Grizzlies Gameday: Guns and Hoses Night at Maverik Center

Rapid City Rush (20-20-1, 41 points, .500 Win %) at Utah Grizzlies (18-20-1, 37 points, .474 Win %) 

Saturday, January 28, 2023. 7:10 pm. Arena: Maverik Center

Broadcast: FloHockey.TV - https://www.flohockey.tv/events/7760504-2023-rapid-city-rush-vs-utah-grizzlies

Audio: YouTube.com/UTAHGRIZZLIES.

It’s Guns and Hoses Night at Maverik Center as the Grizzlies look for the series sweep against the Rapid City Rush. It’s the 8th of 10 meetings this season between the division rivals. Utah is 4-2-1 vs Rapid City this season overall and 3-1 at Maverik Center. Utah is 7-3-1 in 11 games in the month of January.

Utah’s power play is 12 for 43 over the last 11 games. The penalty kill is 50 for 54 over their last 12 games. Utah will be home for 20 of their last 33 games. Watch out for Cameron Wright, who has 8 goals and 4 assists in 11 games in the month of January. Wright leads the Grizzlies with 6 game winning goals, including one on January 25 vs Rapid City. Andrew Nielsen leads Utah with 18 power play points (4 goals, 14 assists). Nielsen has a power play goal in 2 straight games.

Have a Night Brandon Cutler

On January 27, 2023 Brandon Cutler had a night no one will ever forget as he scored 4 goals and 2 assists in a 6-4 victory over Rapid City. Cutler is the 2nd Grizzlies skater this season with 6 points in a single game. Andrew Nielsen had 6 assists at Kansas City on November 5, 2022. Cutler is the first Grizzlies skater with 4 goals in a game since Charlie Gerard scored 4 against Fort Wayne on June 5, 2021.

It’s been an incredible stretch for Cutler, who has 6 goals and 3 assists in his last 4 games.

Games This Week

Wednesday, January 25, 2023 – Rapid City 1 Utah 3 – Andrew Nielsen had 1 goal and 1 assist. Trent Miner saved 31 of 32 in net. Cameron Wright scored his 6th game winning goal of the season 16:06 into the second period. Brandon Cutler added an empty net goal for his 5th of the season. Both teams had 32 shots on goal. Utah was 1 for 4 on the power play and 5 for 5 on the penalty kill.

Friday, January 27, 2023 – Rapid City 4 Utah 6 – Brandon Cutler scored 4 goals and 2 assists. Andrew Nielsen had 1 goal and 2 assists. Tarun Fizer 1 goal, 1 assist. Cameron Wright had 2 assists. Utah was 3 for 7 on the power play. RC was 2 for 6. Grizz outshout the Rush 38 to 31. Trent Miner saved 27 of 31 to earn his team leading 8th win of the season. Attendance was 7382, which is the biggest crowd of the 2022-2023 season to date.

Saturday, January 28, 2023 – Rapid City at Utah. Maverik Center. 7:10 pm. Guns & Hoses Night.

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

All Times Mountain.

Games Next Week

• Wednesday, February 1, 2023 – Allen at Utah. 7:10 pm. Bud Light College Night.
• Friday, February 3, 2023 – Allen at Utah. 7:10 pm. Heart Health Night.
• Saturday, February 4, 2023 – Allen at Utah. 7:10 pm. Black History Night.

Miner Has Dominated in His Last 6 Games

In his last 6 Starts Trent Miner has a record of 5-0-1 with a 1.64 goals against average and a .957 save percentage (222 for 232).

January Scoring

Utah has scored 35 goals in 11 games in January. Cameron Wright has 12 points in the last 11 games (8 goals, 4 assists). Wright has taken 43 shots over the last 11 contests. Brandon Cutler has 9 points in his last 4 games (6 goals, 3 assists). Jordan Martel and Keaton Jameson each has 9 points in January, with both skaters each scoring 3 goals and 6 assists.  Dylan Fitze has 5 goals in his last 10 games. Utah has a 7-3-1 record in 11 games in January. Utah’s power play is 12 for 43 (27.9 %) over the last 11 games. Utah’s penalty kill is 50 for 54 over their last 12 games.

Grizzlies Player Trends

Cameron Wright – Wright leads all rookies with 137 shots on goal. Wright leads Utah with 6 game winning goals. Wright leads all Utah forwards in points (31) and power play points (13). Wright has 12 points in his last 11 games (8 goals, 4 assists). Wright has taken 43 shots over the last 11 games. Wright is 3rd among all league rookies with 10 power play assists.

Jordan Martel – “The Rooster” scored 2 goals on 2 shots at Idaho on January 13, including the game winner 9:11 into the third period. Martel has 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists) in 18 games with Utah. Martel has 48 shots in 18 games.

Dylan Fitze – Dylan has 5 goals and 1 assist in his last 10 games. Fitze got his first multiple point game this season with 2 goals and 1 assist at RC on Jan. 6.

Cam Strong – Strong has a goal in 5 of his last 14 games. Strong is a +3 in his last 6 games. 

Dakota Raabe – Raabe has a point in 12 of his last 26 games (5 goals, 12 assists). On December 21 Raabe had 2 goals and 1 assist at Idaho. Raabe has an assist in 5 of his last 11 home games.

Keaton Jameson – Jameson got the Gordie Howe Hat Trick with 2 goals, 1 assist and 1 fight on December 17 vs KC. It was his first multiple point game since April 16, 2022 vs Idaho in the regular season finale. Jameson has 8 points in 10 games in January (3 goals, 5 assists). Keaton has a point in 6 of 11 games in January.

Andrew Nielsen –Nielsen has a point in 16 of his 34 games. Nielsen was named to the 2023 ECHL Western Conference All-Star team. Nielsen leads the Grizzlies with 8 multiple point games. Nielsen has 6 points in his last 3 games (2 goals, 4 assists).

Bear Bites

Utah is 50 for 54 on the penalty kill over their last 12 games. Utah is 12 for 43 on the power play in their last 11 games. Utah is 6-0 when leading after 1 period. Utah is 13-1 when leading after 2 periods. Utah is 6-3-1 in one goal games. Utah is 12-3 when scoring first. Utah is 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. 

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

Overall record: 18-20-1

Home record: 8-8

Road record: 10-12-1

Win percentage: .474

Streak: Won 3

Standings Points: 37

Last 10: 7-2-1

Goals per game: 2.77 (24th)  Goals for: 108

Goals against per game: 3.36 (Tied 16th) Goals Against: 126

Shots per game: 28.82 (26th)  

Shots against per game: 34.95 (26th)

Power Play: 37 for 177 – 20.9 % (13th)

Penalty Kill: 137 for 166 – 82.5 % (10th)

Penalty Minutes: 622. 15.95 per game.

Shorthanded Goals: 3.

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 5.

Record When Scoring First: 12-3.

Opposition Scores First: 6-16-1.  

Record in One Goal Games: 6-3-1. 

SCORING          1ST       2ND               3RD               OT                  TOTAL       

Utah Grizzlies     28         44                   34                   2                      108                                       

Opposition           43         39                   48                   1                      131

Team Leaders (2022-23 Regular season)

Goals: Cameron Wright (12). 

Assists: Andrew Nielsen (24). 

Points: Wright (31).

Plus/Minus: Zach Tsekos (+3). 

PIM: Nielsen (112)

Power Play Points: Nielsen (18)

Power Play Goals: Walker (5)

Power Play Assists: Nielsen (14).  

Shots on Goal: Cameron Wright (137).  

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

Game Winning Goals: Wright (6)

Wins: Trent Miner (8)

Save %: Miner (.915).

Goals Against Average: Miner (2.90)

Active Streaks 

Goal Streaks: Brandon Cutler (3) Andrew Nielsen (2) Tarun Fizer (1)

Assist Streaks: Andrew Nielsen (2) Tarun Fizer (1)

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Cutler, Wright (4) Nielsen (3) Fizer (2)

Best Grizzlies Home Attendances in the 2022-2023 Season

7382 – January 27, 2023 – RC at Utah.

6927 – December 30, 2022 – Idaho at Utah.

6494 – December 17, 2022 – KC at Utah.

6349 – November 18, 2022 – Idaho at Utah.

6325 – December 28, 2022 – Idaho at Utah. – Best Grizzlies Wednesday home crowd in 10 years.

Multiple Point games (2022-2023 Regular Season)

8: Andrew Nielsen

7: Cameron Wright

4: Tarun Fizer, Dakota Raabe, Zach Tsekos

3: Johnny Walker.

2: Victor Bartley, Brandon Cutler, Keaton Jameson, Jordan Martel, James Shearer, Ben Tardif.

1: Dylan Fitze, Connor McDonald.