Grizzlies Gameday: Mannek Monday at Maverik Center

Game 6: Monday, May 2, 2022. 7:10 pm. Tulsa Oilers at Utah Grizzlies. Utah leads series 3-2.

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

Arena: Maverik Center.

Referees: Riley Yerkovich, Jacob Rekucki. Linesman: Kollin Kleinendorst, Craig Peterson.

It’s game 6 of the first round best of 7 series with Utah leading 3-2 in the 2-3-2 home format. Utah split the first 2 games of the series at Maverik Center and won 2 of the 3 games at Tulsa’s BOK Center. Utah is looking to win their first playoff series since 2016 when they defeated Colorado in the first round.

The winner of the Utah – Tulsa series will face Rapid City in the second round.

Stars for Utah in the Series

Ben Tardif leads Utah and the league with 11 playoff points (2 goal, 9 assists) and Charle-Edouard D’Astous leads Utah with 6 playoff goals and is tied for 2nd on the club with 8 points. Captain Trey Bradley has been clutch for Utah. Trey scored 2 third period goals in game 1 as Utah won 6-3. Bradley scored 2 big third period goals in game 5, including the game winner 1:12 in as Utah won 5-1. Tarun Fizer has 5 points in 5 games (2 goals, 3 assists). Kyle Betts and Dylan Fitze each have 1 goal and 2 assists in the series. Luke Martin and Tyler Penner each have 3 assists.

#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 – 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.

Special Teams Has Played a Big Role in Series

Through 5 games this series Utah is 9 for 24 on the power play and 25 for 27 on the penalty kill. Charle-Edouard D’Astous has 6 power play goals (4 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 5 games in the series. Trey Bradley has 5 power play points in the series (1 goal, 4 assists). Dylan Fitze has 2 power play points (1 goal, 1 assist) and Luke Martin has 2 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 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

Trent Miner is 2-1 in the series. He lost 5-3 in game 2 as he saved 23 of 28. In game 3 Miner bounced back with a stellar performance, stopping 32 of 33 in a 2-1 victory. In the pivotal game 5 Miner was the number 1 star of the game as he stopped 45 of 46 in a 5-1 win. 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 Tulsa it has been Daniel Mannella who has appeared in all 5 games. Mannella has a 3.53 goals against average and a .896 save percentage in the series.

Shot Count in the Series

In the series Tulsa has outshot Utah 171 to 165. Utah has outshot Tulsa in 3 of the 5 games in the series. Utah is 1-2 in the series when they have outshot Tulsa. 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.

Shot Count

Game 1: Utah 36 Tulsa 30

Game 2: Utah 34 Tulsa 28

Game 3: Utah 25 Tulsa 33

Game 4: Utah 39 Tulsa 34

Game 5: Utah 31 Tulsa 46.

Playoff League Leaders

Ben Tardif leads the league with 11 points, 9 assists and 6 power play assists. Charle-Edouard D’Astous leads the league with 6 goals and is tied for 2nd with 9 points. D’Astous leads all skaters with 4 power play goals and 8 minor penalties. Trey Bradley is tied for 5th with 8 points and is tied for 3rd with 5 power play points. Tarun Fizer is tied for the league in shots on goal among rookies with 20.

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: Luke Martin/Tardif (+2).  

Penalty Minutes: D’Astous (16).

Power Play Points: D’Astous/Tardif (6)

Power Play Goals: D’Astous (4)

Power Play Assists: Tardif (6)

Shots on Goal: Tarun Fizer (20)

Shooting Percentage: D’Astous (40.0 %) 6 for 15.

Goaltending Wins: Trent Miner (2)

Save %: Miner (.935)

Goals Against Average: Miner (2.35)

Team Stats (2022 Kelly Cup Playoffs)

Goals For: 19 (3.80 per game)

Goals Against: 14 (2.80 per game)

Goal Differential: +5.

Shots on Goal: 165. 33.00 per game

Shots Against: 171. 34.20 per game.

Power Play: 9 for 24. 37.5 %.

Penalty Kill: 25 for 27. 92.6 %.

Penalty Minutes: 73. 14.60 per game.

Scoring First: Utah has scored first in 2 of the 5 games in the playoffs. Utah is 1-1 when scoring first and 2-1 when Tulsa scores first.