Grizzlies Gameday: Friday Night Battle in the Black Hills

Grizzlies Gameday: The Black Hills are Alive With the Sound of Hockey

Utah Grizzlies (19-23-1, 39 points, .453 Win %) at Rapid City Rush (20-23-1, 41 points, .466 Win %) 

Friday, February 10, 2023. 7:05 pm. Arena: The Monument  

Broadcast: FloHockey.TV - https://www.flohockey.tv/events/7760661-2023-utah-grizzlies-vs-rapid-city-rush

Audio: YouTube.com/UTAHGRIZZLIES.

It’s the first game of a 2 game series and the opener of six straight road games for the Grizzlies. It’s the 9th meeting this season between Utah and Rapid City. Utah has a record of 5-2-1 vs Rapid City this season. Utah has a standings point in 5 straight games vs RC. The Rush have lost 5 in a row.

Who’s Been Hot Lately

Brandon Cutler is on a current 8 game point streak. Cutler has 13 points in his last 8 games (7 goals, 6 assists). Andrew Nielsen leads Utah with 32 points, 9 multiple point games and 20 power play points (5 goals, 15 assists). Tarun Fizer has a point in 6 straight games. Fizer has 8 points (2 goals, 6 assists) in his last 6 games. Fizer led Utah with 15 shots in 3 games last week vs Allen.

Games This Road Trip

Friday, February 10, 2023 – Utah at Rapid City. 7:05 pm. The Monument.

Saturday, February 11, 2023 – Utah at Rapid City. 7:05 pm. The Monument.

Wednesday, February 15, 2023 – Utah at Greenville. 5:05 pm. Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

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

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 Last Week

• Wednesday, February 1, 2023 – Allen 4 Utah 1 – Brandon Cutler scored Utah’s lone goal 9:54 into the first period. Allen got goals from 4 different forwards. Liam Finlay had 1 goal and 1 assist for Allen. Chase Perry saved 34 of 35 for Allen. Utah’s Trent Miner saved 21 of 24. Utah outshot Allen 35 to 25.
• Friday, February 3, 2023 – Allen 6 Utah 2 – Andrew Nielsen had 2 assists. Tarun Fizer and Zach Tsekos each scored for Utah. Grizz outshot Allen 34 to 30. Allen got 2 goals and 1 assist from Hank Crone. Jack Combs and Grant Hebert each had 1 goal and 1 assist.
• Saturday, February 4, 2023 – Allen 8 Utah 1 – Utah had 96 penalty minutes, which is the most in a single game in the league this season. Tyler Penner scored his 8th goal of the season in the second period. Brandon Cutler and Tarun Fizer each had 1 assist. Dylan Fitze led Utah with 6 shots.

Bear Bites: Team Notes

Utah racked up 96 penalty minutes on February 4 vs Allen. Utah is 3rd in the league in penalty minutes per game at 17.95. Utah went 8-3-1 in 12 games in January. Utah is 12-3 when scoring first. Utah is 6-0 when leading after 1 period. Utah is 14-1 when leading after 2 periods. Utah is 7-3-1 in one goal games. Utah has the 2nd best penalty kill on the road this season (84 of 97, 86.6 %).

Miner Has Dominated in His Last 7 Games

In his last 7 Starts Trent Miner has a record of 5-1-1 with a 1.84 goals against average and a .949 save percentage (243 for 256).

Match-Up With Rapid City

Utah is 5-2-1 vs Rapid City this season. Utah has a standings point in 5 straight games vs RC. Tarun Fizer leads Utah with 11 points vs RC (5 goals, 6 assists). Cameron Wright has 10 points vs RC (4 goals, 6 assists). Brandon Cutler has 8 points in 3 games vs the Rush (5 goals, 3 assists). Max Coatta and Rory Karins each has 5 goals for Rapid City against Utah this season.

Rapid City 3 Utah 4 (Jan 28, 2023) – A season high crowd of 10,397 saw Jordan Martel score 2 goals, including the game winner 8:04 into the third period. Kyle Pouncy scored his first goal of the season. Andrew Nielsen scored a power play goal. Lukas Parik saved 35 of 38 in the win. Tarun Fizer and Cam Strong each had 2 assists. Utah went 1 for 6 on the power play. Rapid City was 1 for 7.

Rapid City 4 at Utah 6 (Jan 27, 2023) – 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.

Rapid City 1 at Utah 3 (Jan 25, 2023) - 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.

Utah 2 @ Rapid City 3 (Jan 7 2023) OT - Dylan Fitze scored 14:10 into the second period. Tarun Fizer tied the game 2-2 with 1:12 left in regulation. Max Coatta scored 2 goals for RC, including the game winner 5:21 into OT. Trent Miner saved 39 of 42 for Utah.

Utah 6 @ Rapid City 4 (Jan 6 2023) - Dylan Fitze had 2 goals and 1 assist. Cameron Wright had 2 goals. Keaton Jameson had 1 goal and 1 assist. Garrett Metcalf saved 26 of 30 in the win to go to 6-1 on the season.

Utah 2 @ Rapid City 5 (Jan 5 2023) - Cameron Wright had 1 goal and 1 assist. Tarun Fizer had 2 assists. Trent Miner saved 36 of 41. Rory Kerins had 2 goals. Ilya Nikolaev and Matt Marcinew each had 1 goal and 1 assist. Rapid City outshot Utah 41 to 31.

Rapid City 2 @ Utah 3 (Oct 22 2022) - Tarun Fizer had 2 goals. Zach Tsekos added a goal. Lukas Parik Saved 25 of 27 in his Grizzlies debut. Andrew Nielsen had 2 assists. Utah went 2 for 9 on the power play. Rapid City was 1 for 5.

Rapid City 5 @ Utah 3 (Oct 21 2022) - Zach Tsekos, Dakota Raabe and Tarun Fizer each scored a goal for Utah. Utah outshot Rapid City 37 to 26. Rapid City was 1 for 3 on the power play. Utah was 0 for 4.

Upcoming Promotions at Maverik Center

• Wednesday, February 22, 2023 – Allen at Utah. 7:10 pm. Bud Light College Night.
• Friday, February 24, 2023 – Allen at Utah. 7:10 pm. Grizzlies Fight Cancer Night. AFCU Friday
• Saturday, February 25, 2023 – Allen at Utah. 7:10 pm. Grizzlies Fight Cancer Weekend

Utah Grizzlies 2022-2023 Roster

Forwards (13): Brandon Cutler, Dylan Fitze, Tarun Fizer, Keaton Jameson, Jordan Martel, Vladislav Mikhalchuk, Tyler Penner, Dakota Raabe, 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.  

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

Overall record: 19-23-1

Home record: 9-11

Road record: 10-12-1

Win percentage: .453

Streak: Lost 3

Standings Points: 39

Last 10: 6-4

Goals per game: 2.70 (24th)  Goals for: 116

Goals against per game: 3.53 (21st)  Goals Against: 152

Shots per game: 28.70 (26th)  

Shots against per game: 34.70 (25th)

Power Play: 39 for 201 – 19.4 % (17th)

Penalty Kill: 158 for 194 – 81.4 % (Tied 12th)

Penalty Minutes: 772. 17.95 per game.

Shorthanded Goals: 3.

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 5.

Record When Scoring First: 12-3.

Opposition Scores First: 7-18-1.  

Record in One Goal Games: 7-3-1. 

SCORING          1ST       2ND               3RD               OT                  TOTAL       

Utah Grizzlies     31         47                   36                   2                      116                                       

Opposition           51         46                   54                   1                      152

Team Leaders (2022-23 Regular season)

Goals: Tarun Fizer/Cameron Wright (12). 

Assists: Andrew Nielsen (25). 

Points: Nielsen (32).

Plus/Minus: Zach Tsekos (+2).

PIM: Nielsen (125)

Power Play Points: Nielsen (20)

Power Play Goals: Fizer/Nielsen/Johnny Walker (5)

Power Play Assists: Nielsen (15).  

Shots on Goal: Cameron Wright (147).  

Shooting Percentage: Tsekos (23.1 %) 9 for 39.   

Game Winning Goals: Wright (6)

Wins: Trent Miner (8)

Save %: Miner (.914).

Goals Against Average: Miner (2.90)

Active Streaks 

Goal Streaks: Tyler Penner (1)

Assist Streaks: Brandon Cutler (2), Tarun Fizer (1)

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Cutler (8), Fizer (6)