Grizzlies Gameday: Homestand Opener vs Idaho

Grizzlies Gameday: Homestand Opener at Maverik Center

Idaho Steelheads (18-12-0-1, 37 points, .597 Win %) at Utah Grizzlies (20-11-1-1, 42 points, .636 Win %)

Friday, January 14, 2022. Maverik Center. 7:10 pm. Broadcast: Mixlr/FloSports

It’s the series opener or a 3 game set vs Idaho at Maverik Center and for the Grizzlies it’s the opener of a 6 game homestand. Utah has been a great team at home this season as they are 10-4 at Maverik Center and have outscored opponents 52 to 32 at home. The Grizz have won 5 straight home games.

Last weekend in Idaho the Grizzlies went 1-1-0-1 and picked up 3 out of 6 standings points. On the 7 game road trip Utah went 3-3-0-1 and picked up 7 of a possible 14 points.

Grizz in First Place

Utah has a winning percentage of .636 and is in first place, and Idaho has a .597 winning percentage and is in 2nd place.  Utah’s 42 standings points are tied for the most in the league.

Long Road Trip

Utah went 3-3-1 in the 7 games on the 2 week trip. Ben Tardif led Utah with 7 points on the trip (2 goals, 5 assists). Trey Bradley (4 goals, 2 assists) and Charle-Edouard D’Astous (1 goal, 5 assists) each had 6 points. Mason Mannek and Luke Martin each had 5 points. Utah has been strong on the road this season with a 10-7-1-1 record. Cole Kehler has 2 wins in net for Utah on the trip. 19-year-old emergency goaltender Brady Devries saved 18 of 21 in an improbable 4-3 win at Rapid City on December 29th.

Charle-Edouard D’Astous Named to All-Star Team

D’Astous was named to the 2022 league All-Star team. D’Astous leads the club with 13 goals, despite playing in only 22 games. He leads all league defenseman in goals, power play goals (4) and is tied for the lead with 3 game winning goals. D’Astous won the game in overtime at Allen on October 30, 2021. The most dramatic goal he has scored this season came on January 5th at Idaho when he scored with 1.7 seconds left in regulation to give Utah a 2-1 win. In the 4 games since returning from a stint in the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on Jan. 1, 2022 he leads Utah with 6 points (1 goal, 5 assists, +2). D’Astous is tied for the team lead with 27 points.

Transaction: Nate Clurman Reassigned to Utah, Orgel Released  

Defenseman Nate Clurman has been reassigned to the Utah Grizzlies as he comes over from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Clurman has played in 7 games with Colorado (AHL) and has 1 goal and a +1 rating. Clurman scored on December 29, 2021 at Iowa. In 16 games with Utah this season Clurman has 7 points (1 goal, 6 assists). He scored his first pro goal on October 23, 2021 vs Idaho. Clurman is in the first season of a 2 year NHL entry level contract. He played at the University of Notre Dame for 4 seasons from 2017-2021 and served as captain of the Irish in his senior season.

In a separate move defenseman Ryan Orgel has been released. He played in 3 games with Utah and had 3 shots on goal and 2 penalty minutes.

Tons of Shots for Utah

The Grizzlies have taken 393 shots over the last 11 games (35.72 per game). Utah is 6th in the league in shots per game at 33.12. The Grizz have 193 shots in 6 games vs Idaho this season (32.16 per game), which is noteworthy because on the season Idaho has allowed just 26.52 shots per game, which is 2nd best in the league, trailing only Jacksonville, who allows 24.90 shots per game.

Season Series vs Idaho

Utah is 2-3-0-1 vs Idaho this season. The best rivalry in the league did not meet in the 2020-21 season as the Steelheads opted out of the year. Despite playing roughly 14 to 16 times a year tonight’s game is only the 7th time these teams have met since February 29, 2020, over 22 months ago.

This Week’s Games

Friday, January 14, 2022 – Idaho at Utah. 7:10 pm – AFCU Friday.

Saturday, January 15, 2022 – Idaho at Utah. 7:10 pm – Guns N Hoses Night. 2 charity games starting at 1:00 pm leading up to the Grizzlies game at 7:10.

Monday, January 17, 2022 – Idaho at Utah. 1:10 pm – Marvel superhero day with specialty jersey’s.

All times Mountain. Every game can be seen on FloHockey and heard on Mixlr.

Last Week’s Games

Utah 2 Idaho 1 – January 5, 2022 - Charle-Edouard D’Astous scored the game winner with 1.7 seconds left in regulation on a Ban Tardif pass to the right circle. Quinn Ryan scored first for Utah 14:47 into the second period. Cole Kehler was solid in net saving 27 of 28. Idaho’s Jake Kupsky saved 33 of 35. Both teams went 0 for 2 on the power play.

Utah 3 Idaho 6 – January 7, 2022 – Luke Martin 2 goals. Trey Bradley had 1 goal, 1 assist. Charle-Edouard D’Astous had 2 assists. Mason Mannek and Ben Tardif had 1 assist.

Utah 3 Idaho 4 (Shootout) – January 8, 2022. Ben Tardif, Tyler Penner and Matthew Boucher scored goals for Utah. Charle-Edouard D’Astous had 2 assists. Utah outshot Idaho 37 to 34. Both teams went 2 for 2 on the power play.

Grizzlies Roster

Forwards: Matthew Boucher, Brian Bowen, Trey Bradley, Luka Burzan, Taylor Crunk, Mason Mannek, Tyler Penner, Zac Robbins, Neil Robinson, Quinn Ryan, Gehrett Sargis, Christian Simone, Benjamin Tardif.

Defenseman: Nate Clurman,Joey Colatarci, Austin Crossley, Charle-Edouard D’Astous, Miles Gendron, Luke Martin, Connor McDonald, Kyle Pouncy, Jordon Stone.

Goaltenders: Peyton Jones, Cole Kehler.   

2021-2022 Utah Grizzlies Regular Season Totals (league rankings)

Overall record: 20-11-1-1

Home record: 10-4. Utah has outscored opponents 52 to 32 at home.

Road record: 10-7-1-1

Win percentage: .636. Best win % in Mountain Division.

Streak: Lost 2.

Standings Points: 42. Tied with Toledo for the most in the Western Conference. 

Last 10: 6-3-0-1.

Goals per game: 3.45 (10th) Goals for: 114.

Goals against per game: 2.94 (8th) Goals Against: 97.

Shots per game: 33.12 (6th)

Shots against per game: 30.94 (14th)   

Power Play: 20 for 97 – 20.6 % (13th)  

Penalty Kill: 96 for 129- 74.4 % (24th)

Penalty Minutes: 486. 14.73 per game.

Shorthanded Goals: 10 (Tied 1st).

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 1. – Utah was the last team to allow a shorthanded goal this season.

Record When Scoring First: 10-5-0-1. Utah has scored first in 16 of 33 games this season.

Record in One Goal Games: 6-2-1-1. 10 of the 33 games have been decided by 1. 11 games have been decided by 2.

Team Leaders (2021-22 season)

Goals: Charle-Edouard D’Astous (13).

Assists: Brandon Cutler (17)

Points: Cutler (27)

Plus/Minus: Andrew Nielsen/D’Astous (+16)

PIM: Andrew Nielsen (85)

Power Play Points: D’Astous (11)

Power Play Goals: D’Astous (4)

Power Play Assists: D’Astous (7).

Shots on Goal: Brian Bowen (105)

Shooting Percentage: Quinn Ryan (8 for 40). 20.0 %. – Minimum 40 shots.

Game Winning Goals: D’Astous (3).

Wins: Peyton Jones/Trent Miner (7).

Save %: Garrett Metcalf (.932).

Goals Against Average: Garrett Metcalf (1.84)

Active Streaks (2021-2022 Season)

Goal Streaks: Ben Tardif, Tyler Penner, Matthew Boucher (1).

Assist Streaks: Charle-Edouard D’Astous (2) Luke Martin, Brian Bowen, Quinn Ryan (1).

Point Streaks of 2 or more: D’Astous (5) Tardif (4) Burzan (2).

Matthew Boucher has 2 or more points in 5 of his last 9 games.  Boucher missed 16 games for Utah due to an injury from Nov.5 – Dec. 12 and 5 games from Dec. 29-Jan. 7. Boucher has a point in 9 of his last 10 games.

Trey Bradley has 7 goals and 3 assists in his last 10 games.

Ben Tardif has 2 or more points in 7 of his last 14 games. Tardif has a point in 11 of his 15 games with Utah. Ben has a point in 4 straight games.

Luka Burzan has a point in 6 of his last 8 games (3 goals, 6 assists). Burzan has missed the last 4 games.

Multiple Point games (2021-2022)

9: Trey Bradley

8: Charle-Edouard D’Astous.

7: Ben Tardif

6: Brandon Cutler, Luke Martin.

5: Matthew Boucher, Brian Bowen.

4: Mason Mannek, Andrew Nielsen, Tyler Penner.

2: Luka Burzan, Gehrett Sargis.

1: Neil Robinson, Bailey Conger, Christian Simeone, Nate Clurman. 

Bear Bites: Grizzlies Team Stats

Utah has scored 10 shorthanded goals this season which is tied for the league lead.

Utah is 13-0 when leading after 2 periods. The Grizz have a 48 to 29 scoring advantage in the 2nd period. Utah is 19-5-1-1 when scoring 3 or more goals in a game. Utah has outscored opponents 52 to 32 at home this season. Utah's 114 goals are the most in the league. Their 42 standings points are tied with Toledo for the most in the Western Conference. The Grizzlies are 11-3-1-1 with 0 days rest between games. 6 different goaltenders have won at least 1 game this season. Utah is 7-2-0-1 on Saturdays. Utah is 18-7-1-1 vs Mountain Division opponents. Utah is 6-7-1 when trailing after 1 period. The 6 wins when trailing after 20 minutes of play is the most in the league.