Grizzlies Gameday: Pivotal Game 5 in Tulsa

Game 5: Thursday, April 28, 2022. 6:05 pm. Utah Grizzlies at Tulsa Oilers. Series Tied 2-2.  

Broadcast: https://mixlr.com/utah-grizzlies-hockey/FloHockey

It’s the pivotal game 5 of the first round best of 7 series at Tulsa’s BOK Center. The series is tied 2-2 in the 2-3-2 home format. Utah split the first 2 games of the series at Maverik Center, winning game 1 6-3. Tulsa won game 2 5-3. Both teams have won 1 game in Tulsa this week. Utah won a defensive battle 2-1 in game 3. Last night in game 4 the Oilers outscored Utah 3-1 in the third period to get the 4-3 victory.

The winner of the Utah – Tulsa series will face the winner of the Rapid City – Allen set with RC leading the series 2-1. Ben Tardif leads Utah and the league with 11 playoff points (2 goal, 9 assists) and Charle-Edouard D’Astous leads all league skaters with 6 playoff goals and is 2nd with 9 points, trailing only Tardif. Both Tardif and D’Astous have 2 or more points in all 4 games in the series.

#1 Utah Grizzlies (42-27-3) vs. #4 Tulsa Oilers (36-30-6) Game 1 – Tulsa 3 Utah 6 – Trey Bradley 2 goals, 2 assists. Ben Tardif 1 goal, 3 assists. Charle-Edouard D’Astous 1 goal 2 assists. Zach Tsekos scored first pro goal 9:40 into the third period. That tally turned out to be the game winner. Peyton Jones saved 27 of 30. Utah was 3 for 7 on the power play and scored a shorthanded goal. The Grizz were 7 for 7 on the penalty kill. Tulsa got goals from Alex Gilmour, Joe Garreffa and Jackson Leef. Utah outshot Tulsa 36 to 30.Game 2 – Tulsa 5 Utah 3 – Charle-Edouard D’Astous scored 2 goals. Tarun Fizer scored first pro goal. Tulsa got goals from 5 different skaters. Utah outscored Tulsa 34 to 28. Utah went 2 for 4 on the power play. Tulsa was 1 for 4.Game 3 – Utah 2 Tulsa 1 – Charle-Edouard D’Astous scored both of Utah’s goals. Trent Miner saved 32 of 33. Tulsa outshout Utah 33 to 25. Utah went 1 for 3 on the power play and was 5 for 5 on the penalty kill. Ben Tardif had an assist in both of Utah’s goals.Game 4 – Utah 3 Tulsa 4 – Ben Tardif had 1 goal and 2 assists. Charle-Edouard D’Astous had 1 goal and 1 assist. Tarun Fizer scored his 2nd goal of the series. Utah outshot Tulsa 39 to 34. Utah was 1 for 6 on the power play and Tulsa was 1 for 5. Oilers got 1 goal and 2 assists from Joe Garreffa. The game winner was scored by Ethan Stewart 9:20 into the third period. Maxim Golod and John Furgele each had 1 goal and 1 assist.Game 5 – Thursday, April 28 at 6:05 p.m. Utah at TulsaGame 6 – Monday, May 2 at 7:10 p.m. Tulsa at UtahGame 7 – Wednesday, May 4 at 7:10 p.m. Tulsa at Utah (If Necessary)

All Times Mountain.

D’Astous and Tardif Lead the Way

Ben Tardif has 11 points in 4 games this series (2 goals, 9 assists). Tardif had 1 goal and 3 assists in the game 1 win. Tardif had 2 assists in both games 2 and 3. In game 4 Ben had 1 goal and 2 assists. Ben led Utah with 19 multiple point games and has a multiple point game in all 4 playoff contests. Charle-Edouard D’Astous has also made his presence felt in the first 4 games of the series. Charle has 9 points (6 goals, 3 assists) in 4 games. D’Astous had 1 goal and 2 assists in game 1. He followed it up with 2 first period power play goals in game 2 and in game 3 he scored both of Utah’s goals in a 2-1 triumph. In game 4 he had 1 goal and 1 assist. D’Astous was 2nd on the team with 17 multiple point games.

Tarun Fizer has played well in this series with 2 goals and 1 assist. Dylan Fitze has 1 goal and 2 assists. Trey Bradley is 3rd on the team with 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists).

Special Teams Has Played a Big Role in Series

Through 4 games this series Utah is 7 for 20 on the power play and 19 for 21 on the penalty kill. Charle-Edouard D’Astous has a point in all 7 of Utah’s power play goals (4 goals, 3 assists) and that’s not a surprise considering that D’Astous led Utah in power play goals (9), assists (14) and points (23). Ben Tardif has 6 power play assists in 4 games in the series. Trey Bradley has 4 power play points in the series (1 goal, 3 assists). Dylan Fitze has 2 power play points (1 goal, 1 assist) and Luke Martin has 1 power play assists.

In the regular season Utah was 6 for 28 on the power play vs Tulsa (22.2 %) and was 19 for 23 on the penalty kill (82.6 %).

Fizer and Tsekos Score First Pro Goals in Playoffs

Zach Tsekos scores his first pro goal 9:40 into the third period in game 1 to give Utah a 4-3 lead in a game the Grizz won 6-3. Tsekos appeared in 3 regular season games with Utah where he had 1 assist. Scoring goals is nothing new for Tsekos, who had 15 goals and 16 assists in 35 games this season for Clarkson University.

Tarun Fizer scored 9:25 into the second period in game 2 to tie the game 3-3 in a contest the Oilers won 5-3. Fizer scored 7:46 into the 3rd period in game 4. Fizer is coming off a stellar season with the Victoria Royals in the WHL, where he scored 17 goals and 34 assists in 35 games.

Goaltending in the Series

Peyton Jones got the victory in game 1 as he saved 27 of 30. It was Peyton’s first pro playoff game. In game 4 Jones saved 30 of 34 in a 4-3 loss. Jones at times has been stellar for the Grizzlies. He had a 9 game stretch from the end of January to the start of March where he had a .939 save percentage and a 2.35 goals against average. Peyton led the Grizzlies with 17 wins this season. In 50 games with Utah over the last 2 seasons the Penn State product has a 25-15-4 record with a .898 save percentage and a 3.21 goals against average.

Trent Miner saved 23 of 28 in the game 2 loss but bounced back in game 3 with a stellar performance, stopping 32 of 33 in a 2-1 victory. Miner led the league with 7 shutouts and was 1 away from tying the single season league record, set by 3 goalies. Miner is the 11th different goaltender in league history to have at least 7 shutouts in a season.

For Tulsa it has been Daniel Mannella who has appeared in all 4 games. Mannella has a 3.28 goals against average and a .902 save percentage in the series.

Shot Count in the Series

In the series Utah has outshot Tulsa 134 to 125. Utah outshot Tulsa 70 to 58 in the 2 playoff games at Maverik Center. In game 3 Tulsa outshot Utah 33 to 25. In game 4 Utah outshot Tulsa 39 to 34. Utah outshot their opponents 33 times in the regular season and had a record of 22-10-0-1 when they had the shot edge. Utah was outshot 36 times and had a record of 18-16-2 in those games. There were 3 times where the shots were even.

It’s not all that common for Tulsa to be outshot in back-to-back games as they were outshot in only 18 of their 72 regular season games.

Playoff League Leaders

Ben Tardif leads the league in points (11) and assists (9). Tardif leads the league with 6 power play assists. Charle-Edouard D’Astous leads the league with 6 playoff goals and 6 power play points. Trey Bradley is among league leaders with 3 power play assists. Tarun Fizer leads the league in shots among rookies with 17.  

Grizz Were a Successful Road Team

Utah is now 1-1 on the road in the 2022 Kelly Cup Playoffs. If the Grizzlies are going to go far in the playoffs, they will need to play well on the road. This season Utah was 3-1-1 at Tulsa. Utah went 19-14-2-1 on the road. The 19 wins ties a Grizzlies ECHL era record with the 2010-11 club and is tied for the 3rd most in club history. Utah ended up with the most road wins in the Mountain Division this season.

Most Road Wins in Team History

1999-2000: 23

1995-96: 22 (Turner Cup Champions)

1997-98, 2001-02, 2010-11, 2021-22: 19. (This season is the 4th time Utah has won 19 on the road).

Mountain Division Champions

The Grizz won their first ever division championship and finished with a bang as they won 4 of their last 5 games.

Regular Season Series vs Tulsa

Utah went 4-3-1 vs Tulsa this season. Mason Mannek led Utah with 9 points (4 goals, 5 assists) in 8 games. Luke Martin had 7 assists vs Tulsa. Utah went 1-2 at home vs Tulsa and 3-1-1 at BOK Center, the site of games 3-5. Trent Miner went 2-2 with a 2.42 GAA vs Tulsa this season. Utah was 6 for 27 (22.2 %) on the power play and 19 for 23 (82.6 %) on the penalty kill vs Tulsa.

The Oilers leading scorer vs Utah in the regular season was Jack Doremus, who had 9 points (6 goals, 3 assists). Adam Pleskach had 5 assists vs Utah.

Grizzlies Roster

Forwards: Kyle Betts,Trey Bradley, Luka Burzan, Dylan Fitze, Tarun Fizer, Nick Henry, Mason Mannek, Tyler Penner, Dakota Raabe, Benjamin Tardif, Zach Tsekos, Johnny Walker.

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

Goaltenders: Peyton Jones,Trent Miner, Thomas Sigouin.

Team Leaders (2022 Kelly Cup Playoffs)

Goals: Charle-Edouard D’Astous (6) – D’Astous led Utah with 26 regular season goals.

Assists: Ben Tardif (9) – Tardif led Utah with 39 regular season assists.

Points: Tardif (11) – Tardif led Utah with 59 regular season points.

Plus/Minus: Tyler Penner (+1).  

Penalty Minutes: D’Astous (10).

Power Play Points: D’Astous (7)

Power Play Goals: D’Astous (4)

Power Play Assists: Tardif (6)

Shots on Goal: Tarun Fizer (17)

Shooting Percentage: D’Astous (46.2 %) 6 for 13.

Goaltending Wins: Peyton Jones/Trent Miner (1)

Save %: Miner (.902)

Goals Against Average: Jones (3.03)

Team Stats (2022 Kelly Cup Playoffs)

Goals For: 14 (3.50 per game)

Goals Against: 13 (3.25 per game)

Goal Differential: +1.

Shots on Goal: 134. 33.50 per game

Shots Against: 125. 31.25 per game.

Power Play: 7 for 20. 35.0 %.

Penalty Kill: 19 for 21. 90.5 %.

Penalty Minutes: 61. 15.25 per game.

Scoring First: Utah has scored first in 2 of the 4 games in the playoffs. Utah is 1-1 when scoring first and 1-1 when Tulsa scores first.