The Carolina Hurricanes prepared for the Super Bowl with a touchdown of their own Saturday afternoon while the Utah Hockey Club got just a field goal in the matchup as the Hurricanes won 7-3.
It was a spirited bout with all the makings of an entertaining game: plenty of goals, some heated shenanigans after the whistle and an almost goalie fight.
Here’s the full story.
Utah Hockey for dummies
The scoreboard wasn’t kind to Utah HC on Saturday, but the team has much to be proud of.
For starters, when the team was down by three goals in the third period, they didn’t quit. Players kept applying pressure, which led them to draw a pair of penalties and score on the ensuing 5-on-3 power play.
Another positive note for the visiting team was Josh Doan’s power play goal. That’s significant not only for Doan’s development and confidence, but also for Utah’s second power play unit — one that has had almost no success this season.
It was Utah HC’s first time scoring two power play goals in a game since Dec. 14 when they did it against the San Jose Sharks, but unlike the Sharks, the Hurricanes are not a bottom-dwelling team.
In fact, they have the best penalty kill in the league.
“Just a couple mistakes that cost us, but I think we were in that game and we kind of just did it to ourselves a little bit, giving up a shorty and just simple mistakes,” said team captain Clayton Keller, who scored twice for Utah.
He’s referring to the number of avoidable mistakes his team made that ended up costing them the game, and head coach André Tourigny agreed.
“When you give your opponent the opportunity to create free offense like that, it’s tough,” he said.
Utah Hockey for casual fans
The previous and following sections of this article are quite serious, so I’ll break it up with a lighter topic here: goalie fights.
Goalie fights are the epitome of aggression in hockey, and there are few things that get fans out of their seats quicker. They only happen once in a blue moon, but when they do, it’s celebrated league-wide and it’s not soon forgotten.
Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov took exception to Lawson Crouse’s extra bid at a covered puck in the final minute of the second period and took a passionate swat at Crouse while players on both teams paired off to wrestle around him.
That’s when Karel Vejmelka decided to get involved.
Vejmelka made his way to the red line, signifying to Kochetkov to meet him there. But as Kochetkov got close, the officials jumped in and prevented the two from squaring off.
The NHL has done its best to extinguish goalie fights completely — likely out of safety precautions, as teams don’t typically have NHL-caliber goaltenders to spare — but when they do happen, they’re always remembered.
The last goalie fight in the NHL happened on Feb. 1, 2020 between Cam Talbot and Mike Smith. That was one of the things that made the Battle of Alberta must-watch hockey for the next few years.
It’s not that the Utah Hockey Club will ever have any particular rivalry with the Hurricanes, but anything that draws more interest in hockey should be considered good in the eyes of the league.
Utah Hockey for nerds
Utah HC has struggled to defend leads all season. They didn’t have the chance to do that on Saturday, but they can learn from how their opponents did it.
From the minute the Hurricanes took the 2-1 lead, they never let up. They kept the pressing hard, which caused UHC to make costly mistakes time and time again.
Despite the fact that the Hurricanes commanded a 5-2 lead to begin the third period, they never let their foot off the gas. Per Natural Stat Trick, the scoring chances at 5 on 5 in the final frame were an even 50% for each team, even though Utah was pushing hard to score.
When Utah has leads, it often sits back and lets the opponents come to it, rather than trying to keep the puck out of its own net. Keller mentioned in his postgame interview that the Hurricanes are the type of team Utah HC is learning to beat. The Hurricanes just set a good example and UHC would be smart to learn from it.
What’s next?
Utah HC now gets back on the jet to travel to Washington, D.C., where they’ll face the Washington Capitals early Sunday.
It will be the second of two meetings between the teams this season. In the first, superstar Alex Ovechkin scored twice (and got injured) in his race for the all-time scoring record.
He’s currently 16 goals behind the first-placed Wayne Gretzky.
For a full game preview, see this recent Deseret News article. Fans in Utah can catch the game on Utah 16 and Utah HC+.