Grizzlies Gameday: First Ever Meeting With Savannah

Utah Grizzlies (20-24-2-0) vs. Savannah Ghost Pirates (15-24-8-1)

February 17, 2023 | 5:30 PM | Enmarket Arena

Referees: John Lindner Linesmen: Tannun Wyonzek, Terry Wicklum

Broadcast: FloHockey.TV - https://www.flohockey.tv/events/7760721-2023-utah-grizzlies-vs-savannah-ghost-pirates

Audio: YouTube.com/UTAHGRIZZLIES.

TONIGHT’S PREVIEW

The Grizzlies continue their East coast road trip in Savannah, as they take on the Ghost Pirates for the first time ever. The Grizzlies lost their first two games of the road trip in Rapid City, before rebounding with a 4-3 win in Greenville on Wednesday night.

LAST TIME OUT

The Grizzlies took on the Greenville Swamp Rabbits in just the second all-time meeting between the two teams. The Grizzlies won 4-3 thanks to a two-goal performance by Cameron Wright. Lukas Parik stopped 29 of 32 shots in the win. Dakota Raabe and Connor McDonald each had 2 assists.

ALL-TIME SERIES

This is the first time the Grizzlies and the Ghost Pirates will square off. Savannah is in its inaugural season and has a record of 15-24-8-1 coming into Friday night’s matchup. Utah is in the state of Georgia for the first time since they faced the Atlanta Gladiators on January 29, 2020.

SCOUTING SAVANNAH

Vincent Marleau leads the Ghost Pirates in goals and points with 18 goals and 37 points. Defenseman Tristan Thompson leads the team in assists with 24. Isaiah Saville and Jordan Papirny each have 6 wins for the club, with Saville boasting the better GAA and SV% with 3.24 GAA and a .916 SV%.

RAABE RETURNS

In his first game back from injury, Dakota Raabe notched 2 assists, 3 shots on goal and had a +1 rating in Wednesday’s win at Greenville. Raabe had missed 5 straight games. Vladislav Mikhalchuk also returned to the lineup on Wednesday in Greenville after missing 12 straight contests. 

LEADING BY EXAMPLE

Grizz Captain Connor McDonald had one of his best games of the season at Greenville with 2 assists and a +3 rating.

GRIZZLIES IRONMEN

Dylan Fitze and Tyler Penner are the only 2 Grizzlies skaters who have appeared in all 46 games. Penner has appeared in 118 consecutive regular season games as he was 1 of 2 Utah skaters to appear in all 72 games last year with Herriman, Utah native Mason Mannek being the other.

HE’S GOT THE WRIGHT STUFF

Cameron Wright has taken 20 shots in his last 2 games. Wright has 3 goals and 1 assist in his last 2 games. Wright leads all league rookies with 171 shots on goal. He is tied for the league lead with 6 game winning goals. Wright was 4 seconds away from a 7th game winning goal but Greenville scored their 3rd goal of the contest to cost Cameron the game winning tally. 

HEAD-TO-HEAD MATCHUP

GRIZZLIES                          PIRATES

2.7 (25th)              GF/G      2.75 (24th)

3.61 (21st)             GA/G      3.54 (19th)

28.67 (26th)          SF/G       31.77 (14th)

34.91 (24th)          SA/G      38.52 (28th)

19.8% (16th)        PP%        21.6% (11th)

80.4% (14th)        PK%       83% (7th)

819 (2nd)               PIMS      685 (9th)

GRIZZLIES STATISTICAL LEADERS

GOALS: Cameron Wright (15)

ASSISTS: Andrew Nielsen (27)

POINTS: Wright/Nielsen (35)

PIMS: Nielsen (133)

+/-: Zach Tsekos (+2)

PPG: Johnny Walker/Nielsen (6)

SHOTS ON GOAL: Wright (171)

GWG: Wright (6)

WINS: Trent Miner (8)

LOSSES: Miner (12)

SHUTOUTS: Miner (2)

GAA: Miner (3.12)

SV%: Miner (.909%)

Games This Week

Wednesday, February 15, 2023 – Utah 4 Greenville 3 – Cameron Wright scored 2 goals. Cam Strong had 1 goal and 1 assist. Connor McDonald and Dakota Raabe each had 2 assists. McDonald had a +3 rating. Lukas Parik stopped 29 of 32 to earn his 5th win of the season. Utah was 1 for 4 on the power play. Greenville was 1 for 1.

Friday, February 17, 2023 – Utah at Savannah. 5:30 pm. Enmarket Arena. – First ever meeting vs Savannah.

Sunday, February 19, 2023 – Utah at Orlando. 1:00 pm. Amway Center.

Monday, February 20, 2023 – Utah at Orlando. 5:00 pm. Amway Center.

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

All Times Mountain.

Games Next Week

Wednesday, February 22, 2023 – Allen at Utah – 7:10 pm. Maverik Center. Bud Light College Night.

Friday, February 24, 2023 – Allen at Utah – 7:10 pm. Maverik Center. Grizzlies Fight Cancer Weekend. AFCU Friday.

Saturday, February 25, 2023 – Allen at Utah – 7:10 pm. Maverik Center. Grizzlies Fight Cancer Weekend.

• Utah had 96 penalty minutes in their last meeting with Allen on February 4th.