The Utah Hockey Club is on a five-game losing streak, but it has a chance to end it against the also-struggling Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers have only lost three in a row, but they haven’t scored a single goal in those three games.

I’m told there’s an upcoming football championship called the “Super Bowl.” This matchup might be accurately nicknamed the “Toilet Bowl.”

At any rate, one team is guaranteed to end its losing streak.

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What happened the last time Utah and Philadelphia played?

As it stands right now, Utah HC is undefeated against the Flyers. Take that with a grain of salt, of course, because the two teams have only met once.

In that meeting, Utah walked away with a 4-2 win.

It’s been less than two months since that matchup, but five of the players with points in that game will likely not participate on Tuesday. Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley, Robert Bortuzzo and Owen Tippett are all out with injuries and Joel Farabee has been traded.

Guenther and Tippett are officially listed as day-to-day, so it’s possible that they’ll be available to their respective teams on Tuesday.

Utah Hockey Club’s keys to victory

Utah should have three key objectives on Tuesday:

  • Get the puck to high-scoring areas
  • Frustrate the Flyers physically
  • Defend from the offensive zone

Utah’s biggest struggle against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday was getting the puck on net. The Blues forced them to the outside, limiting their scoring chances severely. They changed up their system in the second intermission and then scored in the third period, but they ultimately came up short.

Three of UHC’s four goals against the Flyers came from the slot and the other was from a sharp angle on the rush. They’ll have to get back to those areas on Tuesday.

Playing physically is likely to frustrate the Flyers, leading the officials to call more penalties. Utah has the eighth-best penalty kill and the 14th-best power play in the league, while Philadelphia is 20th and 28th in the same respective categories.

It would ultimately benefit Utah for a good chunk of the game to be spent with guys in the penalty box.

A number of Utah’s forwards are starting to receive criticism for their lack of contribution this season. Those same guys have the ability to play a physical game. This is their chance to help their team win.

Finally, defending from the offensive zone is something that Utah should be working on, regardless of the opponent. Rather than sitting back and letting the play come to them when they have the lead, they need to keep the puck in the offensive zone.

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It’s not expressly to score extra goals (though that never hurts). It’s to keep the puck away from their own net.

Hall of Fame defenseman Paul Coffey said it best: “When we’ve got the puck, they can’t score.”

Where to watch Utah Hockey Club vs. Philadelphia Flyers

The game will be broadcast on the regular channels: Utah 16 and Utah HC+. It starts at 7 p.m. MST.

Remember, this is the last chance for fans to vote on the team name.

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