Grizzlies Gameday: Huge Wednesday Night Battle at Maverik Center

Grizzlies Gameday: Huge Wednesday Night Game at Maverik Center

Tulsa Oilers (22-38-8-1, 53 points, .384 Win %) @ Utah Grizzlies (32-33-4, 68 points, .493 Win %) 

Wednesday, April 12, 2023. 7:10 pm. Venue: Maverik Center

Broadcast: Video: FloHockey.TV - https://www.flohockey.tv/events/7761385-2023-tulsa-oilers-vs-utah-grizzlies

Audio: youtube.com/UTAHGRIZZLIES.

It’s the first of a big three game series between the Grizzlies and Oilers. Jordan Martel has 10 goals and 5 assists in his last 10 games. Martel has a goal in 7 straight games. Cameron Wright has a point in 16 of his last 22 games. Wright has 12 goals and 13 assists in his last 22 games. Utah has scored 98 goals over their last 25 games for an average of 3.92 per game.

Games Remaining in the Regular Season

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 – Tulsa at Utah. 7:10 pm. Maverik Center. Bud Light College Night.

Friday, April 14, 2023 – Tulsa at Utah. 7:10 pm. Maverik Center. AFCU Friday.

Saturday, April 15, 2023 – Tulsa at Utah. 7:10 pm. Maverik Center. Fan Appreciation and Star Wars Night.

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

All Times Mountain.

Mountain Division Playoff Picture

Utah is tied for 5th with Rapid City in the Mountain division standings with 68 standings points. Utah has 27 wins in regulation, which is the league’s number one tie-breaker. Utah has the advantage over Kansas City (26), Rapid City (26) and Wichita (23). Allen became the second team in the Mountain division to clinch a playoff spot after they defeated Tulsa 5-2 on Sunday afternoon.

Remaining Schedules for the 4 teams battling for the 2 remaining playoff spots

Wichita – 2 games (1 home, 1 away) – Wichita has 70 points and are tied for 3rd place in the division. Allen at Wichita on April 14, Wichita at Allen on April 15. Wichita is 6-5-1 vs Allen this season.

Kansas City – 3 games (2 home, 1 away) – KC has 70 points and are tied with Wichita for 3rd place. KC at Allen on April 12. KC hosts Cincinnati on April 14-15. KC has lost 3 straight games.

Utah – 3 games (3 home) – Utah has 68 points and are tied for 5th in the division. Utah hosts Tulsa on April 12, 14-15.

Rapid City – 3 games (3 home) – RC has 68 points and are tied with Utah for 5th place. The Rush host Idaho on April 12, 14-15.

Grizzlies Standouts

Jordan Martel has a goal and a point in 7 straight games. “The Rooster” has 10 goals and 5 assists in his last 10 games. Martel has a point in 12 of his last 14 games (11 goals, 9 assists). Martel is a +8 in his last 10 games. Martel is a +10 in 42 games with Utah.

Tarun Fizer has 7 goals in his last 14 games. Fizer leads Utah with 25 goals and 10 power play goals. The 25 goals are tied for 4th among all league rookies.

Dylan Fitze has 7 points in his last 6 games (2 goals, 5 assists). Fitze is tied for 3rd on the Grizzlies with 17 goals. 

Cameron Wright leads the league with 8 game winning goals. Wright leads all rookies with 267 shots (4th overall). Wright leads the Grizzlies with 13 multiple point games. Wright has 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists) in his last 7 games. Wright has 84 shots on goal in his last 17 games. Cameron is 8th among league rookies with 56 points.

Keaton Jameson  has a point in 8 of his last 9 games.

Aaron Thow had 5 goals and 3 assists and was a +10 in 5 games vs Wichita this season. Thow is a +15 in his last 25 games. 

Brandon Cutler has a point in 16 of his last 26 games. Cutler has 3 goals and 2 assists in his last 7 games since returning to Utah from the AHL. 

Connor McDonald is +16 in his last 23 games. 

Luke Martin has a goal in 4 of his last 6 ECHL games. Martin had 3 goals and 2 assists in 3 games against Utah in December 2022 when he played with Jacksonville.

James Shearer is a +7 since the beginning of March.

Bear Bites: Grizzlies Team Notes

Utah went 16-16-4 on the road. They picked up 36 of a possible 72 points for an even .500 record on the road. The 16 road wins are the 3rd most in the Mountain Division. Idaho has 23 road wins and Allen has 18. Last season the Grizzlies had 19 road wins, which was the most of any Mountain division teams. 

Utah is 2-1 vs Tulsa this season. Utah has scored 98 goals over their last 25 games. Utah is 21-7-1 when scoring first. The Grizz are 13-6-4 in one goal games. Utah is 21-10-4 in games decided by 1 or 2 goals. Utah is 24-2 when leading after 2 periods. Utah has a point in 9 of their last 12 road games. The Grizz have standings points in 16 of their last 25 games. Utah is averaging 38.10 shots per game in their last 25 contests.

Recent Transactions

April 11 – Grizzlies Get Kyle Betts back – Kyle Betts was released from the AHL’s Belleville Senators and he returns to the Grizzlies. Betts appeared in 2 games with Utah earlier this season and had 1 assist and 3 shots on goal. Betts played in 40 games with Belleville this season and had 1 goal and 2 assists.

April 7 – Grizzlies sign Forward Nolan Ritchie - Ritchie played in the WHL with the Brandon Wheat Kings for 5 seasons from 2018-2029. Ritchie had a breakthrough 2021-2022 season with Brandon, where he scored 33 goals, 43 assists and a +15 rating in 66 games. Ritchie had 70 points (27 goals, 43 assists) in 67 games with Brandon in the 2022-2023 season. Ritchie was the captain of the Wheat Kings during the 2022-2023 season. He averaged exactly 1 point per game in his 5 year WHL career with 185 points (76 goals, 109 assists) in 185 games. Ritchie will wear number 61 for Utah.

April 4 – Grizzlies Sign Forward Mick Messner - Messner started his college career at the University of Wisconsin and played there for 2 years from 2018-2020. He transferred to Merrimack College, where he spent 3 seasons there from 2020-2023. Messner played with current Grizzlies forward Christian Simeone during the 2020-2021 season. Messner had 5 goals, 4 assists and a +6 rating in 35 games with Merrimack this season. Messner majored in Business at Merrimack. Messner will wear number 25, which is the same number former Grizzlies forward Vladislav Mikhalchuk wore.

April 3 – Grizzlies sign defenseman Kyle Mayhew - Mayhew was a key defenseman on the DU 2022 national championship club, where he was a teammate with current Grizzlies forward Cameron Wright. Mayhew was a combined +51 in 5 seasons at Denver, where he scored 6 goals and 29 assists in 153 games. Mayhew is from Anaheim Hills, California and is listed at 5’8” and 160 pounds. Mayhew will wear number 6 for Utah.

April 3 – Defenseman Luke Martin reassigned to Utah – In 26 ECHL games this season Martin has 9 goals and 17 assists.

Grizzlies Ironmen

There are 2 players who have appeared in all 69 games this season: Dylan Fitze and Tyler Penner. Penner was 1 of 2 Grizzlies along with Mason Mannek, who appeared in all 72 games last season. Fitze has not missed a game for Utah since joining the club via a trade with Orlando on March 24, 2022. Fitze is tied for 3rd on the club with 17 goals and is 4th in points with 37.

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

Overall record: 32-33-4

Home record: 16-17

Road record: 16-16-4

Win percentage: .493

Streak: Lost 3

Standings Points: 68

Last 10: 3-6-1

Goals per game: 3.12 (19th) Goals for: 215

Goals against per game: 3.70 (23rd) Goals Against: 255

Shots per game: 31.88 (12th)

Shots against per game: 34.71 (25th)

Power Play: 56 for 321 – 17.4 % (21st) 

Penalty Kill: 235 for 297 – 79.1 % (Tied 17th)

Penalty Minutes: 1274. 18.46 per game. (2nd most in the league)

Shorthanded Goals: 5.

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 13. 

Record When Scoring First: 21-7-1.

Opposition Scores First: 11-26-3.  

Record in One Goal Games: 13-6-4.

SCORING          1ST       2ND               3RD               OT/Shootout       TOTAL                     

Utah Grizzlies     66         82                   62                   5                               215                            

Opposition           82         85                   84                   4                               255

Team Leaders (2022-23 Regular season)

Goals: Tarun Fizer (25). 

Assists: Andrew Nielsen/Cameron Wright (32). 

Points: Wright (56).

Plus/Minus: Jordan Martel/Connor McDonald (+10)

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 (267). 

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

Game Winning Goals: Wright (8) – Leads league.

Wins: Trent Miner (14)

Save %: Miner (.907).

Goals Against Average: Miner (3.19)

Shutouts: Miner (2)

Active Streaks 

Goal Streaks: Jordan Martel (7) Dylan Fitze (1)

Assist Streaks: Keaton Jameson, Nolan Ritchie (1)

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Martel (7)