Grizzlies Gameday: Big Friday Battle vs Wichita

Grizzlies Gameday: Big Friday Night Battle at Maverik Center

Wichita Thunder (30-29-6, 66 points, .508 Win %) @ Utah Grizzlies (30-31-3, 63 points, .492 Win %) 

Friday, March 31, 2023. 7:10 pm. Venue: Maverik Center

Broadcast: Video: FloHockey.TV - https://www.flohockey.tv/events/7761236-2023-wichita-thunder-vs-utah-grizzlies

Audio: youtube.com/UTAHGRIZZLIES.

It’s the second of a three game series between the Grizzlies and Thunder. Utah has won 8 in a row against Wichita dating back to the start of the 2021-2022 season. Utah is 7-5 in the month of March. Cameron Wright has a point in 13 of his last 17 games. Wright has 10 goals and 10 assists in his last 17 games. Tarun Fizer has 6 goals in his last 9 games. Fizer has 57 shots on goal in 12 games in March. Utah has taken 158 shots in 3 games vs Wichita this season. Utah has scored 82 goals over their last 20 games. Keaton Jameson has a point in 4 straight games (3 goals, 4 assists).  

Games This Week

Wednesday, March 29, 2023 – Wichita 5 Utah 8 – Keaton Jameson scored 2 goals and 1 assist. Tarun Fizer, Jordan Martel, Johnny Walker and Cameron Wright each had 1 goal and 1 assist. Dylan Fitze had 3 assists. Aaron Thow and Walker were each a +4. 15 of the 17 Utah skaters scored a point or more in the contest. Utah outshot Wichita 50 to 30. Wichita was 3 for 6 on the power play. Utah was 0 for 4.

Friday, March 31, 2023 – Wichita at Utah – 7:10 pm. Maverik Center. AFCU Friday.

Saturday, April 1, 2023 – Wichita at Utah – 7:10 pm. Maverik Center.

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

All Times Mountain.

• Utah swept Wichita at INTRUST Bank Arena in a 2 game series, winning 5-4 in overtime on March 3rd and 5-2 on March 5th. Aaron Thow had 2 goals and 2 assists on March 3rd. Cameron Wright has 1 goal and 5 assists in 3 games vs Wichita.
• Utah is 8-0 against Wichita since the start of the 2021-2022 season.
• The Grizzlies have taken 158 shots in 3 games vs Wichita.  

Grizzlies Tie a Team Record

Games Next Week

Wednesday, April 5, 2023 – Utah at Idaho. 7:10 pm. Idaho Central Arena.

Friday, April 7, 2023 – Utah at Idaho. 7:10 pm. Idaho Central Arena.

Saturday, April 8, 2023 – Idaho at Utah. 7:10 pm. Maverik Center. AAPI Night.

Tons of Shots

Utah has taken 779 shots over their last 20 games for an average of 38.95. Prior to February 11th the Grizzlies had averaged 28.43 shots per game and were 26th in the league at that time. Now the Grizzlies are averaging 31.39 shots per game for the season and are currently 17th in the league.

The more shots and scoring chances has translated into goals as Utah is averaging 4.10 goals per game in their last 20 contests (82 goals). Prior to February 11th Utah averaged 2.66 goals per game (117 goals).

Grizzlies Offense Has Been Rolling

Utah has scored 82 goals over their last 20 games for an average of 4.10 per game.

Grizzlies Player Notes

Cameron Wright leads the league with 8 game winning goals. Wright leads all league rookies with 249 shots. Wright leads Utah with 51 points (22g, 29a). Wright has 13 points (4g, 9a) in 12 games in March.

Tarun Fizer is tied for 3rd among rookies with 10 power play goals. Fizer leads Utah with 24 goals.Fizer has 6 goals in his last 9 games.

Jordan Martel has 5 goals and 3 assists in his last 5 games. Martel has 13 points (6g, 7a) in his last 9 games. 

Jared Power scored his first professional goal on March 24 vs Cincinnati. Power has 6 points (1g, 5a) in 11 games as a pro.

Keaton Jameson has 7 points (3g, 4a) in his last 4 games.Jameson was the number 1 star in Utah’s 8-5 win over Wichita on March 29 as he scored 2 goals and 1 assist.

Connor McDonald is a +14 in his last 19 games.

Aaron Thow had 2 goals and 2 assists at Wichita on March 3. Thow is a +14 in his last 20 games.

Dylan Fitze has 48 shots on goal in 12 games in March. Fitze has 2 goals and 5 assists in March. Fitze is 1 of 2 players to appear in every game this season. Fitze had 3 assists vs Wichita on March 29.

Cory Thomas returned to the Grizzlies lineup on Wednesday night for the first time since Feb. 4. Thomas had 1 assist.

Grizzlies Out With Injuries

Cam Strong has 10 points in his last 14 games (4 goals, 6 assists). Strong is a +7 in his last 11 games. Strong suffered a season ending injury on March 17 at Allen.

Dakota Raabe has a point in 13 of his last 15 games (5 goals, 11 assists). Raabe scored the shootout game winner vs Kansas City on March 11 Raabe suffered an upper body injury on March 19 at Allen.

Zach Tsekos is out with an upper body injury. Tsekos has 25 points (13g, 12a) in 30 games.  

Johnny Walker is out with an injury. Walker has 12 goals and 6 assists in 33 games this season.Team Notes 

 Utah is 21-6 when scoring first. Utah has scored 82 goals in their last 20 games. Utah is among league leaders with 1228 penalty minutes. Utah is 12-1 when leading after 1 period. Utah is 23-1 when leading after 2 periods. Utah is 13-4-3 in one goal games. Utah is 20-8-3 in games decided by 1 or 2 goals. Utah has a point in 8 of their last 10 road games. The Grizz have standings points in 13 of their last 20 games. Utah is averaging 38.95 shots per game in their last 20 contests. 

March Leaders

Utah is 7-5 in March. Friday night is the last game in the month. Cameron Wright leads Utah with 13 points in 12 games in March (4 goals, 9 assists). Wright also leads Utah with 66 shots on goal in the month. Keaton Jameson has 5 goals and 6 assists in March. Tarun Fizer leads Utah with 6 goals in March. Aaron Thow has the best plus/minus in March at +7. James Shearer and Jordan Martel are each a +5.

Match-Up With Wichita

The Wichita Thunder are tied for 2nd in the Mountain division with 66 standings points. The Thunder are 20-8-4 at home and 10-21-2 on the road this season. Michal Stilil leads Wichita with 27 goals, 45 assists and 72 points. Brayden Watts has an impressive 20.0 shooting percentage this season (23 goals on 115 shots). Quinn Preston has 24 goals this season. Jay Dickman continues to produce for the Thunder in his 3rd season with 53 points (21 goals, 32 assists). They are led by Bruce Ramsey, the 2021 league Coach of the Year. Goaltender Roman Basran has appeared in 9 of Wichita’s last 10 games. He has a 4-4-1 record with a .920 save percentage and a 2.89 goals against average.

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

Overall record: 30-31-3

Home record: 14-16

Road record: 16-15-3

Win percentage: .492

Streak: Won 1

Standings Points: 63

Last 10: 5-5

Goals per game: 3.11 (Tied 20th) Goals for: 199

Goals against per game: 3.77 (Tied 22nd) Goals Against: 241

Shots per game: 31.72 (15th)

Shots against per game: 34.70 (24th)

Power Play: 56 for 311 – 18.0 % (21st)

Penalty Kill: 223 for 283 – 78.8 % (17th)

Penalty Minutes: 1228. 19.19 per game. (2nd most in the league)

Shorthanded Goals: 5.

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 11. 

Record When Scoring First: 21-6.

Opposition Scores First: 9-25-3.  

Record in One Goal Games: 13-4-3.

SCORING          1ST       2ND               3RD               OT/Shootout       TOTAL                     

Utah Grizzlies     59         78                   57                   5                               199                            

Opposition           75         81                   82                   3                               241

Team Leaders (2022-23 Regular season)

Goals: Tarun Fizer (24). 

Assists: Andrew Nielsen (32). 

Points: Wright (51).

Plus/Minus: Connor McDonald (+8)

PIM: Johnny Walker (171)

Power Play Points: Nielsen (26)

Power Play Goals: Tarun Fizer (10)

Power Play Assists: Nielsen (20). 

Shots on Goal: Cameron Wright (249). 

Shooting Percentage: Johnny Walker (18.5 %) 12 for 65.   

Game Winning Goals: Wright (8)

Wins: Trent Miner (13)

Save %: Miner (.904).

Goals Against Average: Miner (3.24)

Shutouts: Miner (2)

Active Streaks 

Goal Streaks: Brandon Cutler, Jordan Martel (2) Tarun Fizer, Keaton Jameson, Connor McDonald, Johnny Walker, Cameron Wright (1)

Assist Streaks: Jameson (4) Jacob Semik, Tsekos, Walker, Wright (2) Dylan Fitze, Fizer, Vladislav Mikhalchuk, Tyler Penner, Jared Power, James Shearer, Cory Thomas, Aaron Thow (1)

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Jameson (4), Cutler (3) Martel, Semik, Wright (2)