Grizzlies Gameday: Thursday Night in Orlando

Utah Grizzlies (25-13-1-1, 52 points, .650 Win %) at Orlando Solar Bears (19-15-2-0, 40 points, .556 Win %) Thursday, January 27, 2022. Amway Center. 5:00 pm. Broadcast: Mixlr/FloSports

It’s the second game of a 3 game road trip in the Sunshine state. It’s the first of a two-game series against the Solar Bears. Orlando is led by former Grizzlies goaltender Brad Barone, who is a 2022 ECHL All-Star.

Last Night: Everblades Defeated Grizzlies 5-2

Utah lost 5-2 at Florida in the only meeting between the clubs in the regular season. Charle-Edouard D’Astous had 1 goal and 1 assist. Ben Tardif had 2 assists and Trey Bradley scored his 12th goal of the campaign as he redirected a D’Astous shot 17:02 into the second period.

3 Tied with 10 Multi-Point Games

D’Astous and Tardif each had 2 points last night in Floirda. They are now tied with Trey Bradley for the team lead with 10 multiple point games. Tardif is just under an assist per game as he has 21 helpers through 22 games. Trey Bradley has 11 goals in his last 14 games. D’Astous leads all league defenseman with 33 points and is the leading candidate for the league’s Defenseman of the Year award.

Last Meeting with Orlando

The last time these teams met was on November 23, 2019 where Utah won 2-1 on an Eric Williams overtime game winner. Dylan Fitze scored Orlando’s lone goal that night. Fitze is still on the Orlando roster. There are 0 Utah players from that game who are on the current roster. Current assistant coach Teigan Zahn was in the lineup that night. Hunter Miska saved 25 of 26 as he won the league Goaltender of the Week award.

Successful Homestand

Utah went 5-1 in the recently concluded 6 game homestand. The Grizz won 2 of 3 games against Idaho on January 14-15, 17 and swept Allen in a 3 game in 3 day series last weekend. 4 players led Utah with 6 points in the 6 game homestand (Ben Tardif, Matthew Boucher, Tyler Penner and Mason Mannek). Brian Bowen scored a goal in 4 of his last 5 games. Luke Martin led Utah with a +8 rating in the 6 games. Nate Clurman was a +6 on the homestand.

Grizz in First Place

Utah has a winning percentage of .650 and is in first place in the Mountain Division. The Grizz have the 2nd best points percentage in the Western Conference, trailing only Toledo, who has a .735 %. Utah is 4th in the league in points percentage. The Grizz are the first team in the league to win 25 games this season.

Transactions: Jones Returns to Grizz. Miner Sent back to Colorado

Recent Transactions

January 24, 2022 – Peyton Jones reassigned to Utah. Matthew Boucher, Nick Henry and Trent Miner recalled to Colorado.

January 22, 2022 – Matthew Boucher, Nick Henry and Trent Miner Reassigned to Utah. Peyton Jones Reassigned to Colorado (AHL).

January 18, 2022 – Matthew Boucher, Nick Henry and Trent Miner recalled to Colorado (AHL).

January 16, 2022 – Trent Miner reassigned to Utah from Colorado (AHL).

January 15, 2022 – Nick Henry and Andrew Nielsen reassigned to Utah from Colorado (AHL).

January 14, 2022 – Nate Clurman reassigned to Utah from Colorado (AHL). Ryan Orgel was released.

Charle-Edouard D’Astous Continues to Produce.

D’Astous leads the club with 15 goals as he scored a shorthanded goal 3:52 into last night’s 5-2 loss at Florida. He leads all league defenseman in goals, points (33) and power play goals (4).  He leads the club with 4 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 11 games in January D’Astous has 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists). Charle has a point in 9 of his last 11 games. He has a point in 22 different games this season, which leads the club.

Next Homestand

The Grizzlies host the Jacksonville Icemen for Grizzlies Fight Cancer Weekend on February 3-4 at 7:10 pm. The Grizzlies will recognize those who are fighting cancer and remember those we have lost.

Birthdays This Week

Ben Tardif turned 22 on January 24th. Tardif had 2 assists last night at Florida. In 22 games this season Tardif has 26 points (5 goals, 21 assists).

Quinn Ryan turned 26 on January 25th. Ryan has 9 goals and 10 assists in 37 games this season. Ryan played his college hockey at Liberty University.

Utah Getting All the Shorties

The Grizzlies lead the league lead with 16 shorthanded goals. Charle-Edouard D’Astous scored on a rebound from a Ben Tardif shot 3:52 into last night’s 5-2 loss at Florida. Trey Bradley and Matthew Boucher lead the team and are tied for the league lead with 4 shorthanded goals. Brandon Culter (Now with Abbotsford Canucks, AHL) has 3 SHG’s.

2nd Period is the Money Frame

This season the Grizzlies have outscored the opposition 58 to 36 in the second periods. Utah has outshot opponents 451 to 407 in the second periods. Indy has the 2nd highest goal total in the second frame this season with 48.

Gotta Get to 3

Getting to 3 goals may be the magic number for the Grizzlies. When they score 3 or more goals in a game they are 24-5-1-1. When they score less than 3 goals this season they are just 1-8.

This Week’s Games

Wednesday, January 26, 2022 – Utah 2 Florida 5 – D’Astous 1 goal, 1 assist. Ben Tardif 2 assists. Trey Bradley 1 goal. Florida was led by Alex Aleardi, who had 1 goal, 1 assist. Jake Jaremko had 3 assists. Blake Winiecki scored his league leading 19th goal.

Thursday, January 27, 2022 – Utah at Orlando. 5:00 pm. Utah last met Orlando on Jan. 23, 2019 at Maverik Center.

Monday, January 31, 2022 – Utah at Orlando. 5:00 pm. Projected temperature in Orlando on January 31st is 66 degrees.

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

Last Week’s Games

Allen 4 Utah 6 – Tyler Penner had 2 goals and 1 assist. Ben Tardif, Brian Bowen and Mason Mannek each had 1 goal and 1 assist. Utah outshot Allen 32 to 28. D’Astous had 2 assists. Zac Robbins and Mannek were each a +3.

Allen 2 Utah 5 – Matthew Boucher had 2 goals and 1 assist. Ben Tardif 3 assists. Brian Bowen, Tyler Penner and Nick Henry added goals. Utah outshot Allen 41 to 23.

Allen 3 Utah 4 – Charle-Edouard D’Astous scored GWG with 4:00 left in the 2nd period. Andrew Nielsen had 2 assists. Utah outshot Allen 38 to 24. Zac Robbins, Matthew Boucher and Brian Bowen added goals to clinch the series and season sweep.

About the Orlando Solar Bears

The Orlando Solar Bears are led by head coach Drake Berehowsky, who played in 549 NHL games in his playing career. Their starting goaltender is Brad Barone, who played in 20 games with Utah over a 2 season stretch in 2019-2021. Barone went 9-5-4 with Utah and had a .904 save percentage and a 2.73 GAA. Barone had 1 shutout for Utah and it came on December 7, 2019 at Rapid City on their Teddy Bear Toss night. The win came 1 month after Rapid City released Barone as he got revenge on his former team. Barone was traded to Rapid City from Utah on March 26, 2021.Orlando’s best period is the 3rd periods where they have outscored opponents 43 to 36. Orlando has scored first in only 15 of their 36 games this season, however the Solar Bears are 14-1 when scoring first.

Grizzlies Among League Leaders

Trent Miner leads the league with 4 shutouts. No other goaltender in the league has more than 2 shutouts. Charle-Edouard D’Astous leads all league defenseman with 15 goals and 33 points. D’Astous also leads all league defenseman with 4 power play goals. Trey Bradley and Matthew Boucher are tied with Florida’s John McCarron for the league lead in shorthanded goals with 4. Luke Martin is 3rd in plus/minus at +22.

Grizzlies Roster

Forwards: Brian Bowen, Trey Bradley, Luka Burzan, Taylor Crunk, Mason Mannek, Tyler Penner, Zac Robbins, 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, Andrew Nielsen, Kyle Pouncy, Jordon Stone.

Goaltenders: Peyton Jones,Cole Kehler    

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

Overall record: 25-13-1-1

Home record: 15-5. Utah has outscored opponents 77 to 51 at home.

Road record: 10-8-1-1

Win percentage: .650. Best win % in Mountain Division.

Streak: Lost 1.

Standings Points: 52. 

Last 10: 6-3-0-1.

Goals per game: 3.53 (4th) Goals for: 141.

Goals against per game: 3.03 (10th) Goals Against: 121.

Shots per game: 33.05 (6th)

Shots against per game: 30.43 (11th)   

Power Play: 21 for 122 – 17.2 % (22nd)  

Penalty Kill: 121 for 161- 75.2 % (25th)

Penalty Minutes: 588. 14.70 per game.

Shorthanded Goals: 16 (1st).

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 3.

Record When Scoring First: 11-6-0-1. Utah has scored first in 18 of 40 games this season. Utah is 14-7-1 when the opposition scores first.

Record in One Goal Games: 7-2-1-1. 11 of the 36 games have been decided by 1. 12 games have been decided by 2.

Team Leaders (2021-22 season)

Goals: Charle-Edouard D’Astous (15).

Assists: Ben Tardif (21)

Points: D’Astous (33)

Plus/Minus: Luke Martin (+22)

PIM: Andrew Nielsen (112)

Power Play Points: D’Astous (12)

Power Play Goals: D’Astous (4)

Power Play Assists: D’Astous (8).

Shorthanded Goals: Trey Bradley/Matthew Boucher (4)

Shots on Goal: Brian Bowen (125)

Shooting Percentage: Quinn Ryan (9 for 44). 20.5 %. – Minimum 40 shots.

Game Winning Goals: D’Astous (4).

Wins: Trent Miner (10).

Save %: Garrett Metcalf (.932).

Goals Against Average: Garrett Metcalf (1.84)

Active Streaks (2021-2022 Season)

Goal Streaks: Charle-Edouard D’Astous (2) Trey Bradley (2).

Assist Streaks: Joey Colatarci, Mason Mannek, Luke Martin, Connor McDonald, Tyler Penner (1).

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Bradley, D’Astous (2).

Matthew Boucher has a point in 13 of his last 15 games. He has 23 points in only 17 games this season. Boucher is currently with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles.

Trey Bradley has 11 goals and 3 assists in his last 14 games. Bradley returned to the lineup at Florida after missing 3 straight games.

Brian Bowen has 4 goals in his last 6 games. 18 of his 21 points have been at Maverik Center. 11 of his 12 goals have been at home. 7 of his 9 assists have been at home.

Ben Tardif has a point in 15 of his 22 games with Utah. Ben has a point in 9 of his last 13 games. Tardif has 13 points in 11 games in January (3 goals, 10 assists) and a +7 rating.  

Charle-Edouard D’Astous has a point in 9 of his last 11 games. He has a point in 21 different games for Utah this season. In 10 games in January D’Astous has 12 points (3 goals, 9 assists) and a +6 rating. D’Astous has 50 shots on goal in 10 games in January.

Luke Martin has 10 points in 11 games in January (3 goals, 7 assists). Martin is a +10 in January. He was also a +6 in 10 games in November and was a +7 in 6 games in October. Martin has a point in 8 of his last 12.

Mason Mannek has 10 points in 11 games in January (4 goals, 6 assists). Mannek has a point in 3 of 5.

Tyler Penner has 11 points in 11 games in January (4 goals, 7 assists).

Multiple Point games (2021-2022)

10: Trey Bradley, Charle-Edouard D’Astous, Ben Tardif.

7: Luke Martin.

6: Matthew Boucher,Brian Bowen, Brandon Cutler. Mason Mannek.

5: Andrew Nielsen, Tyler Penner.

3: Gehrett Sargis.

2: Luka Burzan.

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

Bear Bites: Grizzlies Team Stats

Utah has scored a league leading 16 shorthanded goals. The Grizz are 11-3 when scoring a shorthanded goal. Utah is 18-0 when leading after 2 periods. The Grizz have a 58 to 36 scoring advantage in the 2nd period. Utah is 24-5-1-1 when scoring 3 or more goals in a game. Utah has outscored opponents 77 to 51 at home this season. Utah's 141 goals are the most in the league. Their 52 standings points are the most in the league. The Grizzlies are 13-4-1-1 with 0 days rest between games. 6 different goaltenders have won at least 1 game this season. Utah is 23-8-1-1 vs Mountain Division opponents. Utah is 6-9-1 when trailing after 1 period. The 6 wins when trailing after 20 minutes of play is tied with Atlanta for the most in the league. The Grizz are 15-0 when allowing less than 3 goals. Utah is 18-5-0-1 when outshooting opponents. The Grizz are 7-2-1-1 in one goal games.