Grizzlies Gameday: Playoff Race Heats up at Maverik Center

Grizzlies Gameday: Race to the Playoffs Continues at Maverik Center

Idaho Steelheads (55-10-1-2, 113 points, .831 Win %) @ Utah Grizzlies (32-32-4, 68 points, .500 Win %) 

Saturday, April 8, 2023. 7:10 pm. Venue: Maverik Center

Broadcast: Video: FloHockey.TV - https://www.flohockey.tv/events/7761363-2023-idaho-steelheads-vs-utah-grizzlies    

Audio: youtube.com/UTAHGRIZZLIES.

It’s the 18th and final meeting in the regular season between the Grizzlies and the Steelheads. If the playoffs started today Utah would face Idaho in the first round of the 2023 Kelly Cup Playoffs. Utah is 9-6-1 in their last 16 games. Jordan Martel has 9 goals and 5 assists in his last 9 games. Martel has a goal in 6 straight games. Cameron Wright has a point in 16 of his last 21 games. Wright has 12 goals and 13 assists in his last 21 games. Utah has scored 96 goals over their last 24 games for an average of 4.00 per game.

This Week’s Games

Wednesday, April 5, 2023 Utah 2 Idaho 3 (Overtime) - Utah was trailing 2-1 at Idaho late in the third period when Luke Martin scored the game tying goal with 1:10 left in regulation. Idaho went on to win 20 seconds into overtime as Ty Pelton-Byce scored on a rebound on the right wing. Jordan Martel scored the Optum first goal 10:43 in. Cody Haiskanen scored 2 unanswered goals for Idaho late in the first period. Jade Miller had an assist on both of Idaho’s regulation goals. Both teams went 0 for 1 on the power play. Utah outshot Idaho 33 to 29. Utah is 5-4 in games decided past regulation.

Friday, April 7, 2023 Utah 1 Idaho 2 – Jordan Martel scored a goal for the 6th straight game as he lit the lamp 10:40 into the first period. Utah maintained a 1-0 lead until AJ White scored shorthanded 7:33 into the third period. Wade Murphy scored the game winner for Idaho 16:38 into the third. White had 1 goal and 1 assist. Idaho outshot Utah 47 to 28. Utah was 0 for 2 on the power play. Idaho was 0 for 3. Brandon Cutler led Utah with 6 shots. Martel had 5 shots. It was only the second time this season that the Grizzlies lost when leading after the first and second periods. It was the first time this season the Grizzlies lost in a game where they allowed less than 3 goals.

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

Games Remaining in the Regular Season

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

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 4th in the Mountain division standings with 68 standings points. Utah owns the tie-breaker over Kansas City and Rapid City as the Grizz have 27 regulation wins and KC and RC each has 25. Only 3 points separates 2nd place Allen with the 3 way tie for 4th place. Idaho has clinched the division title as they have a 43 point lead over 2nd place Allen.

Remaining Schedules for the 5 teams battling for the 3 remaining playoff spots

Allen – 5 games (3 home, 2 away). Allen has 71 points. They can get as many as 81 points this season. Americans host Savannah on April 8. Allen at Tulsa on April 8. KC at Allen on April 12. Allen at Wichita on April 14 and Wichita at Allen on April 15.

Wichita – 2 games (1 home, 1 away) – Wichita has 70 points and are in 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.

Utah – 4 games (4 home) – Utah has 68 points and are tied for 4th in the division. Utah hosts Idaho on April 8 and they host Tulsa on April 12, 14-15.

Kansas City – 4 games (2 home, 2 away) – KC has 68 points. KC is at Tulsa on April 8. KC at Allen on April 12. KC hosts Cincinnati on April 14-15. KC has lost 3 straight games.

Rapid City – 3 games (3 home) – RC has 68 points. The Rush host Idaho on April 12, 14-15.

Grizzlies Completed Road Schedule on Friday Night

Last night was the final road game of the 2022-2023 regular season. 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.

Welcome Back Luke Martin

Martin scored the game tying goal with 1:10 left in regulation in Utah’s 3-2 overtime loss at Idaho on Wednesday night. Martin was a key member of Utah’s Mountain division championship club last year. Martin last season had 43 points (10 goals, 33 assists) in 59 regular season games. Martin and teammate Ben Tardif were each named to the 2021-2022 ECHL All-Rookie Team. In the 2022 Kelly Cup Playoffs Martin had 2 goals and 10 assists in 17 games. Martin was named to the 2023 ECHL All-Star team with Jacksonville, where he scored 25 points (8 goals, 17 assists) in 25 games. Luke appeared in 28 AHL games with the Colorado Eagles and had 1 goal and 8 assists and a +8 rating. Martin was a 2nd round draft pick (52nd overall) by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2017. He played his college hockey at the University of Michigan from 2016-2020.

Mayhew, Messner and Ritchie to Make Maverik Center Debuts

Defenseman Kyle Mayhew and forwards Mick Messner and Nolan Ritchie each make their Maverik Center debuts on Saturday night. Mayhew and Messner each made their pro debuts on Wednesday night. Both players originally had 1 assist on Wednesday night but a scoring change after the game took the assists away from them and gave it to Keaton Jameson on the Jordan Martel goal 10:43 into the first period.

Ritchie made his pro debut on Friday night and was a +1 and had 2 shots in Utah’s 2-1 loss at Idaho.

Who’s Been Hot for the Grizzlies

Jordan Martel has a goal and a point in 6 straight games. “The Rooster” has 9 goals and 5 assists in his last 9 games. Martel has a point in 11 of his last 13 games (10 goals, 9 assists). Martel is a +9 in his last 9 games. Martel is a +11 in 41 games with Utah.

Tarun Fizer has 7 goals in his last 13 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 6 points in his last 5 games (1 goal, 5 assists). Fitze is 2nd on the Grizzlies with 16 goals. 

Cameron Wright leads the league with 8 game winning goals. Wright leads all rookies with 263 shots. Wright leads the Grizzlies with 13 multiple point games. Wright has 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists) in his last 6 games. Wright has 80 shots on goal in his last 16 games. Cameron is tied for 7th among league rookies with 56 points.

Keaton Jameson had a 7 game point streak snapped on Friday night. Jameson has a point in 7 of his last 8 games.

Aaron Thow had 5 goals and 3 assists and was a +10 in 5 games vs Wichita this season. Thow is a +16 in his last 24 games. 

Brandon Cutler has a point in 16 of his last 25 games. Cutler has 3 goals and 2 assists in his last 6 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 5 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 +8 since the beginning of March.

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

Overall record: 32-32-4

Home record: 16-16

Road record: 16-16-4

Win percentage: .500

Streak: Lost 2

Standings Points: 68

Last 10: 4-5-1

Goals per game: 3.13 (19th) Goals for: 213

Goals against per game: 3.71 (22nd) Goals Against: 252

Shots per game: 31.94 (Tied 11th)

Shots against per game: 34.75 (25th)

Power Play: 56 for 319 – 17.6 % (Tied 19th) 

Penalty Kill: 233 for 295 – 79.0 % (17th)

Penalty Minutes: 1266. 18.62 per game. (2nd most in the league)

Shorthanded Goals: 5.

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 13. 

Record When Scoring First: 21-7-1.

Opposition Scores First: 11-25-3.  

Record in One Goal Games: 13-5-4.

SCORING          1ST       2ND               3RD               OT/Shootout       TOTAL                     

Utah Grizzlies     64         82                   62                   5                               213                            

Opposition           81         83                   84                   4                               252

Team Leaders (2022-23 Regular season)

Goals: Tarun Fizer (25). 

Assists: Andrew Nielsen/Cameron Wright (32). 

Points: Wright (56).

Plus/Minus: Jordan Martel (+11)

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 (263). 

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 (6)

Assist Streaks:

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Martel (6)