The Utah Hockey Club is a perfect 2-0-0 against the St. Louis Blues and will look to continue its winning record against its divisional opponents on Sunday.
“They’re a really good team,” said Utah head coach André Tourigny. “I think that they had a tough time lately, but they’re a good team, well-coached. (I have a) ton of respect for them, but that doesn’t really change the fact I believe it will be different.”
What happened last time these teams faced each other?
Utah and St. Louis faced off at the Delta Center on Jan. 18. It was hard-fought all the way to the end, but Utah ultimately pulled out a 4-2 victory.
The win came when Utah needed it most. It was the sixth contest in a seven-game home stand, but until that night, Utah was 1-4-0 in that span.
Now, having lost their last four games, Utah HC hopes to snap a bad streak against the Blues once again.
Clayton Keller, a St. Louis-area native, showed up against his hometown team two weeks ago: He tallied a goal and three assists. Logan Cooley, the newcomer on the top line, had three points.
Cooley is out with a lower-body injury now. Replacing that kind of scoring can be difficult, but if there’s any team Utah knows how to score against, it’s St. Louis.
Keller is now on an eight-game point streak against the Blues. Nick Schmaltz, the third member of that top line, has points in 11 consecutive Blues games.
Michael Kesselring has only played three games against St. Louis, but he has points in all three.
Utah Hockey Club’s key to victory
Fans who have watched Utah’s last two games should know the key to victory before they even read it: Utah HC has to learn how to close out games.
They consistently take leads — often by multiple goals — and then let the games slip between their fingers. They’ve now been to overtime 14 times, which ties them for the fourth-most in the league, and they’ve lost nine of those games.
“We’re right there. We’re dominating a lot of games,” Tourigny said after Utah’s practice on Saturday. “We’re at least toe-to-toe in every game. Now we need to find a way to cross the finish line. We’re almost there, but we need to keep going, keep getting better, which we do, and now at some point, we’ll cross that finish line.”
Some of it has to do with luck, as Tourigny pointed out after Friday’s loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, but a lot of it has to do with mentality.
Utah seems to get comfortable with leads, so players start letting the play come to them. They don’t need to add goals when they’re up by a couple in the third period, but the more time they spend in the offensive zone, the less likely they are to get scored on.
So, how do you close out a game? You spend as much time as possible in the offensive zone. The best defense is a good offense.
Where to watch Utah Hockey Club vs. St Louis Blues
The game, which starts at 5 p.m. MST, will be shown on Utah 16 and Utah HC+. Tickets are also available, starting at $10 through SEG’s new programs.