Grizzlies Preview: June 2, 2021 Fort Wayne at Utah

Fort Wayne Komets (27-16-3-2, 59 points, .615 win %) @ Utah Grizzlies(34-24-5-6, 79 points, .572 Win%)

Maverik Center. June 2, 2021. 7:10 pm MST. Mixlr/FloSports.

It’s the first game of the series and the first season meeting with Fort Wayne. Utah has won 10 of their last 14 games.

Grizzlies Clinched Postseason Spot Last Saturday

Utah clinched a spot in the 2021 Kelly Cup Playoffs by defeating Kansas City 2-1 last Saturday.

Utah has reached the playoffs in 12 of the last 13 seasons where a playoff was held. Utah was in line for a playoff spot last season when it was cancelled on March 14, 2020. Wichita, Allen and Fort Wayne are the other Western Conference teams that have already clinched a spot in the playoffs.

Parker Gahagen Won Goaltender of the Month

Parker Gahagen of the Utah Grizzlies has been selected as the Warrior Hockey ECHL Goaltender of the Month for May. Gahagen went 8-2-0 with one shutout, a 2.13 goals-against average and a save percentage of .928 during the month. The 27-year-old allowed two goals or less in six of his appearances in May while making at least 27 saves six times. The highlights of the month included a 16 save shutout on May 5 vs Rapid City in a 2-0 win. He also saved 47 shots at Tulsa on May 16. Gahagen earned ECHL Goaltender of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks on May 3-9 and May 10-16.

Matthew Boucher Made the All-Rookie Team

Matthew Boucher was named to the league’s All-Rookie team for the 2020-21 season. Boucher leads all league first year pros and Grizzlies skaters in Goals (23) points (49) and shots on goal (201). Matthew is the first Grizzlies player in team history to be named to the ECHL All-Rookie team. Boucher is the leading candidate for the league’s Rookie of the Year honors. Boucher would not only be the first Grizzlies player to be named the Rookie of the Year but he would be the first Utah player to receive an individual award since the team joined the league prior to the 2005-06 season. Former Grizzlies trainer Cole Libby won the league’s Athletic Trainer of the year in 2017.Road Trip Recap

Saturday, May 29: Utah 2 KC 1

Hayden Hodgson and Charlie Gerard each scored 2nd period goals as Utah won 2-1 to clinch a spot in the 2021 Kelly Cup Playoffs. Parker Gahagen saved 27 of 28 to earn his team leading 9th win of the season. Cedric Pare had 2 assists.

Friday, May 28: KC 5 Utah 2

KC has won 5-2 in each of the first 2 games of the series. Last night Utah took a 2-0 lead after Garrett Johnston scored his 2nd of the year 2:07 into the 2nd period. 28 seconds later Ty Lewis delivered his 8th of the year. Kansas City scored 5 unanswered and did it in bunches. KC scored 2 goals 24 seconds apart late in the 2nd period and in the 3rd period they scored 3 goals in a 1 minute 44 second stretch. KC outshot Utah 28 to 23. Utah went 0 for 4 on the power play, while Kansas City went 0 for 5. Lewis and Johnston were each a +1 for Utah.

Thursday, May 27: KC 5 Utah 2

Kansas City defeated Utah 5-2 on Thursday night at Cable Dahmer Arena. Cedric Pare deflected a Cole Fraser shot 16:46 in for his 17th goal of the season. 5 minutes into the 2nd period Travis Barron intercepted a KC pass, threw it to Sasha Mutala who scored his 3rd goal in 2 games 5:11 into the 2nd period. Willie Corrin and Brodie Reid each scored 1 goal and 1 assist for the Mavericks and Andrew Shortridge saved 24 of 26 as he got his 6th win of the season.

May Recap

Utah went 11-4 in 14 games in the month of May. Trey Bradley leads Utah with 16 points in May (2 goals, 14 assists). His 16 points are tied for the league lead with 3 others, including Kansas City’s Giorgio Estephan. Bradley has a +9 rating for the month. AJ White has 15 points in May (6 goals, 9 assists). Ty Lewis has 10 points in May (5 goals, 5 assists). The month was highlighted by the 7 game winning streak, sweeping Rapid City from May 4-8 and the next week winning 3 games at Tulsa on May 14-16.

Sasha Mutala Has Made a Strong First Impression

Mutala scored a goal 5:11 into the second period on Thursday night at Kansas City. Mutala has 3 goals in his first 4 games with Utah. Mutala played in 6 games this season with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles to begin his pro career and had 1 assist. Mutala played with the WHL’s Tri-City Americans from 2017-2021, scoring 65 goals and 89 assists. This season with Tri-City, Mutala had 20 points in 19 games (6 goals, 14 assists). Sasha was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in the 5th round (140th overall) in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Mutala was born on May 6, 2021. He’s the 4th player in Grizzlies history to who was born after the turn of the century. On Sunday Mutala scored his first 2 professional goals to lead Utah to a 4-0 win over Allen.

Penalty Kill Has Been Strong

Utah is 29 for 29 on the penalty kill over the last 9 games.

2020-2021 Regular Season Totals (league rankings)

Overall record: 34-24-5-6

Home record: 20-7-3-3. Utah has outscored opponents 113 to 90 at home.

Road record: 14-17-2-3

Win percentage: .572 (4th in Western Conference).

Streak: Won 1

Standings Points: 79

Last 10: 7-3.

Goals per game: 2.87 (11th). Goals for: 198

Goals against per game: 3.08 (Tied 8th). Goals against: 207

Shots per game: 32.39 (4th).

Shots against per game: 29.32 (4th).

Power Play: 17.1 % - 46 for 269 (6th).

Penalty Kill: 84.9 % - 214 for 252 (5th). – 29 for 29 in the last 9 games.

Penalty Minutes: 941 (13.64 per game).

Shorthanded Goals: 10 (Tied for 3rd)

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 8 (9th)

Players Used: 52.

Record When Scoring First: 21-9-2-1

Team Leaders (2020-21 season)

Goals: Matthew Boucher (23)

Assists: Trey Bradley (34) – Bradley had 14 assists in May.  

Points: Boucher (49)

Plus/Minus: Jack Jenkins (+8)

PIM: Teigan Zahn/Hayden Hodgson (86)

Games Played: Cedric Pare (64)

Power Play Points: Ryan Lowney (17)

Power Play Goals: AJ White (9)

Shots on Goal: Matthew Boucher (201)

Shooting Percentage: AJ White (14.7 %) – Minimum 45 shots.

Game Winning Goals: White (5)

Wins: Parker Gahagen (9)

Save %: Garrett Metcalf (.931) – Minimum 7 games

Goals Against Average: Metcalf (1.97). – Minimum 7 games

Roster

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

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

Goaltenders: Parker Gahagen, Peyton Jones, Garrett Metcalf.

Last Week’s Games

Thursday, May 27, 2021 – Utah 2 Kansas City 5 – Cedric Pare, Sasha Mutala each scored goals. Utah outshot KC 26 to 21. Neither team had a power play in the game.

Friday, May 28, 2021 – Utah 2 Kansas City 5 – Garrett Johnston and Ty Lewis scored goals in the loss. Utah was 4 for 4 on the penalty kill.

Saturday, May 29, 2021 – Utah at Kansas City. 6:05 pm. Utah is now 14-2-0-1 in the 3rd game of a series. Cedric Pare had 2 assists. Hayden Hodgson and Charlie Gerard each had a goal. Parker Gahagen saved 27 of 28.

All times Mountain

This Week’s Games

Wednesday, June 2, 2021 – Fort Wayne at Utah. 7:10 pm.

Friday, June 4, 2021 – Fort Wayne at Utah. 7:10 pm. Fan Appreciation Weekend.

Saturday, June 5, 2021 – Fort Wayne at Utah. 7:10 pm. TMNT Night (specialty jerseys) Shoot For Your Shot after the game. Fan Appreciation Weekend.

All times Mountain

Nest Week’s Games

2021 Kelly Cup Playoffs. Opponent and dates are to be determined at a later date.

Active Streaks

Goal Streaks: Hayden Hodgson, Charlie Gerard (1).

Assist Streaks: Cedric Pare, Travis Barron, Miles Gendron, Ryan Lowney (1)

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Gerard, Lowney (4).  

Multiple Point games

12 - Matthew Boucher

11 – Trey Bradley

9 – AJ White

7 – Cedric Pare

6- Charlie Gerard, Ryan Lowney, Ty Lewis

5 - Riley Woods,  Matt Hoover.

4- Pat Cannone, Hunter Skinner.   

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, Wyatt McLeod, Sasha Mutala.

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.

7 Have Double Digit Goal Seasons

Matthew Boucher (23), Cedric Pare (17), Charlie Gerard (16), AJ White (15), Ryan Lowney (11) Pat Cannone and Trey Bradley (10) each have a double digit goal season.

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

Utah is 12-4-0-1 when leading after 1 period and 21-4-1-1 when leading after 2.

Grizzlies Like Home Cooking

Utah has outscored opponents 113 to 90 at home this season. The Grizz are 20-7-3-3 at Maverik Center, earning 46 standings points in 33 games. Utah ends the regular season by hosting Fort Wayne on June 2, 4-5. 

Many 1 Goal Games

34 of the 69 games Utah has played this season have been 1 goal contests. This season the Grizzlies have played in 18 games past regulation. Utah is 18-5-11 in 1 goal games.

Grizzlies Players Winning League Awards in 2020-21

Diego Cuglietta – Player of the Week for weekend of December 11-13.

Matthew Boucher – Player of the Week for January 18-24.  

Matthew Boucher – Player of the Week for March 22-28.

Matthew Boucher – Rookie of the Month for March 2021.

Garrett Metcalf – Goaltender of the Week for April 19-25.

Parker Gahagen – Goaltender of the Week for May 3-9.

Parker Gahagen – Goaltender of the Week for May 10-16.

Trey Bradley – Player of the Week for May 17-23.

Parker Gahagen – Goaltender of the Month for May 2021.

Matthew Boucher – All-Rookie Team for the 2020-21 season.