Grizzlies Preview: Weekend Series Begins in Tulsa

Utah Grizzlies(27-21-5-6, 65 points, .551 win %) @ Tulsa Oilers (26-26-7-2, 61 points, .500 Win%)

BOK Center. May 14, 2021. 6:05 pm MST. Mixlr.

It’s the first game of the 3 game series at BOK Center. It’s the 10th of 12 season meetings between the clubs. Utah finds themselves in 4th place in the Western Conference with a .551 winning percentage, .034 percentage points ahead of Rapid City, who’s in 5th. Utah has a 4 game winning streak, longest current run in the league. Matthew Boucher leads Utah with 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists) vs Tulsa this season.  He leads the team in goals (22), assists (25), points (47) and shots on goal (166). Cedric Pare has a point in 5 of his last 7 games. Trey Bradley has 7 points in his last 6 games. Ty Lewis, AJ White and Bradley each had 5 points in the 4 game sweep. Barron led the team with the 4 goals he scored on Tuesday. He was reassigned to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on May 6.

Bradley’s Been Hot

Trey Bradley has 7 points (1 goal, 6 assists) in the last 6 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 6.

Recent Transactions:

Defenseman Wyatt McLeod signed an AHL ATO with the Colorado Eagles. McLeod played for Utah last week in Rapid City, appearing in his first 3 professional games. McLeod played in the WHL for the past 5 seasons, including this season with the Saskatoon Blades. He was with the Edmonton Oil Kings from 2017-2020. Forward Ty Lewis and goaltender Parker Gahagen were each reassigned to the Eagles earlier in the week.

Season Series vs Tulsa

Matthew Boucher has 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists) in 9 games vs Tulsa. Cedric Pare has 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) vs the Oilers.

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 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.

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: 27-21-5-6

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

Road record: 10-15-2-3

Win percentage: .551 (4th in Western Conference).

Streak: Won 4.

Standings Points: 65

Last 10: 6-4

Goals per game: 2.85 (12th). Goals for: 168

Goals against per game: 3.10 (10th). Goals against: 183

Shots per game: 33.58 (2nd). Utah has outshot opponents in 12 of their last 13 games. 

Shots against per game: 29.36 (3rd).

Power Play: 16.9 % - 40 for 236 (7th).

Penalty Kill: 83.2 % - 183 for 220 (Tied 6th).

Penalty Minutes: 825 (13.98 per game).

Shorthanded Goals: 10 (Tied for 3rd)

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 8 (Tied for 10th)

Players Used: 50.

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

Team Leaders (2020-21 season)

Goals: Matthew Boucher (22)

Assists: Boucher (25)

Points: Boucher (47)

Plus/Minus: Jack Jenkins (+8)

PIM: Teigan Zahn (86) Cole Fraser leads the league with 132 PIM with 43 of those coming with Utah.

Games Played: Cedric Pare (58)

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

Shots on Goal: Matthew Boucher (187)

Shooting Percentage: Cannone (13.0 %) – Minimum 40 shots.

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

Wins: Peyton Jones (6)

Save %: Parker Gahagen/Garrett Metcalf (.931) – Minimum 5 games

Goals Against Average: Gahagen/Metcalf (1.97). – Minimum 5 games

Roster

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

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

Goaltenders: Peyton Jones, Garrett Metcalf.

Active Streaks

Goal Streaks: Hayden Hodgson (2), Matthew Boucher (1)

Assist Streaks: Ty Lewis, Ryan Lowney, Alex Lepkowski (1).

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

Multiple Point games

11 - Matthew Boucher

8 – Trey Bradley

6- Charlie Gerard.

5 - Riley Woods, Cedric Pare, AJ White, 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.

1 - Jack Jenkins, Alex Lepkowski, 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.

#Boucher4ROY

Matthew Boucher has put together a season worthy of the league’s Rookie of the Year honors. Boucher currently leads all league rookies in goals (22), points (47) and shots on goal (187). He is also tied for 3rd with 25 assists. Boucher leads the team and all league rookies with 11 multiple point games.

Among Rookies

Goals – 22 (1st) – 2nd is Wichita’s Jay Dickman with 16.

Assists – 25 – Tied for 3rd

Points – 47 (1st) – 2nd is Dickman with 43.

Shots on goal – 187 (1st) – 2nd is teammate Cedric Pare with 147.

6 Have Double Digit Goal Seasons

Matthew Boucher (22), 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 last Friday.

Grizzlies Record is Outstanding When Leading After 1st and 2nd

Utah is 12-3-0-1 when leading after 1 period and 16-3-1-1 when leading after 2.