Grizz Score 5 Power Play Goals in 7-3 Victory

Grizz Score 5 Power Play Goals in 7-3 Road Win

Independence, Missouri – The Utah Grizzlies scored 5 power play goals on Saturday night as they defeated the Kansas City Mavericks 7-3 at Cable Dahmer Arena. Brandon Cutler had 2 goals and 1 assist and Andrew Nielsen had 6 assists for the Grizz, who won 2 of 3 games in the series.

Nielsen’s 6 assists ties a Grizzlies single game record, which was previously set by Tim McGauley, who had 1 goal and 6 assists at Wichita on December 17, 2019.

Ben Tardif got Utah on the board first with a one-timer from the right circle 14:15 in. Almost 5 minutes later Zach Tsekos scored on a one-timer from the right circle 19:10 in. Both goals were on the power play as Utah led 2-0 after 1 period. Both teams took 9 shots in the frame.

Mavericks got on the board as Nick Knoepke scored 7:13 into the second period. Utah’s Johnny Walker scored from the slot 8:56 in. It was Walker’s first goal of the season. KC’s Josh Lammon got a 5 minute boarding major 12:48 in and Utah’s Kyle Pouncy got a roughing minor. Neither team scored in the 2 minute 4 on 4 but Brandon Cutler scored 2 goals 57 seconds apart on the major power play to extend Utah’s lead to 5-1. Utah outshot KC 16 to 5 in the second period.

Jeremy McKenna and Pascal Laberge each scored for the Mavericks early in the third period to cut into the Utah lead. Zach Tsekos scored his 2nd of the game on a great pass from Cameron Wright 16:19 in to make it a 6-3 game. Wright got his 3rd assist of the night when he centered a pass to Johnny Walker, who scored his 2nd goal of the game 17:47 in. Walker’s third period goal was Utah’s 5th power play goal of the game. Kansas City went 1 for 5 on the man advantage.

Garrett Metcalf saved 28 of 31 in net for Utah. Metcalf’s last 4 appearances have all been against Kansas City where he has a 4-0 record with a .932 save percentage. Dillon Kelley saved 14 of 17 for Kansas City. Riley Morris came in after Walker’s second period goal and he stopped 13 of 17.

Utah is 3-2 in the current 8 game road trip. The Grizz have found a groove offensively as they have 11 goals in the last 2 games after scoring just 10 goals in the first five games of the season.

The road trip continues with a 3 game set at Allen on November 9, 11-12. Face-off all 3 nights is at 6:05 pm mountain time. Every Grizzlies game can be seen on FloHockey and heard on the Grizzlies YouTube channel.

3 stars

1. Brandon Cutler (Utah) - 2 goals, 1 assist.
2. Andrew Nielsen (Utah) – 6 assists.
3. Zach Tsekos (Utah) – 2 goals.

Honorable Mentions on Saturday night.

Ben Tardif (Utah) – 1 goal, 2 assists.

Johnny Walker (Utah) – 2 goals.

Cameron Wright (Utah) – 3 assists.