The Hat Trick: Utah Hockey Club Secures Point Following OT Loss To Anaheim Ducks

Oct 16, 2024, 11:52 PM

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SALT LAKE CITY – At the conclusion of their first ever road trip, the Utah Hockey Club secured a point against the Anaheim Ducks in another high-scoring OT thriller. Despite being on the losing side of a game that required an extra period, Utah finished their trip with a respectable five out of eight possible points.

Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s 5-4 overtime loss.

Barrett Hayton is a different player for the Utah Hockey Club

As a former No. 5 overall pick for the club back in 2018, expectations were high for Barrett Hayton coming into the NHL. However, due to some adversity and injuries, Hayton hasn’t quite lived up to the hype.

But now with a Utah Hockey Club sweater on his back, he appears to be on pace for a breakout season.

Just five games into the new NHL campaign, Hayton has already surpassed his goal total from the 2023-24 season (three) with four goals early on.

Against the Ducks, he recorded his fourth as he crashed the net and smacked in a juicy rebound right on the doorstep.

Through these first few games, Hayton has looked more confident, more relaxed and hungrier than ever. He’s consistently placed himself in dangerous areas near the front of net and cashed in four times to become Utah’s second-leading goal scorer behind Dylan Guenther this season.

“I think he’s more comfortable, more relaxed I will say. Hayton is super competitive. He’s a guy who puts a lot of pressure on himself. The goal in his first game relieved the pressure a little bit and he’s played really good…he’s been better every game,” head coach André Tourigny said.

If Hayton can transform into a legitimate top six NHL center, that will do wonders for Utah and speed up their process to become a true playoff threat.

The Utah Hockey Club struggles when they draw penalties and fail to get inside

Despite a fairly solid start to the season, the Utah Hockey Club isn’t perfect, and their struggles have been obvious. In addition to numerous untimely penalties throughout their first five games, when Utah is unable to get to the inside, they struggle to create opportunities offensively.

Look, we’ve already discussed Utah’s penalty issue more than enough, but it continues to be a problem. Not that there’s ever really a good penalty to take, but Utah has consistently committed penalties when they’ve been beaten or simply lost their composure.

Against the Ducks it was more of the same as Lawson Crouse hooked Leo Carlsson after he was beaten, Nick Schmaltz held Brett Leason, Jack McBain drew a retaliation roughing penalty and Utah gave up a 5-on-3 situation early on in the third period.

To be fair, Utah’s PK was fantastic against the Ducks. They refused to surrender a goal and killed off each opportunity. But when you’re down a man, you’re generally unable to create many offensive opportunities since you’re defending your own zone against the power play.

On top of the penalties, Utah’s offense has consistently dried up when they’re unable to get to the inside. In the previous game against New Jersey, they endured a 12-minute drought without a shot. Against the Ducks, it was an eight-minute drought without a shot in the second period. Why? They’re unable to get to the inside.

Utah just needs to be better at playing their game more consistently. Dry spells cannot happen. They also need to try and create in other ways. Going into the third period against Anaheim, the Ducks led Utah 6-0 in rush opportunities. If something isn’t working, find another way to create opportunities.

“I think we just gotta get pucks to the net, be a little bit more simple,” Michael Kesselring said.

The Utah Hockey Club is resilient

Just as they demonstrated during the entirety of their road trip, the Utah Hockey Club remained resilient against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night despite the loss.

During another back-n-forth game that registered nine goals, Utah endured a collection of adversity. They had an answer for nearly every Anaheim lead, came back late in the third, were perfect on the PK (5/5), fended off a 5-on-3 opportunity and secured a big point in their final game on the road.

“I really liked our battle, our competitiveness,” Tourigny said. “It’s five points out of eight on that trip, it’s a comeback in the third…all in all, there’s a lot of positive.”

With injuries to John Marino and Sean Durzi, defense has been an issue for the Utah Hockey Club early in the season as they’ve allowed 19 goals against. However, they’ve had an answer for nearly everyone as they’ve registered 20 goals for and are currently in second place in the Central Division with a 3-1-1 record.

While the playoffs are still far away, the fight in Utah has been impressive and could serve them well late in the season. Spots are often decided by a matter of points and picking up five of eight possible against the Islanders, Rangers, Devils and Ducks is a major accomplishment that could payoff later.

Utah Hockey Schedule

The Utah Hockey Club will now return home to take on the Boston Bruins at the Delta Center on Saturday night. The game can be viewed on SEG+. Fans can also tune in on air on the KSL Sports APP or on 97.5 and 1280 The Zone. Click here for the full schedule. 

Cole Bagley is the Utah Hockey Club insider for KSL Sports. Keep up with him on X here. You can hear Cole break down the team on KSL Sports Zone and KSL 5 TV.

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The Hat Trick: Utah Hockey Club Secures Point Following OT Loss To Anaheim Ducks