Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Utah Hockey Club pulled off a 3-2 win, thanks to a last-minute overtime goal from Dylan Guenther. It was the story of Tuesday’s game against the …
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Utah Hockey Club pulled off a 3-2 win, thanks to a last-minute overtime goal from Dylan Guenther.
It was the story of Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers and it happened again on Thursday in Utah’s rematch with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
A large portion of the credit for that goal belongs to goaltender Connor Ingram, who recognized that his best chance at keeping the puck out of his own net was to rush out into the face-off circle and hammer it off the glass and out.
Guenther recognized what was going on, put himself in position to collect the puck off the glass and followed his shot to score on the rebound.
“I saw they were offside, so I took off and got a little lucky it came back,” Guenther said after the game.
Utah hockey for dummies
As cool as it was for Guenther to score yet another highlight goal, he recognized the true importance of what he did:
“We found a way to win,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing.”
That’s something that UHC has struggled to do recently. They’ve lost by just one goal in seven of their last 10 losses (disregarding empty-netters), but they just haven’t been able to get over the hump and win.
In two consecutive games now, Utah has found ways to win. Hockey coaches often talk about learning how to win, and that’s exactly what this team is doing.
“When you’re in those situations more often, I think you get more comfortable, more confident,” Guenther said. “We’re going to be in a lot of those moving forward, so it’s important for us to get some wins doing it like that.”
Will Utah HC make the playoffs? The odds are against them. But it’s games like these that the guys learn from, which will ultimately benefit the team in the long run.
Utah hockey casual fans
Lawson Crouse scored in his return to the lineup after watching from the press box against the Flyers on Tuesday. It’s a great beginning to his return, but it’s not enough.
Let me explain.
Crouse ended a 14-game goal drought in the first game of the new year, potting two goals against the Calgary Flames. It was widely regarded as Crouse’s return to his former self, but he proceeded to go the next eight games without a goal.
His goal on Thursday ended a five-game point drought, but if he lets that satisfy him, he’ll find himself in the same predicament again.
If Crouse can stay hungry and keep playing like his spot in the lineup depends on it, he should be able to get back to the level he was at last season. If he’s content for now, he might get to know the security guards on the sixth floor of the Delta Center a lot better.
Utah hockey for nerds
Crouse wasn’t the only one that responded positively to adversity.
He and Olli Määttä shared culpability for the Blue Jackets’ goal in the first period after Crouse’s clearing attempt took a weird bounce and Määttä failed to tie up his man in time.
Both guys seemed to use it as fuel to their fires, and each proceeded to score a goal afterwards.
Ingram did the same.
In 99 instances out of 100 Ingram or any other NHL goalie would have handled Ivan Provorov’s short-handed bid with ease. But goalie has “how did that go in?” moments and that was exactly the case with that goal.
But just like Crouse and Määttä, he didn’t let a bad read get him down. He went on to save every shot after that, including every shot on Utah’s two penalty kills. And, of course, he made a big play to set up the game-winner.
“I think we controlled our emotions much better and we were able to come back playing with a lot of passion, a lot of pace,” said head coach André Tourigny after the game.
The players and coaches talk frequently about having short memories — it doesn’t matter what happened last game or last shift. The guys took that to heart on Thursday and secured two points because of it.
What’s next?
Utah’s Eastern Conference swing continues with a morning game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
Fans might remember the last time Utah played Carolina. Despite firing 50 shots at Karel Vejmelka, the Hurricanes could only get one past him and UHC walked away with a 4-1 win.
If Utah proceeds with the goaltender rotation that it has used since Ingram’s return, Vejmelka will be back in net against his new favorite team to play against.
The game starts at 10:30 a.m. MST and will be streamed on Utah HC+ and Utah16.
Source: Utah News