Grizzlies Weekly: First Place Grizz hosts Rush

Grizzlies Weekly: Big Series vs Rapid City at Maverik Center

West Valley City, Utah – The Utah Grizzlies host the Rapid City Rush on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at Maverik Center. The Grizzlies are in first place in the Mountain division with a .602 points percentage and the Rush are in 2nd place at .587.

Utah salvaged the 3rd game of the series last Saturday vs Tulsa as Trent Miner earned a 33 save shutout, which was his league leading 6th of the season. Miner broke a franchise record for shutouts in a season, breaking a tie with Mike Bales, who had 5 shutouts in the 2000-01 season, which was the Grizzlies last year in the old IHL.

Last Saturday vs Tulsa forward Dylan Fitze made his Grizzlies debut as he was acquired in a trade with the Orlando Solar Bears for Brian Bowen. Last Friday Dakota Raabe made his pro debut for Utah after spending this season at Sacred Heart University. Raabe previously played at the University of Michigan for 4 seasons from 2017-2021, where he was a teammate with current Grizzlies defenseman Luke Martin for 3 seasons.

The Grizzlies are one of the youngest teams in the league and they have had some great performances from first year pros. Ben Tardif and Luke Martin are each tied for 2nd among all league rookies with 32 assists. Mason Mannek is 6th among rookies with 46 points. Mannek had 2 goals and 2 assists on March 25 vs Tulsa in a 6-5 loss.

Wednesday night is a Bud Light College Night with $8 student tickets. Friday is an AFCU Friday where tickets start at $8 when you pay using your AFCU debit or credit card at the Maverik Center box office. Saturday is Faith and Family night. Tickets for every Grizzlies home game are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.

Games This Week

Wednesday, March 30, 2022 – Rapid City at Utah. 7:10 pm. Bud Light College Night.

Friday, April 1, 2022 – Rapid City at Utah. 7:10 pm. AFCU Friday.

Saturday, April 2, 2022 – Rapid City at Utah. 7:10 pm. Faith and Family Night.

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.

Games Last Week

March 23, 2022 – Tulsa 4 Utah 2 – Utah went 2 for 3 on the power play. Johnny Walker scored his first pro goal 10:11 into the 2nd period. D’Astous added his 24th of the campaign 21 seconds into the 3rd period. Tulsa outshot Utah 29 to 25. Tulsa scored goals from 4 different forwards. No player on the Oilers had more than 1 point in the game.

March 25, 2022 – Tulsa 6 Utah 4 – Mason Mannek had 2 goals and 2 assists. Tulsa outshot Utah 47 to 27. Luke Martin and Miles Gendron each had 2 assists. Austin Crossley scored his first pro goal 11:36 into the 2nd period. Trey Bradley scored a goal in his first game since February 12. Ben Tardif also lit the lamp. Tardif has 8 goals in his last 9 games. Both teams went 1 for 5 on the power play. Odd stat of the game: Grizz scored 2 goals on delayed penalties.  

March 26, 2022 – Tulsa 0 Utah 1 – Christian Simeone scored the only goal in the game 19:52 into the first period. Trent Miner saved all 33 Tulsa shots for his 6th shutout of the season.

Recent Transactions

March 26 – Grizzlies released forward Quinn Ryan.

March 25 – Grizzlies Sign forward Dakota Raabe

March 24 – Charle-Edouard D’Astous was recalled to Colorado.

March 21 – Grizzlies acquire forward Dylan Fitze from Orlando for Brian Bowen.

March 15 – Grizzlies sign forward Johnny Walker.

March 14 – Grizzlies sign defenseman James Shearer.

Grizz Win When Leading After 2

Utah is 25-1 when leading after 2 periods this season.

Season Series vs Rapid City 

Utah is 5-4 vs Rapid City this season. Utah is 20-6-2-1 in their last 29 meetings with Rapid City. March 30 will be the 10th of 12 meetings between the division rivals.

November 5, 2021 – Rapid City 2 Utah 5 – Trey Bradley 1 goal, 2 assists. Neil Robinson scored first pro goal 2:53 into the 3rd period to break a 2-2 tie. Brian Bowen and Robinson each had 1 goal and 1 assist. Brandon Cutler and Andrew Nielsen added goals in the win. Luke Martin had 2 assists and was a +3. Peyton Jones saved 25 of 25 to earn his 2nd win of the season. 

November 6, 2021 – Rapid City 3 Utah 4 – Utah got goals from Luke Martin, Charle-Edouard D’Astous, Brandon

Cutler and Quinn Ryan. Utah outshot Rapid City 40 to 23. RC went 1 for 1 on the power play and Utah was 1 for 2. Peyton Jones saved 20 of 23 in the win. 

December 27, 2021 – Utah 0 Rapid City 3 – Utah’s 6 game win streak ended. Utah outshot RC 46 to 31. Luka Burzan had 10 shots. Matthew Boucher had 8 shots. Andrew Nielsen had 6 shots. Garrett Metcalf saved 28 of 30. Rapid City’s Lukas Parik saved all 46. 

December 29, 2021 – Utah 4 Rapid City 3 – Trey Bradley 3 goals. Ben Tardif 2 assists. Mason Mannek 1 goal. Luka Burzan game winning assist. Emergency starting goalie Brady Devries saves 18 of 21 in an improbable win. December 31, 2021 – Utah 1 Rapid City 3 - Christian Simeone scored Utah’s lone goal. Rapid City went 3 for 7 on power play, Utah was 0 for 3. 

January 1, 2022 – Utah 6 Rapid City 4 – Mason Mannek 2 goals, 1 assist. Tyler Penner 3 assists. Gehrett Sargis and Ben Tardif 1 goal, 1 assist each. Zac Robbins and Andrew Nielsen added goals. Cole Kehler saved 34 of 38 for his first Utah win. 

March 4, 2022 - Utah 2 Rapid City 1 (Shootout) - Luka Burzan scored his 9th goal of the season. Peyton Jones saved 49 of 50, including all 7 shots he saw in the shootout to pick up his 14th win of the season. Charle-Edouard D’Astous won the game in the 7th round of the shootout. 

March 5, 2022 - Utah 2 Rapid City 10 – Most goals allowed in a game since November 2012.

March 6, 2022 – Utah 2 Rapid City 3 – Tyler Penner and Charle-Edouard D’Astous scored for Utah.

Grizzlies Roster

Forwards: Matthew Boucher, Trey Bradley, Luka Burzan, Taylor Crunk, Dylan Fitze, Mason Mannek, Tyler Penner, Dakota Raabe, Zac Robbins, Christian Simone, Benjamin Tardif, Johnny Walker.

Defenseman: Nate Clurman,Joey Colatarci, Austin Crossley, Miles Gendron, Shane Kuzmeski, Luke Martin, Connor McDonald, Kyle Pouncy, James Shearer, Jordon Stone.

Goaltenders: Peyton Jones,Garrett Metcalf, Trent Miner.

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

Overall record: 37-24-2-1

Home record: 20-11. Utah has outscored opponents 110 to 91 at home. Utah is home for 5 of their last 8 games.

Road record: 17-13-2-1.

Win percentage: .602. Best win % in Mountain Division.

Streak: Won 1.

Standings Points: 77. 

Last 10: 5-5.

Goals per game: 3.30 (Tied 11th) Goals for: 211. Rapid City also has scored 3.30 goals per game.

Goals against per game: 3.20 (13th) Goals Against: 205. Rapid City is 12th in goals against per game at 3.14.

Shots per game: 31.97 (11th)

Shots against per game: 32.14 (16th)  

Power Play: 37 for 204 – 18.1 % (20th)

Penalty Kill: 201 for 261- 77.0 % (24th)

Penalty Minutes: 869. 13.58 per game.

Shorthanded Goals: 20 (1st).

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 9.

Record When Scoring First: 18-8-0-1. Utah has scored first in 27 of 64 games this season. Utah is 19-16-2 when the opposition scores first.

Record in One Goal Games: 14-5-2-1. 22 of the 64 games have been decided by 1. 18 games have been decided by 2. Utah is 11-7 in 2 goal games. 

Team Leaders (2021-22 season)

Games: Mason Mannek/Tyler Penner (64).

Goals: Charle-Edouard D’Astous (24).

Assists: Luke Martin/Ben Tardif (32)

Points: D’Astous (53)

Plus/Minus: Nate Clurman/D’Astous (+19)

PIM: Andrew Nielsen (114) Mason Mannek leads active Grizzlies with 97.

Power Play Points: D’Astous (22)

Power Play Goals: D’Astous (9)

Power Play Assists: D’Astous (13).

Shorthanded Goals: Trey Bradley/Matthew Boucher/Tardif (4)

Shots on Goal: Brian Bowen (201) Tardif leads active Grizz with 166.  

Shooting Percentage: Bradley (16 for 100). 16.0 %. – Minimum 100 shots.

Game Winning Goals: D’Astous (6).

Wins: Peyton Jones (15).

Save %: Garrett Metcalf (.918).

Goals Against Average: Metcalf (2.63)

Fun Facts

Utah is 18-4 at home vs Mountain Division teams. The Grizzlies are 11-4-0-1 in the 3rd game of a series. Utah leads the league with 20 shorthanded goals. Utah is 25-1 when leading after 2 periods. Utah has outscored opponents 84 to 59 in the 2nd periods. Utah is 2nd in the league with 10 wins when trailing after 1 period. Utah is 14-5-2-1 in one goal games.