‘We didn’t do anything good’ — Tourigny speaks on Utah Hockey Club’s blown lead against Ducks

The Utah Hockey Club had planned on having duck for Christmas dinner on Sunday. But just when they thought they had it, the duck started quacking.

What does that mean? It means Utah HC blew their 4-1 lead over the Anaheim Ducks, ultimately losing in a shootout. Coincidentally, it was Utah’s second time giving up a 4-1 lead at home against a bottom-dwelling Californian team and losing in extra innings — They did the same thing against the San Jose Sharks in October, losing in overtime.

“We didn’t do anything good,” said a frustrated André Tourigny after the game.

Most people would probably disagree. The team got off to a hot start, took their lead and suppressed opposing offense. Yes, there were a few bad plays that ended up costing them the game, but it much more closely resembled the team from the last few weeks than the team that consistently failed to score in October and part of November.

Interesting fact: Each of Utah’s last three home games have gone to overtime.

Utah hockey for dummies

Clayton Keller was the big story for Utah. It was the fourth four-point game of his career and the first four-point game in franchise history. Everything he touched seemed to go in the back of the net — other than his shootout attempt, which hit the underside of the crossbar.

“I had some good jump early, just trying to be simple,” he said after the game. “Sometimes you get the bounces, sometimes you don’t.”

Keller’s point streak is now at four games, with multiple points in three of them. He’s now above a point-per-game average.

Utah hockey for casual fans

I probably haven’t written about Logan Cooley enough in the last few weeks. With a goal on Sunday, he extended his point streak to five games. He has 17 points in his last 13 games and has hardly been on the ice for a goal against.

But an untimely slashing penalty near the end of the third period changed the narrative of an otherwise successful game for him. Ducks forward Brett Leason scored on a beautiful wrist shot during the power play, sending the game to overtime.

Cooley would not play the rest of the game, including overtime and the shootout — two areas in which he tends to do well.

Tourigny admitted after the game to benching Cooley for his penalty. When a reporter asked what went into that decision, his response was brief.

“I’ll let you think about it,” he said.

Aside from that one split-second decision, Cooley played an excellent game. He scored the aforementioned goal, he played a major part in killing a 5-on-3 and he had some solid defensive plays.

For example, during the first period, he fell while accepting a pass in the offensive zone. An opposing player picked up the puck in Cooley’s absence, but before he knew it, Cooley had sprawled out and hooked the puck back into his own possession. He then took the puck behind the Ducks’ net and made an impressive play.

That could easily turned into a scoring chance for the Ducks, but because of the way Cooley refused to let up, he was the one with the scoring chance.

He’ll get the chance to make up for it against the Dallas Stars on Monday.

Utah hockey for nerds

Utah scored yet another power play goal on Sunday.

They seem to have solved the man-advantage woes that pained them in November. Since the beginning of the month, they’ve scored on a third of their power plays. That’s the fourth-best rate in the league in that time frame.

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Here’s the issue, though: Every single one of those goals has come from the first power play unit. That’s a major reason why Keller, Cooley and Dylan Guenther have such good stats this month, but if you look at the stats of Matias Maccelli, Nick Bjugstad and Lawson Crouse, you’ll probably wonder why they collectively make nearly $10 million.

Tourigny isn’t concerned.

“The last two games are their best games in quite a while,” he said in the pregame press conference. “They were good offensively, they were good defensively, they created off the forecheck, they have a few off the rush, in the zone as well. They created possession and they played with a lot of passion — kind of another level of confidence.”

He continued, saying it’s only a matter of time before “the flood gates will open.”

What’s next?

In 24 hours’ time, Utah HC will be back at it — this time against the Dallas Stars.

This is a rematch between the two teams, who played each other at the Delta Center exactly three weeks prior to Monday’s game. That was Utah’s last regulation loss. The Stars haven’t been as fortunate, having lost their last two games.

Utah’s fourth line played an elite game against the Stars and they hope to do the same this time around. And with the hot streak that the top two lines are on, they stack up nicely.