The Utah Hockey Club’s 3-2 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday meant more than just two points in the standings. It was a statement that they aren’t out of the playoff race yet.
Let me explain.
Utah Hockey for dummies
After a 12-game stint on injured reserve, Dylan Guenther made his return on Tuesday — and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Guenther, who led the team in scoring when he went down, contributed points on all three Utah goals Tuesday. He scored both the game-tying goal and the overtime winner.
Oh, and the OT winner came with 0.7 seconds left on the clock.
“I saw the clock was at zero, so I was just hoping that it got off in time,” Guenther said of his game winner.
His return helped Utah HC bounce back from a five-game losing streak. Their playoff chances, though dwindling, are still alive — and the team is hanging on.
“We don’t look at scores elsewhere, but we know Calgary lost,” said head coach André Tourigny after the game. “You know what I mean? And Vancouver is up by one after two ... At this point, we’ll need a little help, ... but we can make it.”
Utah Hockey for casual fans
Although he didn’t score, fan favorite Liam “Spicy Tuna” O’Brien was one of Utah’s most important players on Tuesday.
He was in the mix offensively, tying his career high in shots in a game with five. He also threw five hits and got a five-minute major for fighting Nic Deslaurier — “a top heavyweight in the league” in O’Brien’s opinion.
“I think OB was really, really good,” Tourigny said. “Maybe his best game of the year. His (entire) line was really good. They generated good offense, they were stingy defensively, they gave us momentum at key moments.”
“I was just skating,” O’Brien said. “My linemates were great tonight. They won a lot of battles and they were getting me the puck ... (I was) just moving my feet and we got all those chances.”
Tourigny isn’t usually one to change a winning lineup. He wouldn’t reveal whether Lawson Crouse would draw back into the lineup on Thursday, but you can bet your bottom dollar that if he does, O’Brien will not be the one taking a turn in the press box.
Utah Hockey for nerds
The score implies that the game was much closer than it actually was. In reality, Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson was exceptional, but his team didn’t give him enough support.
The shot count doesn’t always tell the full story, but in this case it does a pretty good job. Utah had 42 shots and Philadelphia managed just 20.
But this is the “hockey for nerds” section. We don’t stop at the shot count.
Utah HC controlled 75.76% of the scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick’s data. Similarly, they had 75% of the high-danger scoring chances and 68.97% of the expected goals.
They also won more than two thirds of the face-offs.
“We were happy about a lot of our (previous) games, even if we if we didn’t get the result,” Tourigny said. “We were not happy about our game against St. Louis and I loved our answer — not just the score.
“Obviously the score is huge, that’s what we’re playing for, but the intensity, the battle level, the number of battles we won, the way we reloaded, the way we went at the net, the drive to the net we had, I think everybody did their part.”
What’s next?
Utah gets a day to travel before playing the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
It’s the second matchup in six days between these teams. The Blue Jackets walked away with a narrow victory last Friday in Salt Lake City, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to win the game in overtime.
Thus, Utah HC will look to avenge themselves on Thursday.
The game starts at 5 p.m. MST and will be televised on Utah 16 and Utah HC+.