When the Colorado Avalanche visited Salt Lake City on Oct. 24, they beat the Utah Hockey Club by a score of 5-1 — and it would have been a shutout had it not been for a late marker from Lawson Crouse.
When Utah HC visited Denver on Thursday, however, they did the exact same thing, aside from the fact that the final score was 4-1. They even allowed a shutout-busting goal in the last few minutes, courtesy of Nathan MacKinnon.
Here’s the story.
Utah Hockey for dummies
Utah now has a five-game winning streak on the road and a five-game losing streak at home. The NHL gives advantages to the home team in the form of positioning in the faceoff circle and the ability to match lines, so you’d think their streak would be the other way around.
The team doesn’t see any rhyme or reason to it.
“I think that’s just a coincidence,” said forward Dylan Guenther after Thursday’s game. “I feel like we’ve been playing pretty well the last month or so.”
Head coach André Tourigny agrees.
“When you look at the results, it’s one thing — but the performance (has been) there for a while,” he said.
At any rate, Utah has points in six of their last seven games and they haven’t lost by more than one goal in nearly a month. They’re now just two points out of a playoff spot.
Utah Hockey for casual fans
Don’t look now, but Guenther is on a four-game point streak. During that span, he has two goals and five assists for seven points. Three of those points came against the Avalanche on Thursday: two goals and an assist.
His second goal of the game, a one-timer on the power play, was particularly nice. But he wasn’t willing to take much credit.
“Yeah, I mean, my mom probably could have scored that one,” he said after the game.
His mom, Nadine, was in attendance as part of the mentors’ trip.
Guenther wasn’t the only Utah HC player who stayed hot. Kevin Stenlund, who had just one goal in the first 25 games of the season, now has five goals in 29 games.
Utah Hockey for nerds
Vladislav Kolyachonok hadn’t played a game since Nov. 24. He’s the first guy on the ice at practice every day and he’s usually the last to leave. Even Tourigny agrees that he’s one of the hardest-working players on the team, but Tourigny said on Thursday morning that quality matters over quantity, which was why he hadn’t played in nearly three weeks.
Kolyachonok brought the “quality” against the Avalanche in the form of his second goal of the season.
“It’s cool to get back in the game and just try to do the right things and get rewarded,” Kolyachonok said.
The offensive side of his game wasn’t the only positive thing. He also looked confident and was positionally sound all game.
“He made good plays, he was solid without the puck, he made good breakout passes, he was predictable,” Tourigny said after the game. “Pretty good for him.”
Tourigny says he’s earned a spot in the lineup on Saturday in San Jose.
What’s next?
The road trip continues with a stop in San Jose on Saturday, where they’ll face the suddenly fun-to-watch Sharks. After finishing in last place a year ago, picking up Macklin Celebrini with the first-overall pick and dragging Will Smith away from school, the Sharks are playing entertaining hockey.
Being fun to watch doesn’t necessarily make them an overly successful team. They’ve improved by a few spots in the overall league standings, but they still have a decent shot at a lottery pick.
After getting their revenge for a loss they’d like to have back against the Avalanche, they’ll look to do the same against the Sharks. The Sharks handed them their toughest loss of the season, coming back from a 4-1 deficit and securing their first win of the season.
The game starts at 8 p.m. MDT and will be available on Utah HC+ and Utah 16.