For the first time ever, the Utah Hockey Club is on a three-game home winning streak.
It comes with the team’s 2-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday — a defensive battle in which two timely Utah goals lifted it over the NHL’s 31st-placed team.
“We’re getting better. The baby’s growing,” said UHC head coach André Tourigny when asked how his team is maturing. “We felt we were in control in terms of (that) we play hard, we were driving. There was no panic.”
As important as the two points were for Utah, the loss for Chicago was frustrating — and Blackhawks alternate captain Seth Jones did not hold back in his comments after the game.
“I think we’re the exact same team right now as we were at Game 1 (of the season, against Utah), and I think it’s pretty evident out there,” he said. “We haven’t made any strides to be a better, more simple hockey team and it shows. We don’t get a lot of wins because of it.”
Utah is now just three points shy of a playoff spot.
Utah Hockey for dummies
For the first time since Nov. 29, UHC associate captain Lawson Crouse scored a goal at the Delta Center. It was also his first home point since Dec. 10.
This season has been underwhelming for Crouse to say the least, but it’s not for lack of effort.
“I did a lot of reflecting over the break and I felt, before the break, I was getting away from the shot-first mentality,” he said. “I said to myself, ‘I’m going to shoot more pucks whenever I can.‘”
The realization came after rewatching goals he’d scored in previous seasons.
“When I take a look at the goals that I’ve scored in previous years, it’s on and off my stick, so just trying to shoot more, be ready to shoot more and when I get the puck, be ready to shoot it.”
Crouse crossed the 20-goal and 40-point thresholds in each of the last two seasons but has just nine goals and 13 points in 58 games played this season.
If he can get back to his former self, Utah’s playoff chances will increase drastically.
Utah Hockey for casual fans
Utah found a way to win on Tuesday, but the power play was a bit concerning: UHC went 0-for-5 with the man advantage on Tuesday after going 1-for-4 on Sunday.
“Tonight was one of those nights where we needed one. We didn’t get one, but we found a way,” Tourigny said of the power play.
He went on to explain that both with and without Logan Cooley in the lineup, the team has operated at an above-average rate with the man advantage.
UHC’s power play is the 13th-best in the league with a success rate of 22.8%.
The team had two power play goals against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, so it’s not like this is a long-term struggle — but they can’t let it trend downward at this point in the season.
Utah Hockey for nerds
In two straight games, Utah HC has won by a score of 2-1. Does that mean Utah is struggling to score or that it’s playing great defensively?
It’s probably a little bit of both.
“As long as we get the two points,” Tourigny said.
He went on to explain that in the three games since the 4 Nations Face-Off break, Utah has generated enough offensive chances, they just haven’t been able to capitalize on them.
And he’s not wrong.
According to Natural Stat Trick, UHC controlled a whopping 88.89% of the scoring chances at 5-on-5 on Tuesday. In Sunday’s win over the Vancouver Canucks, it was a lesser but still impressive 68.18%.
“We have a tough time, sometimes, to make the next play offensively in terms of execution, but we stayed with it and I think the guys were focused,” Tourigny said. “Even if the execution was not the best, we stayed with it and we played with confidence.”
As far as the defense goes, though, you can’t ask for much more than what the defensemen and goalies are giving.
“It’s just how it goes sometimes,” said team captain Clayton Keller. “We had some good looks the last two (games), I thought, but like I said earlier, they had pretty good sticks and sometimes that’s the way it’s going to go.”
What’s next?
For the fourth and final time this season, Utah HC takes on the Minnesota Wild Thursday night. Utah has a record of 2-0-1 against Minnesota, with the loss coming in a shootout at the Delta Center on Dec. 10.
Their last meeting was on Jan. 23 — a 4-0 decision in UHC’s favor. Karel Vejmelka recorded his first shutout of the season, Barrett Hayton scored two goals and Nick DeSimone had two assists that day.
Kirill Kaprizov, who started the season in the Hart Trophy conversation, has struggled with injuries in the second half. He made his return from a lower-body ailment in that Jan. 23 game but has since bowed out of the lineup again.
Wild general manager Bill Guerin told media on Jan. 28 that Kaprizov would be out a minimum of four weeks, meaning he could return as early as this week.
The game, which is at the Delta Center, will commence at 7 p.m. MST. It will be televised on Utah HC+ and Utah 16.