Grizzlies Weekly: Utah Wins Series in Kansas City

Grizzlies Weekly: Utah Wins Series in Kansas City

West Valley City, Utah – The Utah Grizzlies won 2 out of 3 games in Kansas City last week at Cable Dahmer Arena. Utah is now 3-2 on the current 8 game road trip, which continues at Allen for games on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Face-off is at 6:05 pm mountain time all 3 nights.

Last Saturday in Kansas City was a memorable night. Utah went 5 for 6 on the power play after going 2 for 29 in the first 6 games of the season. The 5 power play goals tied a single game team record. Utah had 5 power play goals vs Las Vegas on October 11, 1997 and on January 5, 2007 at Alaska.

Saturday was a big night for Andrew Nielsen. He ended the night with 6 assists. Andrew assisted on all 5 of Utah’s power play goals. He tied a team record for assists in a game with Tim McGauley, who had 1 goal and 6 assists at Wichita on December 17, 2019. Nielsen is 2nd in the league with 10 assists. Nielsen leads the league in power play assists (7) and power play points (7). Nielsen leads all defenseman with 11 points

Utah has scored 11 goals in the last 2 games and were led by some outstanding offensive performances. Cameron Wright has 1 goal and 5 assists in his last 2 games. Wright scored the game winning goal 2:04 into overtime at KC on November 4. Wright has 2 goals this season and both have been game winners.

Ben Tardif has 2 goals and 3 assists in his last 2 games. Tardif has a point in 5 of 7 games this season. Brandon Cutler, Zach Tsekos and Johnny Walker each scored 2 goals on Nov. 5. 

Utah returns to Maverik Center for 6 straight games, beginning with a 3 game set vs Idaho on November 17-18 at 7:10 pm and Sunday November 20th at 3:10 pm. Friday the 18th is the annual Pooch on the Pond night where you can bring your dog to the game and sit in a special section with other dogs. Tickets for every Grizzlies game are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.

Games Last Week 

November 1, 2022 – Utah 2 Kansas City 3 - Dylan Fitze gave Utah a 1-0 lead 6:01 in. KC’s Cole Coskey tied the game with 7 seconds left in the first period. Tarun Fizer gave Utah a 2-1 lead 10:46 into the second. Utah led 2-1 after 2 periods but Tristan Mullin tied the game 8:25 into the third period and Keeghan Howdeshell delivered the game winner for KC with 1:58 left in regulation. Utah outshot KC 34 to 29. Utah went 0 for 6 on the power play. 5 of the 6 Utah power plays took place in the third period, where Utah outshot KC 21 to 8. Utah’s Lukas Parik saved 26 of 29. KC’s Shane Starrett stopped 32 of 34.

November 4, 2022 – Utah 4 Kansas City 3 (Overtime) – Cameron Wright scored the game winning goal 2:04 into overtime as Utah won their first overtime game of the season. Wright ended the night with 1 goal and 2 assists. Andrew Nielsen had 1 goal and 1 assist. Ben Tardif and Tyler Penner each added a goal. Garrett Metcalf saved 32 of 35 for Utah in the win. Garrett is now 3-1 all-time vs Kansas City. KC was 1 for 5 on the power play. Utah was 0 for 2.

November 5, 2022 – Utah 7 Kansas City 3 – Andrew Nielsen had 6 assists. Brandon Cutler scored 2 goals and 1 assist. Ben Tardif had 1 goal and 2 assists. Zach Tsekos and Johnny Walker each had 2 goals. Utah went 5 for 6 on the power play. Kansas City went 1 for 5. Utah outshot Kansas City 34 to 31.

Games This Week

November 9, 2022 – Utah at Allen. 6:05 pm. Credit Union of Texas Event Center

November 11, 2022 – Utah at Allen. 6:05 pm. Credit Union of Texas Event Center.

November 12, 2022 – Utah at Allen. 6:05 pm. Credit Union of Texas Event Center.    

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

Garrett Metcalf Has Kansas City’s Number

Garrett Metcalf made his 2022-2023 Grizzlies debut last weekend at Kansas City. He saved 32 of 35 shots on November 4th in a 4-3 overtime win. The next night he stopped 28 of 31 in a 7-3 win. Metcalf's last 4 starts have all been against Kansas City, where he has a 4-0 record with a .932 save percentage. In 20 career games with Utah he has a 9-7-1 record with a .916 save percentage and a 2.54 GAA. 

Bear Bites: Grizzlies Team Notes

Utah went 5 for 6 on the power play on November 5 at Kansas City after going 2 for 29 in the first 6 games. Utah has outscored opponents 11 to 4 in the second period(s). Utah has outshot opponents 90 to 67 in the second period(s). Utah has scored 11 goals in their last 2 games after scoring 10 goals in their first 5 games. Utah is 3-1 in one goal games.

Utah Grizzlies 2022-2023 Roster

Forwards (13): Brandon Cutler, Dylan Fitze, Tarun Fizer, Keaton Jameson, Tyler Penner, Dakota Raabe, Neil Robinson, Christian Simeone, Cam Strong, Ben Tardif, Zach Tsekos, Johnny Walker, Cameron Wright.

Defenseman (9): Victor Bartley, Nate Clurman, Joey Colatarci, Brycen Martin, Connor McDonald, Andrew Nielsen, Kyle Pouncy, James Shearer, Jordon Stone.

Goaltenders (2): Garrett Metcalf, Lukas Parik.

Grizzlies Player Trends

Andrew Nielsen – Leads all league defenseman in points (11), assists (10). Nielsen leads the league in power play points and assists (7). Nielsen has 1 goal and 7 assists in his last 2 games. Nielsen

Cameron Wright – Leads Utah with 2 game winning goals. Wright has 1 goal and 5 assists in his last 2 games. Wright leads Utah with 29 shots, which ranks tied for 3rd in the league.

Ben Tardif – Has 2 goals and 3 assists in his last 2 games. Tardif has a point in 5 of 7 games this season. Tardif has 2 straight multiple point games. Tardif led Utah with 19 multiple point games last season.

Tarun Fizer – Fizer has a point in 3 straight games and a point in 6 of 7 contests. Fizer has a 26.3 shooting % (5 for 19). Tarun has the first goal in the game twice this season.

Zach Tsekos – Tsekos is 2nd on the team with 4 goals. He has a 26.7 shooting % (4 for 15). Zach leads the team in plus/minus (+4).

Brandon Cutler – Cutler had 2 goals and 1 assist on November 5 at Kansas City. All 3 of his points came on the power play.

Johnny Walker – Scored 2 goals on November 5 at KC. It was Walker’s first professional multiple point game.