Grizzlies Weekly: Utah Makes a Run to the Playoffs

Grizzlies Weekly: Grizz Push for a Playoff Spot

West Valley City, Utah – The Utah Grizzlies swept the Wichita Thunder in a 3 game series at Maverik Center, outscoring the Thunder 19 to 11. Utah is currently in 4th place in the Mountain Division with 67 standings points in a very tight race for the final 3 playoff spots.

Jordan Martel and Cameron Wright each had 3 goals and 3 assists in the 3 game sweep. Dylan Fitze had 1 goal and 5 assists. Aaron Thow scored 3 goals and 2 assists in the 3 game set. Thow had 5 goals, 4 assists and a +10 rating in 5 games vs Wichita this season. Brandon Cutler, Tarun Fizer and Keaton Jameson each had 2 goals in the series.

The Grizz have 6 games left in their push for a playoff spot. Utah’s final 2 road games of the season are this Wednesday and Friday night at Idaho Central Arena. Utah hosts Idaho on Saturday night at 7:10 pm. The Grizzlies end the regular season with a 3 game series against Tulsa on April 12, 14-15. Face-off all 3 nights are at 7:10 pm. Tickets are available at utahgrizzlies.com or by calling (801) 988-8000.

Games Remaining in the Regular Season

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.

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.

Games Last 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 3 Utah 6 – Tarun Fizer and Brandon Cutler each had 1 goal and 2 assists. Jordan Martel and Aaron Thow each had 1 goal and 1 assist. Tyler Penner scored the game winner 11:47 into the third period. Cory Thomas had 3 assists and a +4 rating. Utah outshot Wichita 47 to 34. Wichita went 1 for 5 on the power play. Utah was 0 for 2. Lukas Parik stopped 31 of 34 to earn his 11th win of the season.

Saturday, April 1, 2023 – Wichita 3 Utah 5 - Cameron Wright had 1 goal and 2 assists. Dylan Fitze and Jordan Martel each had 1 goal and 1 assist. Aaron Thow scored 2 goals. Trent Miner saved 29 of 32 to earn his 14th win of the season. 

Who’s Been Hot for the Grizzlies

Jordan Martel has 7 goals and 5 assists in his last 5 games. Martel has a point in 9 of his last 11 games (8 goals, 9 assists). Martel is a +8 in his last 7 games. Martel is a +10 in 39 games with Utah. Martel had 1 goal and 1 assist in each of the 3 games last week vs Wichita. 

Tarun Fizer has 7 goals in his last 11 games. Fizer leads Utah with 25 goals and 10 power play assists. 

Dylan Fitze has 6 points in his last 3 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 258 shots. Wright leads the Grizzlies with 13 multiple point games. Wright has 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists) in his last 4 games. Wright has 75 shots on goal in his last 14 games. 

Keaton Jameson has a current 6 game point streak (3g, 6a). 

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 22 games. 

Brandon Cutler has a point in 16 of his last 23 games. Cutler has 3 goals and 2 assists in his last 4 games since returning to Utah from the AHL. 

Connor McDonald is +17 in his last 21 games. 

Bear Bites: Grizzlies Team Notes

Utah scored 19 goals in 3 games last week vs Wichita. Utah went 8-5 in the month of March.

Utah has scored 93 goals over their last 22 games. Utah has won 10 in a row against Wichita dating back to the start of the 2021-2022 season. Utah is 21-6 when scoring first. Utah is 21-8-3 in games decided by 1 or 2 goals. Utah is 24-1 when leading after 2 periods. Utah has a point in 8 of their last 10 road games. The Grizz have standings points in 15 of their last 22 games. Utah is averaging 39.09 shots per game in their last 22 contests.

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

Overall record: 32-31-3

Home record: 16-16

Road record: 16-15-3

Win percentage: .508

Streak: Won 3

Standings Points: 67

Last 10: 5-5

Goals per game: 3.18 (15th) Goals for: 210

Goals against per game: 3.74 (23rd) Goals Against: 247

Shots per game: 31.98 (12th)

Shots against per game: 34.65 (Tied 24th)

Power Play: 56 for 316 – 17.7 % (Tied 20th)  

Penalty Kill: 229 for 291 – 78.7 % (18th)

Penalty Minutes: 1248. 18.91 per game. (2nd most in the league)

Shorthanded Goals: 5.

Shorthanded Goals Allowed: 12. 

Record When Scoring First: 21-6.

Opposition Scores First: 11-25-3.  

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

SCORING          1ST       2ND               3RD               OT/Shootout       TOTAL                     

Utah Grizzlies     62         82                   61                   5                               210                            

Opposition           79         83                   82                   3                               247

Team Leaders (2022-23 Regular season)

Goals: Tarun Fizer (25). 

Assists: Andrew Nielsen (32). 

Points: Wright (55).

Plus/Minus: Connor McDonald (+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 (258). 

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

Game Winning Goals: Wright (8)

Wins: Trent Miner (14)

Save %: Miner (.904).

Goals Against Average: Miner (3.24)

Shutouts: Miner (2)

Active Streaks 

Goal Streaks: Jordan Martel (4) Cameron Wright (3) Aaron Thow (2) Dylan Fitze (1)

Assist Streaks: Jameson (6) Fitze, Martel (3) Brycen Marti, Tyler Penner, Kyle Pouncy (1)

Point Streaks of 2 or more: Jameson (6), Martel, Wright (4) Fitze, Penner, Thow (3)

Multiple Point games (2022-2023 Regular Season)

13 Cameron Wright

12: Andrew Nielsen

11: Jordan Martel

10: Tarun Fizer

7: Dylan Fitze, Dakota Raabe

6: Zach Tsekos

4: Brandon Cutler, Keaton Jameson, James Shearer, Cam Strong, Johnny Walker

3: Connor McDonald, Aaron Thow.

2: Victor Bartley, Ben Tardif.