayden Hodgson, Trey Bradley and Ryan Lowney added first period goals. Hodgson and Bradley each had 1 goal and 1 assist. Parker Gahagen saved 30 of 31 for Utah in the win. Gahagen and the Grizzlies have each won the first 3 games of the set. Both teams went 0 for 4 on the power play.

Wednesday Night: Gahagen Shuts Out Rush 2-0

Parker Gahagen got a 16 save shutout as Utah defeated Rapid City 2-0 on Wednesday night. It was Gahagen’s 3rd ECHL shutout. He also had 1 shutout in the SPHL last season. It was the first time this season where a Grizzlies goaltender shut out the opposition.

AJ White and Ty Lewis each had 1 goal and 1 assist.

Tuesday: Barron and Grizzlies Make History

Travis Barron scored 4 goals last Tuesday night vs Rapid City. He had 3 shorthanded goals and 1 power play goal to lead Utah to a 5-3 win vs Rapid City. Ty Lewis got the Utah scoring started with a shorthanded goal 13:34 into the 2nd period to tie the game at 1-1. The 4 Grizzlies shorthanded goals are the first time a team in the league since the Florida Everblades scored 4 shorthanded against Charlotte on January 5, 2007. It’s the 6th time in the league where a team has scored 4 shorties. No team has scored 5 in a single game. For Barron, it’s the first time a single player has scored 3 shorthanded since Shawn Szydlowski did it for Fort Wayne on March 21, 2015 vs Missouri. He’s the 4th player to accomplish the feat. Chad Costello scored 3 shorthanded for Allen on Dec. 12, 2012 vs Las Vegas and Jamey Hicks did it for Birmingham on January 27, 1998 at Pensacola.

The Grizzlies scored 3 shorthanded goals vs Stockton on December 31, 2012. Riley Armstrong had 2 shorthanded goals. Armstrong is currently the head coach of the ECHL’s Maine Mariners.

Rapid City Home Series Leaders

AJ White and Trey Bradley each have 1 goal and 4 assists through 3 games in the series. Travis Barron, now with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, had the 4 goal game on May 4. Ty Lewis has 2 goals in the series and Cedric Pare has 3 assists. Garrett Johnston has 1 goal and a +4 rating in 3 games this week.

Bradley’s Been Hot

Trey Bradley has 7 points (1 goal, 6 assists) in the last 5 games. Bradley is 2nd on the team with 24 assists and is 3rd in points with 33. Trey has 8 multiple point games, including 3 multi point contests in the last 5.

Recent Transactions:

Forward Travis Barron was reassigned to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Barron had 4 goals on Tuesday night’s 5-3 win as he became just the 5th player in league history to score 3 shorthanded goals in 1 game. Barron has 7 goals and 5 assists for Utah in 23 games this season. He has also appeared in 4 games with the Eagles this year. Utah signs defenseman Wyatt McLeod on May 5th and he made his professional debut on Wednesday night at Maverik Center. McLeod played with the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL this season, scoring 3 goals and 12 assists in 24 games. McLeod previously played with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL from 2017-2020 and had 9 goals and 45 assists in 4 seasons. McLeod has good size at 6’3” and 202 pounds.

4 Goal Game For Barron

It’s the first 4 goal game by a Grizzlies player since Ty Lewis scored 4 at Wichita on December 17, 2019. It was Barron’s first professional game with 3 or more goals. It’s the 3rd time a Grizzlies player has scored 3 or more in a game this season. Nick Henry scored 3 goals vs Rapid City on February 21 and Matthew Boucher scored 3 in the 3rd period in Utah’s 4-2 win vs Tulsa. Barron now is tied for the league lead with 4 shorthanded goals. He also scored shorthanded on April 28 at Wichita.

Season Series vs Rapid City

It’s the 16th and final between the division rivals. Utah is 11-2-1-1 vs Rapid City this season. Trey Bradley leads Utah with 13 points vs RC (4 goals, 9 assists). Bradley has 1 goal and 4 assists in the last 3 games. Cedric Pare has 10 points vs the Rush.

Rapid City 1 @ Utah 5 (May 6 2021)

Rapid City 0 @ Utah 2 (May 5 2021)

Rapid City 3 @ Utah 5 (May 4 2021)

Utah 0 @ Rapid City 7 (Mar 20 2021)

Utah 5 @ Rapid City 4 (Mar 19 2021) SO

Rapid City 3 @ Utah 4 (Feb 21 2021)

Rapid City 4 @ Utah 5 (Feb 20 2021) OT

Rapid City 3 @ Utah 2 (Feb 19 2021) SO

Utah 4 @ Rapid City 5 (Jan 23 2021) OT

Utah 3 @ Rapid City 2 (Jan 22 2021)

Rapid City 2 @ Utah 3 (Jan 2 2021)

Rapid City 3 @ Utah 4 (Jan 1 2021)

Rapid City 3 @ Utah 6 (Dec 31 2020)

Utah 3 @ Rapid City 1 (Dec 12 2020)

Utah 4 @ Rapid City 6 (Dec 11 2020)

Last Week’s Games

Wednesday, April 28, 2021 – Utah 2 Wichita 6 – Travis Barron and Cedric Pare scored goals for Utah. Utah outshot Wichita 35 to 25.

Friday, April 30, 2021 – Utah 3 Tulsa 6 – Tulsa scored 5 goals in the first 6:44 of the game. Utah scored 3 of the last 4 goals in the game. Utah scored 1 goal in each of the 3 periods last night. Ryan Lowney scored his 9th goal of the season in the first period. Hayden Hodgson scored his first goal in a Utah uniform m

Saturday, May 1, 2021 – Utah 0 Tulsa 2 – Utah outshot Tulsa 29 to 17. Hayden Hodgson led Utah with 5 shots.

This 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 at Utah. 7:10 pm.

All times Mountain.

Next Week’s Games

Friday, May 14, 2021 – Utah at Tulsa. 6:05 pm.

Saturday, May 15, 2021 – Utah at Tulsa. 6:05 pm.

Sunday, May 16, 2021 – Utah at Tulsa. 6:05 pm.

2020-2021 Regular Season Totals (league rankings)

Overall record: 26-21-5-6

Home record: 16-6-3-3. Utah has outscored opponents 98 to 81 at home.

Road record: 10-15-2-3

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

Streak: Won 3. 

Standings Points: 63

Last 10: 6-4

Goals per game: 2.84 (12th). Goals for: 165

Goals against per game: 3.12 (10th). Goals against: 181

Shots per game: 33.60 (1st). RC outshot Utah 31 to 29 last night. That broke a streak where Utah outshot opponents for 11 straight games.

Shots against per game: 29.41 (3rd).

Power Play: 16.5 % - 38 for 231 (6th).

Penalty Kill: 83.3 % - 179 for 215 (Tied 6th).

Penalty Minutes: 784 (13.52 per game).

Shorthanded Goals: 10 (Tied for 3rd)

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 8 (11th)

Players Used: 50. Wyatt McLeod made his pro debut on Wednesday.

Record When Scoring First: 18-7-2-1

Team Leaders (2020-21 season)

Goals: Matthew Boucher (20)

Assists: Boucher (25)

Points: Boucher (45)

Plus/Minus: Jack Jenkins (+8)

PIM: Teigan Zahn (86)

Games Played: Cedric Pare (57)

Power Play Points: Ryan Lowney/Pat Cannone (13) AJ White leads team with 7 power play goals.

Shots on Goal: Matthew Boucher (180)

Shooting Percentage: Cannone (13.0 %) – Minimum 30 shots.

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

Wins: Brad Barone/Kevin Carr/Peyton Jones (5)

Save %: Parker Gahagen (.938) – Minimum 5 games

Goals Against Average: Gahagen (1.77). – Minimum 5 games

Roster

Forwards: Matthew Boucher, Trey Bradley, Pat Cannone, Charlie Gerard, Nick Henry, 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: Garrett Johnston, Teigan Zahn, Hayden Hodgson, Trey Bradley, Ryan Lowney, Pat Cannone (1)

Assist Streaks: Trey Bradley, Cedric Pare, AJ White (3), Matt Hoover, Hayden Hodgson, Charlie Gerard (1).

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Bradley, Pare, White (3) Cannone (2).

Boucher Enjoying the Home Cooking Maverik Center

Matthew Boucher has a point in 11 of his last 12 home games. Boucher returns to the lineup tonight after serving a 3 game suspension.  

Pat Cannone Has Been on Point

Cannone has a point in 8 of his last 11 games. Pat has missed the last 9 games.

Multiple Point games

10 - Matthew Boucher

8 – Trey Bradley – Bradley has 3 multiple point games in the last 5 contests. Bradley has 7 points in the last 5 games.

6- Charlie Gerard.

5 - Riley Woods, Cedric Pare, AJ White.

4- Pat Cannone, Hunter Skinner, Ryan Lowney, Ty Lewis, Matt Hoover.   

3 - Miles Gendron, Travis Barron.

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

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

6 Have Double Digit Goal Seasons

Matthew Boucher (20), Cedric Pare (14), Charlie Gerard (13), Pat Cannone (10), AJ White (10) and Ryan Lowney (10) each have a double digit goal season. White joined the double digit club on Wednesday night with a power play goal. White leads the team with 7 power play goals. Lowney got his 10th goal of the season with 15 seconds left in the 1st period.