For the first time in what feels like a year (Logan Cooley’s words, not mine), the Utah Hockey Club won a game at home — and in decisive fashion, at that.
The final score was 4-2 in Utah’s favor, lifting them over the St. Louis Blues.
And if there was one team Utah really needed to beat right now, it was the Blues. The win pulled them within three points of their divisional rival, who sit one spot ahead of them in the Western Conference standings.
Utah also has two games in hand, meaning they could make up the difference by winning those extra games.
It seemed like it would be a long night for the home crowd when Blues defenseman Tyler Tucker scored on a face-off play just 2:05 into the first period. But then, Liam “Spicy Tuna” O’Brien decided to take action.
Immediately after the face-off that followed the early goal, O’Brien challenged Tucker to a fight. A well-placed punch cut O’Brien’s forehead, but the blood dripping down his face just amped the crowd up even more.
Utah evened up the score four minutes later, took the lead two and a half minutes after that and never looked back.
“That’s big for us,” said head coach André Tourigny of his team’s win. “That’s a good stepping stone.”
Utah Hockey for dummies
Saturday’s game was one Utah’s top line will remember.
Clayton Keller, who’s from the St. Louis area, tied his career high in points in a game with four.
Cooley did the same, tying his record of three.
Nick Schmaltz, the third member of that line, scored a goal to extend his point streak to 11 games when playing the Blues.
Keller has tallied points in eight consecutive games against his hometown team.
Saturday was that line’s fifth game together, following the injury to Dylan Guenther. Cooley spoke after the game on how their chemistry as a group has evolved.
“They’re two unbelievable players,” he said. “They make the game really easy for me. I think we’re just reading off each other really well right now. It’s big. It’s nice to have chemistry in this league. (It) allows you to make plays and eventually get chances and score like we did tonight.”
Keller also spoke on what it means to play well against the team for whom he cheered growing up.
“It’s always just a special feeling for me playing against them. (It’s) the team I grew up watching, going to all the games, watching my favorite players, idolizing those guys. A lot of memories in St. Louis. It’s just a special feeling.”
Utah Hockey for casual fans
Michael Kesselring, who has also had a great deal of success against the Blues in his career (three points in three games) had a big game with his increased role.
An injury to Mikhail Sergachev meant Kesselring got promoted to the first power play unit. He didn’t waste any time making the most of the opportunity, scoring a goal 51 seconds into the first power play.
Kesselring has shown flashes of offensive greatness this year. If he can continue to do damage in his new role, he may even be able to earn that spot permanently.
Sergachev has played the second-most minutes per game of any skater in the league this year. If Kesselring can reliably take a portion of his workload, it would be a win-win-win for Sergachev, Kesselring and the team.
Keller said he gave Kesselring some advice before the game.
“I just told him to be simple — don’t overthink it,” Keller said. “He’s a great player. He knows the right play to make and it’s nice to see him to get rewarded. He’s got an absolute bomb, so it’s good to see one go in for him.”
Utah Hockey for nerds
John Marino filled the other part of the gap that Sergachev left.
As you “hockey nerds” already know, it was his third game back from injury. He bagged his first point as a Clubber on Saturday — a secondary assist on Schmaltz’ goal. He also had a bid for save of the year, blocking a bid at a wide-open cage on the penalty kill.
But there was so much more to Marino’s game than that. Let’s dive into advanced stats, which are all courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com.
Marino defended against 10 scoring chances, including four in the high-danger category. He stopped all but one. During his time on the ice, 50% of the shots taken were in his team’s favor.
His expected goal differential was negative, but his actual goal differential was positive.
He occupied Sergachev’s spot on the top PK unit, killing 4:37 without allowing a goal. Like Kesselring on the power play, Marino seamlessly filled a hole that probably kept head coach André Tourigny up during pre-game nap time on Saturday. That could be found money for a team that has been down on its luck recently.
Tourigny said after the game that it sometimes takes three games or so for a player to fully return from an injury — and Marino really stepped up in game number three.
“Today’s the third game and there was no time to step back for him,” Tourigny said. “We needed him to (take) a step up — and he played really good.”
Marino’s full effort was enough to earn him third-star honors, behind just Keller and Cooley, who combined for seven points.
What’s next?
Utah’s seven-game home stand comes to an end on Monday with their game against the Winnipeg Jets.
Despite dropping their game on Saturday to the Calgary Flames, the Jets are still atop the Western Conference standings. They’re second only to the Washington Capitals in the league-wide standings.
Utah and Winnipeg have met once already this season — a 3-0 Jets win in Winnipeg. They play each other twice this week, so Utah needs to find a way to solve star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.
The game will be televised on Utah HC+ and Utah 16. It starts at 7:30 p.m. MST.