Grizzlies Weekly: Utah Won 2 of 3 Last Weekend at Maverik Center

Grizzlies Weekly: Grizz Won 2 of 3 vs Lions   

West Valley City, Utah – The Utah Grizzlies won 2 out of 3 games against the Trois-Rivieres Lions last weekend at Maverik Center.

Trois-Rivieres won 6-4 last Friday night. Utah responded with an exciting 5-4 victory as Zach Tsekos scored the game winner with 6:26 left in regulation. In the rubber match on Sunday afternoon Trent Miner saved all 30 shots he saw as Utah won 4-0.

Dakota Raabe had a big time series for Utah. He scored 2 points in each of the 3 games in the series. 4 of his 6 points came in the third period as he was instrumental in the series win. 6 different Grizzlies skaters scored a point in all 3 games in the series.

The next homestand for the Grizzlies is a 2 game set against the Kansas City Mavericks on December 17 at 7:10 pm and December 18 at 3:10 pm. Saturday the 17th is Ugly Sweater Night and the Teddy Bear Toss. Bring some teddy bears to throw on the ice after Utah’s first goal. The bears will be donated to local charities. The Grizzlies are also wearing ugly sweater themed specialty jerseys. Tickets are available at utahgrizzlies.com.

The Grizzlies have a Cyber Monday 3 game pack special offer going on through December 2nd where you get 3 of the biggest Saturday home games of the season as well as a free ticket to the Grizzlies first home playoff game. Go to https://www.utahgrizzlies.com/en/blackfriday for more information and to purchase the Cyber Monday offer.

Games This Week

Friday, December 2, 2022 – Utah at Idaho. 7:10 pm. Idaho Central Arena.

Saturday, December 3, 2022 – Utah at Idaho. 7:10 pm. Idaho Central Arena.

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

Games Last 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 4 Utah 5 – Zach Tsekos scored the game winner 13:34 into the third period. Tsekos and Andrew Nielsen each had 1 goal and 1 assist. Dakota Raabe and Victor Bartley each had 2 assists. Keaton Jameson, Brycen Martin and Tyler Penner added goals for Utah, who ended a 5 game losing streak. Utah went 3 for 7 on the power play and Trois-Rivieres was 2 for 6. Garrett Metcalf got the victory in net as he saved 30 of 34.

November 27, 2022 – Trois-Rivieres 0 Utah 4 – Trent Miner earned a 30 save shutout. Dakota Raabe and Victor Bartley each had 1 goal and 1 assist. Cameron Wright had 3 assists.

Bear Bites: Grizzlies Team Notes

Utah is 16 for 53 on the power play over the last 10 games. Utah is 5-2 in one goal games. Utah is 6-2 when scoring first. Utah has outscored opponents 18 to 14 in the second period this season. Utah is 4-0 when leading after 1 period. Utah is 5-1 when leading after 2 periods. Utah is 2-0 in overtime this season. Utah is 5-3 on the road this season. 

Utah Grizzlies 2022-2023 Roster

Forwards (10): Dylan Fitze, Keaton Jameson, Tyler Penner, Dakota Raabe, Neil Robinson, Christian Simeone, Cam Strong, Zach Tsekos, Johnny Walker, Cameron Wright.

Defenseman (10): Victor Bartley, Joey Colatarci, Brycen Martin, Connor McDonald, Andrew Nielsen, Kyle Pouncy, James Shearer, Jordon Stone, Cory Thomas, Aaron Thow.

Goaltenders (3): Garrett Metcalf, Trent Miner, Lukas Parik.

Grizzlies Player Trends

Andrew Nielsen – 2nd in the league with 16 assists. Nielsen leads the league in power play assists (12) and power play points (13). Nielsen is 2nd in points among defenseman with 18 points. Nielsen has 1 goal and 4 assists in his last 3 games. 

Cameron Wright – Tied for 2nd in the league lead with 3 game winning goals. All 3 of his professional goals have been game winners. Wright leads all rookies with 67 shots on goal (2nd overall). Wright has 2 goals and 11 assists in his last 11 games. Wright has 25 shots on goal over his last 5 games.

Zach Tsekos – Tied among all league rookies with 4 power play goals. Tsekos has 6 goals and 6 assists in his last 11 games. Tsekos leads the club with 8 goals. Tsekos scored his first professional game winner on Nov. 26 vs Trois-Rivieres. 

Johnny Walker – Walker has 5 goals in his last 10 games. Walker leads all league rookies with 56 penalty minutes. 3 of his 5 goals have come on the power play.

Dakota Raabe – Raabe has 2 goals and 4 assists in his last 3 games. Raabe has 3 straight multiple point games.

Victor Bartley - Bartley has 2 straight multiple point games (1 goal, 3 assists).

Brycen Martin – Has a point in 3 of his last 4 games.

Tyler Penner – Penner has a goal in 2 straight games.

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. Thow made his Grizzlies debut on November 27 vs Trois-Rivieres and was a +1 in Utah’s 4-0 win. 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 28 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. Fizer played for Colorado on Nov. 26 vs Iowa, a game Colorado won 2-1. Forward Ben Tardif and Defenseman Nate Clurman also played for the Eagles on Nov. 26. Tardif has played in 7 games with Utah this season and Clurman has appeared in 8 contests for the Grizz.

November 24 – Brandon Cutler Loaned to Belleville

Forward Brandon Cutler was loaned to the Belleville Senators of the AHL. Cutler played in 2 games with Belleville this past weekend. 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.

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

Overall record: 8-8

Home record: 3-5

Road record: 5-3

Win percentage: .500

Streak: Won 2

Standings Points: 16

Last 10: 5-5

Goals per game: 2.88 (19th) Goals for: 46

Goals against per game: 3.25 (Tied 16th)  Goals Against: 52

Shots per game: 30.13 (19th) 

Shots against per game: 31.88 (17th)  

Power Play: 18 for 82 – 22.0 % (12th) 

Penalty Kill: 44 for 56- 78.6 % (17th)

Penalty Minutes: 210. 13.13 per game.

Shorthanded Goals: 0

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 1.

Record When Scoring First: 6-2.

Opposition Scores First: 2-6.  

Record in One Goal Games: 5-2. 

Team Leaders (2022-23 Regular season)

Goals: Zach Tsekos (8). 

Assists: Andrew Nielsen (16). 

Points: Nielsen (18).

Plus/Minus: Dakota Raabe/Tsekos (+4). 

PIM: Johnny Walker (54)

Power Play Points: Nielsen (13)

Power Play Goals: Tsekos (4)

Power Play Assists: Nielsen (12).  

Shots on Goal: Cameron Wright (67).  

Shooting Percentage: Tsekos (21.1 %) 8 for 38.   

Game Winning Goals: Wright (3)

Wins: Garrett Metcalf (4)

Save %: Lukas Parik (.917).

Goals Against Average: Parik (2.51)

Active Streaks 

Goal Streaks: Tyler Penner (2) Victor Bartley, Dakota Raabe, Cam Strong (1)

Assist Streaks: Bartley, Dylan Fitze, Andrew Nielsen, Raabe, Tsekos, Cameron Wright (3)

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Bartley, Fitze, Nielsen, Raabe, Tsekos, Wright (3) Penner (2).

Multiple Point games (2021-2022 Regular Season)

5: Andrew Nielsen

4: Zach Tsekos

3: Dakota Raabe, Cameron Wright

2: Victor Bartley, Ben Tardif

1: Brandon Cutler, Tarun Fizer, Johnny Walker