Grizzlies Gameday: Pride Night on Saturday Evening at Maverik Center

Trois-Rivieres Lions (7-6-1, 15 points, .536 Win %) at Utah Grizzlies (6-8, 12 points, .429 Win %) 

Saturday, November 26, 2022. 7:10 pm. Arena: Maverik Center

Broadcast: FloHockey.TV - https://www.flohockey.tv/events/7759791-2022-trois-rivieres-lions-vs-utah-grizzlies

Audio: YouTube.com/UTAHGRIZZLIES.

It’s the second ever meeting between the Grizzlies and Lions. Utah has lost 5 in a row, which came after a 4 game winning streak so Utah is 4-5 in their last 9 games. Watch out for Zach Tsekos, who has a point in 6 of his last 9 games. Johnny Walker has 5 goals in his last 8 games. Utah is 12 for 41 on the power play over the last 8 games. Andrew Nielsen leads the league with 10 power play assists and points. Nielsen is 2nd overall in the league with 14 assists.

Tonight is the Grizzlies 2nd Annual Pride Night Presented by FedEx.

Games This Week 

November 25, 2022 – Trois-Rivieres 6 Utah 4 – Dakota Raabe and Zach Tsekos each had 1 goal and 1 assist. Andrew Nielsen had 2 power play assists. Johnny Walker and Tarun Fizer added goals in the loss. For the Lions John Parker-Jones had 2 goals and 1 assist, Nicolas Lariviere had 2 goals and Anthony Beauregard had 1 goal and 1 assist. Utah outshot Trois-Rivieres 31 to 26. 

November 26, 2022 – Trois-Rivieres at Utah. 7:10 pm. Maverik Center. Pride Night presented by FedEx.

November 27, 2022 – Trois-Rivieres at Utah. 7:10 pm. Maverik Center.

You can catch every game on FloHockey and audio on the Grizzlies YouTube channel.

Recent Transactions

November 26 – Grizzlies Acquire Aaron Thow in Trade with Norfolk

Grizz add defenseman Aaron Thow as he comes over from the Norfolk Admirals in a trade for future considerations. This season Thow appeared in 2 games with the Savannah Ghost Pirates and in 8 games with Norfolk, where he scored 1 goal and 1 assist. Last season Thow played with the EIHL’s Nottingham Panthers, where he scored 17 points (3 goals, 14 assists) in 48 games. Thow also played in Slovakia in 6 games in the 2021-2022 season.

Thow also has ECHL experience with Wheeling and Kalamazoo as well as 6 AHL games in the 2018-2019 season with the Utica Comets. The 27 year old defenseman played at Clarkson University from 2015-2019. Thow will wear number 25 for Utah.

November 26 – Tarun Fizer Reassigned to Colorado (AHL)

Forward Tarun Fizer was reassigned to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Fizer is tied with Zach Tsekos for the club lead with 7 goals. Fizer is currently on an AHL contract with the Eagles.

November 24 – Brandon Cutler Loaned to Belleville

Forward Brandon Cutler was loaned to the Belleville Senators of the AHL. Cutler is the 2nd Grizzlies skater to be loaned to Belleville this season as Kyle Betts was loaned in late October and he’s still there. Cutler has 3 goals and 2 assists in 11 games for Utah this season. All 5 of Cutler’s points have been on the power play. It won’t be his first taste of AHL action as he played in 36 games with the Abbotsford Canucks last season, scoring 2 goals and 6 assists. He was in training camp with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose prior to the 2022-2023 season.

November 18 – Cory Thomas Signs with Utah

Defenseman Cory Thomas signed with the Grizzlies on November 18 and he made his Grizzlies debut that night. Thomas played in 8 games with the Idaho Steelheads towards the end of the 2021-2022 season, where he scored 1 assist. Thomas was in camp this season with Idaho. He has good size at 6’4” and 205 pounds. Thomas played at Canisius College as a graduate transfer last season and was a +3 and had 2 goals and 1 assist in 39 games. Before that he played at the University of Vermont for 4 seasons from 2017-2021. Thomas will wear number 3 for Utah. Last season he was number 14 for Idaho. 

Grizzlies Player Trends

Andrew Nielsen – 2nd in the league with 14 assists. Nielsen leads the league in power play assists (10) and power play points (10). Nielsen is 2nd in points among defenseman with 15. Nielsen leads Grizzlies blueliners with 38 shots on goal.

Cameron Wright – Tied for the league lead with 3 game winning goals. All 3 of his professional goals have been game winners. Wright leads all rookies with 59 shots on goal (4th overall). Wright has 2 goals and 7 assists in his last 9 games. Wright has 17 shots on goal over his last 3 games.

Zach Tsekos – Tied among all league rookies with 3 power play goals. Tsekos has 5 goals and 4 assists in his last 9 games. Tsekos is tied with Tarun Fizer for the club lead with 7 goals.

Johnny Walker – Walker has 5 goals in his last 8 games. Johnny has a 22.7 shooting % (5 for 22). Walker is 2nd among league rookies with 47 penalty minutes. Walker is tied for the club lead with 3 power play goals.

Dylan Fitze –Fitze has 5 different games with 4 or more shots. Fitze is tied for 2nd on the club with 38 shots.

Neil Robinson – Scored a first period goal in his first game back on November 17, 2022 after coming back from a major injury suffered on Nov. 6, 2021. Robinson scored 1 goal in 3 games with Utah last season.

Christian Simeone – Got an assist in his 2022-2023 season debut. Simeone had 5 goals and 10 assists in 55 games last year.

Dakota Raabe – Had a season high 4 shots on goal on Nov. 25 vs Trois-Rivieres. Raabe earned his first multiple point game on Nov. 25 with 1 goal and 1 assist with both points coming in the third period.

Bear Bites: Grizzlies Team Notes

Utah is 12 for 41 on the power play over the last 8 games. Utah is 4-2 in one goal games. Utah is 4-2 when scoring first. Utah has outscored opponents 15 to 14 in the second period this season. Utah has outshot opponents 157 to 140 in the second period's this season. Utah is 3-0 when leading after 1 period. Utah is 4-1 when leading after 2 periods. Utah is 2-0 in overtime this season.

Match-Up With Trois Rivieres

It’s the second ever meeting between the Grizzlies and the Lions. There are no former Grizzlies skaters on the Lions roster. Goaltender Thomas Sigouin was on the Grizzlies roster at the end of the 2021-2022 regular season and throughout the playoffs but he did not appear in any games for Utah. The Lions leading scorer is Colin Bilek, who has 13 points (6 goals, 7 assists).

2022-2023 Utah Grizzlies Regular Season Totals (league rankings)

Overall record: 6-8

Home record: 1-5

Road record: 5-3

Win percentage: .429

Streak: Lost 5

Standings Points: 12

Last 10: 4-6

Goals per game: 2.64 (25th) Goals for: 37

Goals against per game: 3.43 (19th)  Goals Against: 48

Shots per game: 30.21 (Tied 19th) 

Shots against per game: 31.86 (18th) 

Power Play: 14 for 70 – 20.0 % (13th) 

Penalty Kill: 39 for 49- 79.6 % (Tied 16th)

Penalty Minutes: 165. 11.79 per game.

Shorthanded Goals: 0

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 1.

Record When Scoring First: 4-2.

Opposition Scores First: 2-6.  

Record in One Goal Games: 4-2. 

Team Leaders (2022-23 Regular season)

Goals: Tarun Fizer/Zach Tsekos (7). 

Assists: Andrew Nielsen (14). 

Points: Nielsen (15). 

Plus/Minus: Zach Tsekos (+2). 

PIM: Johnny Walker (47)

Power Play Points: Nielsen (10)

Power Play Goals: Brandon Cutler/Tsekos/Walker (3)

Power Play Assists: Nielsen (10).  

Shots on Goal: Cameron Wright (59).  

Shooting Percentage: Walker (22.7 %) 5 for 22.   

Game Winning Goals: Wright (3)

Wins: Garrett Metcalf (3)

Save %: Lukas Parik (.917).

Goals Against Average: Parik (2.51)

Active Streaks 

Goal Streaks: Tarun Fizer, Dakota Raabe, Zach Tsekos, Johnny Walker (1)

Assist Streaks: Victor Bartley, Dylan Fitze, Braycen Martin, Andrew Nielsen, Raabe, Tsekos, Cameron Wright (1)

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Brycen Martin (2)

Multiple Point games (2021-2022 Regular Season)

4: Andrew Nielsen

3: Zach Tsekos,

2: Ben Tardif, Cameron Wright.

1: Brandon Cutler, Tarun Fizer, Dakota Raabe, Johnny Walker