Grizzlies Gameday: March 9, 2022 Kansas City at Utah

Grizzlies Gameday: Series Opener vs Kansas City

Kansas City Mavericks (27-27-2-1, 57 points, .500 Win %) at Utah Grizzlies (32-21-2-1, 67 points, .598 Win %)

Wednesday, March 9, 2022. Maverik Center. 7:10 pm. Broadcast: Mixlr/FloSports

It’s the first game of a 3 game set against the Kansas City Mavericks. For the Grizz 9 of their next 11 games are at home. Utah is 16-9 at home this season and have outscored the opposition 88 to 73. For Utah watch out for Brian Bowen and Charle-Edouard D’Astous, who are tied for the club lead with 20 goals. For Kansas City their leading scorer is Derik Angeli, who is tied for 2nd in the league with 58 points.

Grizzlies Homestand

Wednesday, March 9, 2022 Kansas City at Utah. 7:10 pm. Bud Light College Night. Singles Night.

Friday, March 11, 2022 Kansas City at Utah. 7:10 pm. AFCU Friday. Beer Fest.

Saturday, March 12, 2022 Kansas City at Utah. 7:10 pm. Military Night Presented by Darren Bideaux RV.

Family Fun Zone is on the concourse for every Grizzlies home game.

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

Grizzlies Recently Completed 6 Game Road Trip

Utah went 2-4 on the road trip, winning the first game of each of the 3-game series. Luka Burzan led Utah with 6 points on the trip (3 goals, 3 assists). Charle-Edouard D’Astous had 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists). Ben Tardif led Utah with 26 shots in the 6 games and had 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists). Nate Clurman and Tyler Penner each had a +4 rating to tie for the best mark on the team. Brian Bowen, Nick Henry and Shane Kuzmeski each had 3 points on the trip.

Kansas City Series

February 25, 2022 – Utah 4 Kansas City 2 -  D’Astous 1 goal, 2 assists. Nick Henry 1 goal, 1 assist. Peyton Jones saved 31 of 33.

February 26, 2022 – Utah 4 Kansas City 5 – Luka Burzan 1 goal, 2 assists. Charle-E. D’Astous, Miles Gendron and Mason Mannek added goals. Nate Clurman was a +3.

February 27, 2022 – Utah 0 Kansas City 2 – KC’s Matt Greenfield 39 save shutout. Utah outshot KC 39 to 28. 

Last Week’s Games

March 4, 2022 – Utah 2 Rapid City 1 (Shootout) – Peyton Jones saved 49 of 50 shots and was 7 for 7 in the shootout to earn his 14th win of the season. Charle-Edouard D’Astous won the game in the 7th round of the shootout. Luka Burzan scored 6:22 into the first period. Rapid City outshot Utah 50 to 31.

Saturday, March 5, 2022 – Utah 2 Rapid City 10 – Brian Bowen and Ben Tardif each scored a goal for Utah. The 10 goals allowed is tied for a team record. Utah allowed 10 at Colorado on November 7, 2012 and gave up 10 at Hartford on December 18, 2002.

Sunday, March 6, 2022 – Utah 2 Rapid City 3 -  Tyler Penner and Charle-Edouard D’Astous each scored a goal for Utah. Grizz outshout RC 41 to 26. Garrett Metcalf saved 23 of 26 in his first start for Utah since Dec. 27, 2021.

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

Season Series vs Kansas City

It’s the 7th of 9 season meetings between the clubs. Utah is 3-3 vs KC this season. KC won 5-2 on November 19. Utah won 4-2 on both November 20 and 21. The Grizz are even on the goal margin with KC 18 to 18 this year. 8 of Utah’s 18 goals have been scored on the power play. Utah is 8 for 30 vs KC on the power play this season. Charle-Edouard D’Astous leads Utah with 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists). Mason Mannek has 2 goals and 3 assists in 6 games vs KC. Peyton Jones is 2-0 vs Kansas City, allowing just 4 goals in 2 games. Luka Burzan has 4 points in 3 games vs KC (2 goals, 2 assists).

Luka Burzan Rides Hot Hand

Luka Burzan has 5 goals and 2 assists in his last 9 games.  In 25 games this season he has 9 goals and 12 assists. Burzan was a 6th round pick (171st overall) of the Colorado Avalanche in the 2019 NHL Draft. Luka has appeared in 24 games with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles over the last 2 seasons and had 3 goals and 1 assist.  

Charle-Edouard D’Astous Continues to Produce.

Defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous lead all league defenseman with 20 goals and is 2nd with 44 points. He leads the team in power play goals (6), power play points (16) and shots among defenseman (151). has a point in 28 different games this season, which leads the club. D’Astous also leads all league defenseman with 6 game winning goals and that doesn’t include the shootout game winner at Rapid City on March 4.

Mannek and Penner Have Played in them All

Forwards Mason Mannek and Tyler Penner have each played in all 56 games for Utah this season. Mannek is 2nd on the team with 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists) and Penner has 29 points (12 goals, 17 assists). Penner scored a 3rd period goal at Rapid City on March 6. Tyler leads all current Grizzlies forwards in plus/minus (+13).

Grizzlies Among League Leaders

Trent Miner leads the league with 4 shutouts. Charle-Edouard D’Astous leads all league defenseman with 20 goals and is 2nd with 43 points. D’Astous leads all defenseman with 6 game winning goals. Brian Bowen is 5th with 188 shots. Ben Tardif leads all league rookies with 7 shorthanded points. Tardif is 2nd among rookies with 28 assists. Mason Mannek is tied for 4th in points among rookies with 40.

Grizzlies Roster

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

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

Goaltenders: Peyton Jones,Garrett Metcalf, Trent Miner.

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

Overall record: 32-21-2-1

Home record: 16-9. Utah has outscored opponents 88 to 73 at home.

Road record: 16-12-2-1.

Win percentage: .598. Best win % in Mountain Division.

Streak: Lost 2.

Standings Points: 67. 

Last 10: 4-6.

Goals per game: 3.32 (Tied 9th) Goals for: 186.

Goals against per game: 3.23 (14th) Goals Against: 181.

Shots per game: 32.57 (8th)

Shots against per game: 31.71 (16th)  

Power Play: 30 for 174 – 17.2 % (22nd)

Penalty Kill: 173 for 228- 75.9 % (24th)

Penalty Minutes: 773. 13.80 per game.

Shorthanded Goals: 18 (1st).

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 8.

Record When Scoring First: 14-8-0-1. Utah has scored first in 23 of 56 games this season. Utah is 18-13-2 when the opposition scores first.

Record in One Goal Games: 12-4-2-1. 19 of the 55 games have been decided by 1. 14 games have been decided by 2. Utah is 8-6 in 2 goal games. 

Team Leaders (2021-22 season)

Games: Mason Mannek/Tyler Penner (56).

Goals: Brian Bowen/Charle-Edouard D’Astous (20).

Assists: Ben Tardif (28)

Points: Charle-Edouard D’Astous (43)

Plus/Minus: D’Astous (+21)

PIM: Andrew Nielsen (114) Taylor Crunk leads active Grizzlies with 85.

Power Play Points: D’Astous (16)

Power Play Goals: D’Astous (6)

Power Play Assists: D’Astous (10).

Shorthanded Goals: Trey Bradley/Matthew Boucher (4)

Shots on Goal: Brian Bowen (188)

Shooting Percentage: Quinn Ryan (12 for 67). 17.9 %. – Minimum 60 shots.

Game Winning Goals: D’Astous (6).

Wins: Peyton Jones (14).

Save %: Trent Miner (.908).

Goals Against Average: Miner (2.76)

Bear Bites: Grizzlies Team Stats

Utah is 16-9 at home and have outscored opponents 88 to 73. Utah has scored a league leading 18 shorthanded goals. The Grizz are 12-4 when scoring a shorthanded goal. Utah is outscoring opponents 73 to 54 in the 2nd periods. Utah is 21-1 when leading after 2 periods. Grizz are 19-7-0-1 when outshooting opponents.  Utah is 18-13-2 when the opposition scores first. Utah is 30-6-2-1 when scoring 3 or more goals. Utah is 25-12-1-1 vs Mountain Division opponents. Utah is 19-1 when allowing less than 3 goals. The Grizz are 12-4-2-1 in one goal games. Utah is 8-13-2 when trailing after 1 period. The 8 wins when trailing after 1 is tied for the 2nd most in the league.

Multiple Point games (2021-2022)

13: Ben Tardif

12: Trey Bradley, Charle-Edouard D’Astous.

10: Brian Bowen.

9: Mason Mannek

8: Luke Martin.

6: Matthew Boucher,Brandon Cutler. Andrew Nielsen.

5: Tyler Penner.

4: Luka Burzan

3: Gehrett Sargis.

2: Christian Simeone.

1: Neil Robinson, Bailey Conger, Nate Clurman, Zac Robbins, Quinn Ryan, Connor McDonald, Miles Gendron, Nick Henry.

Active Streaks (2021-2022 Season)

Goal Streaks: Charle-Edouard D’Astous, Tyler Penner (1).

Assist Streaks: Matthew Boucher, Brian Bowen, Zac Robbins (1).

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Bradley (4) Bowen (3)

Grizzlies Player Trends

Brian Bowen: Bowen has a point in 9 of his last 14 games. Bowen leads the team with 188 shots on goal. Brian has taken 5 or more shots in 19 different games.  Bowen averages 3.61 shots per game.

Charle-Edouard D’Astous has a point in 28 different games this season. He leads all league defenseman in goals (20) and game winning goals (6). He is 2nd among all league defenseman in points (43) and shots (151).

Ben Tardif has a point in 8 of his last 13 games (5 goals, 7 assists). Tardif has 26 shots in his last 6 games. Tardif has 8 games of 2 or more assists. Ben has 21 games of 4 or more shots on goal. Tardif leads the team with 13 multiple point games and a point in 23 different games this season.

Luka Burzan scored 6 points in the recently completed 6 game road trip (3 goals, 3 assists).

Shane Kuzmeski has 5 assists in his last 8 games.

Matthew Boucher returned to Utah on March 3 after spending 39 days with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Boucher has a point in 14 of 20 games this season.Nate Clurman set a pro career single game high with 6 shots vs Rapid City on March 6.