Keller extends point streak, Utah Hockey Club falls to Ottawa Senators

The Utah Hockey Club has played better games than the one it had on Sunday. Here’s what went wrong, in addition to some things it did well.

The Utah Hockey Club fell 3-1 to the Ottawa Senators on Sunday afternoon.

Senators captain Brady Tkachuk scored to end his 10-game point drought, while Claude Giroux potted a goal and an assist, bringing him one point shy of 1,100 in his career.

“We played in front of them instead of putting the puck behind and go to work,” said Utah HC head coach André Tourigny after the game. “Even the way we tried to change the point of attack in the offensive zone, we were predictable for them and they cut too many plays.”

Here’s some insight into the game, including a few things Utah did well on their first trip to Canada’s capital city.

How this works

This is a three-part article geared toward three different audiences.

  • First, we’ll have “Utah hockey for dummies” for all you new hockey fans. Welcome, by the way — we’re glad you’ve taken an interest in the greatest sport in the world.
  • Next, we’ll have a section titled “Utah hockey for casual fans,” aimed at those who have a basic understanding of the sport.
  • Finally, we’ll have “Utah hockey for nerds.” That will be for those of you who, like me, think about nothing but hockey all day, every day.

Feedback is welcome, so let me know what you think in the comments of this article or the comments section on “X.”

Utah hockey for dummies

One of the most challenging situations in hockey is a three-game stretch in four days.

If you’ve always followed other sports, you might think that sounds dramatic — but it’s true. Hockey requires so much energy that it’s hard to recover from a game in a short period of time. This was Utah’s third game in less than four days, considering the early start time on Sunday.

What makes it even worse for Utah is that they traveled to a new city each game, spanning one American state and two Canadian provinces. They traveled more than 4,200 miles for the three games (including the return trip to Salt Lake).

That being said, Ottawa was also tired. They hosted their biggest rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, on Saturday. It was a hard-fought game in which the Senators came out on top.

Utah hockey for casual fans

Quick disclaimer: This section will be all over the place, but it interconnects a number of small thoughts about the game. It’s all important and somewhat related.

Puck luck cost Utah a goal on Friday in Winnipeg, but it repaid them with a goal on Sunday in Ottawa. It’s funny how that works sometimes.

Clayton Keller got credit for the goal after his attempt at a centering pass deflected off a Senator’s stick and in. Funny enough, Keller had attempted to shoot from that spot on at least two other occasions in the game, but hadn’t had any luck. On his third chance, he tried to pass and ended up scoring.

Keller is now on a seven-game point streak and has 13 points in that span. The first few injuries to players named to 4 Nations Face-Off teams were announced this week. Team USA hasn’t had a winger go down yet, but if they do, Keller is playing like someone who wants to go.

Speaking of point streaks, Sunday marked the end of Nick Schmaltz’ tear. He had points in eight consecutive games previous to this one. Previous to this game, Schmaltz had 17 points in 12 games against the Senators (thanks, in large part, to his seven-point game in 2022).

Utah hockey for nerds

Although he didn’t contribute on the score sheet, Matias Maccelli played one of his better games this season.

He has had so many shifts this year that leave you wondering what he was trying to accomplish, but he did no such thing on Sunday. He drove the play into the offensive zone on a consistent basis, and he always got back to cover defensively.

At one point, for example, an offensive play in which he was involved didn’t go his way. But, rather than heading back to the bench and letting a fresh set of legs take care of the back check, he hustled back and arrived just in time to check Ridly Greig on the doorstep.

Consistency is the difference between an everyday NHL player and a fringe roster player. If Maccelli can make this type of two-way impact night in and night out, he won’t need to worry so much about whether bounces go his way — something that Tourigny mentioned as his biggest roadblock this year.

What’s next?

Utah gets a couple much-needed days of rest before getting back to it against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Delta Center on Wednesday.

It’s been a roller coaster of a season for the Penguins, who had playoff aspirations at the beginning. But the lows have been a little too low and they’re now the second-worst team in the Eastern Conference.

The last time the two teams played each other, Utah HC walked away with a 6-1 win. They’ll look to continue that dominance on Wednesday.

If you won’t be at the Delta Center, you can catch the game on Utah 16 and Utah HC+. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. MST.

Source: Utah News