Grizzlies Gameday: Game 1 Rapid City at Utah

Second Round of the 2022 Kelly Cup Playoffs. 

Game 1: Friday, May 6, 2022. 7:10 pm. Rapid City Rush at Utah Grizzlies. Maverik Center.

Broadcast: https://mixlr.com/utah-grizzlies-hockeyMixlr, FloHockey.TV.

It’s game 1 of the Mountain Division Finals as the Utah Grizzlies host the Rapid City Rush. These teams met 12 times in the regular season and Utah went 6-6 vs RC.

Utah won their first playoff series since 2016 as they defeated Tulsa 5-2 in game 7 to win the best of 7 series 4 games to 3. It was only the second game 7 in Grizzlies history. The other one came on May 15, 1996 when Utah defeated Peoria 3-0 in the second round series at Delta Center. The Grizz eventually won the 1996 Turner Cup.

Second Round Playoff Series

Game 1: Friday, May 6, 7:10 p.m.: Rapid City at Utah

Game 2: Saturday, May 7, 7:10 p.m.: Rapid City at Utah

Game 3: Monday, May 9, 7:05 p.m.: Utah at Rapid City

Game 4: Tuesday, May 10, 7:05 p.m.: Utah at Rapid City

Game 5 Wednesday, May 11, 7:05 p.m.: Utah at Rapid City

Game 6 Monday, May 16, 7:10 p.m.: Rapid City at Utah

Game 7 Tuesday, May 17, 7:10 p.m.: Rapid City at Utah

Games 5-7 are If Necessary. All Times Mountain.

Stars for Utah in the Tulsa Series

Ben Tardif led Utah with 13 points in the Tulsa series (2 goal, 11 assists) and Charle-Edouard D’Astous leads Utah with 9 playoff goals and is 2nd on the club with 12 points. Captain Trey Bradley was clutch for Utah as he scored 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists). Zach Tsekos had 6 points in the Tulsa series (1 goal, 5 assists). Kyle Betts and Tarun Fizer each had 2 goals and 3 assists and Luke Martin had 5 assists and led Utah with a +3 rating in the series.

First Round Recap

#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 – Utah 5 Tulsa 1 -  Trey Bradley scored 2 third period goals. Mason Mannek, Connor McDonald and Kyle Betts added goals. Trent Miner saved 45 of 46 in the win. Tulsa outshot Utah 46 to 31. Utah was 2 for 4 on the power play and was 6 for 6 on the penalty kill.Game 6 – Tulsa 4 Utah 2 – Charle-Edouard D’Astous and Mason Mannek each scored a goal for Utah. Eddie Matsushima had 2 goals for Tulsa. Joe Garreffa and Ethan Stewart added goals for the Oilers. Tulsa outshot Utah 52 to 36. Utah went 2 for 5 on the power play and 5 for 5 on the penalty kill.Game 7 – Tulsa 2 Utah 5 – Kyle Betts had 1 goal and 1 assist. Charle-Edouard D’Astous scored 2 goals. Luka Burzan and Trey Bradley each added a goal. Luke Martin had 1 assist and was a +3. Zach Tsekos and Ben Tardif had 2 assists.

Special Teams Played a Big Role in the Tulsa Series

Utah went 12 for 32 (37.5 %) on the power play and 32 for 34 (94.1 %) on the penalty kill in the first round series. Charle-Edouard D’Astous has 7 power play goals (5 goals, 2 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 7 games in the series. Trey Bradley has 6 power play points in the series (1 goal, 5 assists). Zach Tsekos and Luke Martin each had 4 assists in the series.

In the regular season Utah went 4 for 32 on the power play vs Rapid City (12.5 %). Rapid City’s power play was 13 for 35 vs Utah (37.1 %). Rapid City was tied for the best penalty kill in the regular season at 85.1 percent and they were 10th on the power play at 19.6 %.  

Nick Henry Reassigned to Utah

Forward Nick Henry was reassigned to Utah prior to game 7 vs Tulsa on May 4. Henry played in 28 games with Colorado (AHL) and had 2 goals and 4 assists. Henry has played in 87 AHL games over the past 4 seasons, scoring 8 goals and 11 assists. In 15 career games with Utah, Nick has 6 goals and 6 assists.

Goaltending in the Playoffs

Trent Miner went 3-2 in the Tulsa series with a .937 save percentage and a 2.42 goals against average.

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.

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.

For Rapid City Lukas Parik started all 5 games in their first round series vs Allen and went 4-0-1 with a 2.11 goals against average and a .925 save percentage.  In the regular season vs Utah Parik went 3-2-2 with a 2.68 goals against average.

Miner Playoff Stats

Game 2 – 23 of 28 saves. Tulsa won 5-3.

Game 3 – 32 of 33 saves. Utah won 2-1.

Game 5 – 45 of 46 saves. Utah won 5-1. Miner was the number 1 star of the game.

Game 6 – 48 of 51 saves. Tulsa won 4-2.

Game 7 – 31 of 33 saves. Utah won 5-2.  

Playoff League Leaders

Ben Tardif leads the league with 11 assists and is tied for first with 13 points. Tardif is 1st with 6 power play points. Charle-Edouard D’Astous leads the league with 9 goals and is tied for 3rd with 12 points. D’Astous leads all skaters with 5 power play goals, 7 power play goals and 12 minor penalties. Trey Bradley is tied for 6th with 10 points and is tied for 2nd with 6 power play points. Tarun Fizer is tied for 2nd in shots on goal among rookies with 26.

Utah vs Rapid City This Season

The Grizzlies went 6-6-0 against Rapid City in the regular season while the Rush were 6-4-2 against Utah. Trey Bradley paced Utah in the regular-season series with six goals and 14 points while Peyton Jones went 3-1-0 with a 2.90 goals-against average. Gabriel Chabot led the way for the Rush with seven goals, while sharing the team lead in points with Max Coatta (4g-9a) with 13 points each. In goal, Lukas Parik went 3-2-2 with a 2.68 goals-against average.

2021-22 Utah vs Rapid City

Nov. 5 Rapid City 2 at Utah 5

Nov. 6 Rapid City 3 at Utah 4

Dec. 27 Utah 0 at Rapid City 3

Dec. 29 Utah 4 at Rapid City 3 (OT)

Dec. 31 Utah 1 at Rapid City 3

Jan. 1 Utah 6 at Rapid City 4

Mar. 4 Utah 2 at Rapid City 1 (SO)

Mar. 5 Utah 2 at Rapid City 10

Mar. 6 Utah 2 at Rapid City 3

Mar. 30 Rapid City 4 at Utah 3

Apr. 1 Rapid City 2 at Utah 5

Apr. 2 Rapid City 4 at Utah 3

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 (9) – D’Astous led Utah with 26 regular season goals.

Assists: Ben Tardif (11) – Tardif led Utah with 39 regular season assists.

Points: Tardif (13) – Tardif led Utah with 59 regular season points.

Plus/Minus: Luke Martin (+3)   

Penalty Minutes: D’Astous (24).

Power Play Points: D’Astous (7)

Power Play Goals: D’Astous (5)

Power Play Assists: Tardif (6)

Shots on Goal: Dylan Fitze/Tarun Fizer (26)

Shooting Percentage: D’Astous (42.9 %) 9 for 21.

Goaltending Wins: Trent Miner (3)

Save %: Miner (.937)

Goals Against Average: Miner (2.42)

Team Stats (2022 Kelly Cup Playoffs)

Goals For: 26 (3.71 per game)

Goals Against: 20 (2.86 per game)

Goal Differential: +6.

Shots on Goal: 236. 33.71 per game

Shots Against: 256. 36.57 per game.

Power Play: 12 for 32. 37.5 %.

Penalty Kill: 32 for 34. 94.1 %.

Penalty Minutes: 89. 12.71 per game.

Scoring First: Utah has scored first in 4 of the 7 games in the playoffs. Utah is 2-2 when scoring first and 2-1 when Tulsa scored first.