Owen Allard participates in Utah Hockey Club rookie camp at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024 (Photo by Laura Seitz, Deseret News).
(Photo by Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – Despite a near disastrous defensive breakdown late in the third period that allowed the Los Angeles Kings to force overtime by scoring two quick goals, the Utah Hockey Club found a way to get a 4-3 OT victory, courtesy of much improved offensive effort.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s first Rookie Faceoff victory over the Kings.
While they did score two goals against the San Jose Sharks in their first game, the Utah Hockey Club only managed a total of 20 shots while giving up a whopping 47. Against the Kings, things were quite a bit different, and it paid off.
Related: The Hat Trick: Utah Hockey Club Loses To San Jose Sharks Despite Scrappy Effort
Against Los Angeles, Utah was simply a different team offensively as they finished with a total of 40 shots on net. They also had nearly as many shots in each individual period against the Kings as they did all game against the Sharks. This heavily tilted the ice in their favor for most of the night as they were able to set up in LA’s zone consistently, put a lot more pucks on net, crashed hard and reaped the benefits.
Sure, it helped that they weren’t playing against the likes of Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith, but still. The offense looked better and a lot of it had to do with the fact that they simply took more shots. Wasn’t it Michael Scott who shared Wayne Gretzky’s quote that, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
Turns out Scott was right, and this was a gamechanger for the Utah Hockey Club.
While former first-round selection Maveric Lamoureux was a scratch for the matchup with the Kings, Utah’s defense stepped up and looked good for the majority of the game. They held their shape, remained physical, stepped in front of shots and only gave up four penalties whilst drawing seven against the Kings.
Again, it helps when first overall picks aren’t flying down the ice every few shifts, but until an absolute breakdown in the final three minutes, Utah dominated defensively for the vast majority of the night. The blue line also got a lot of help from the forwards who possessed the puck for a good portion of the game inside the Kings zone.
Unfortunately, uncharacteristic to how they played for 90% of the game, Utah absolutely fell apart in the last 2:30 of the third period to let the Kings right back into it.
Holy smokes. Utah’s defense completely falling apart late. Kings have scored two goals in the last minute after pulling their goaltender. Just gassed and let their guard down.
3-3 with a minute to go.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) September 15, 2024
After pulling their goaltender, the Kings somehow managed to scored two goals against Utah in just over a minute. On both goals, LA was able to setup inside Utah’s zone, fired an onslaught of shots on goal and crashed the net hard. This led to two quick goals and instead of a comfortable two-goal victory, Utah found themselves in OT.
Luckily, Owen Allard yet again stepped up for the club and scored a beauty from the slot to win the game for Utah.
OWEN ALLARD WITH THE GAME WINNER FOR UTAH!
UHC wins 4-3 in OT!
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) September 15, 2024
Following somewhat of an underwhelming performance against San Jose, first line center Cole Beaudoin was phenomenal against the Kings on Saturday night.
He won loose pucks, worked really hard in the defensive zone to help regain possession, was scrappy in the corners to prolong offensive possessions, created opportunities and made a much more significant impact while wearing the “C” on his white Utah sweater.
🥶🥶🥶 pic.twitter.com/MTUdBiJb47
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) September 15, 2024
He also stole a pass on the power-kill that resulted in breakaway opportunity. Despite being unable to finish, that’s exactly the type of effort you want from your top center.
While he wasn’t able to get onto the scoring sheet against LA, everything Beaudoin did in Utah’s second game is exactly why the Club drafted him in the first round. His relentless efforts all over the ice help to consistently regain the puck, clear the defensive zone and created scoring opportunities for himself and others.
Beaudoin is so scrappy. Works hard in both ends. Wins pucks in the defensive zone to clear things out and then works hard in the corners offensively to maintain possession and create.
Those are the types of things that turned him into a first round pick for Utah.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) September 15, 2024
As long as he continues to develop, Beaudoin has a great chance to be a top six center for the club at the NHL level.
Following their first victory, the club will conclude their schedule on Monday, Sept. 16 against the Vegas Golden Knights at 1:30 p.m. MT.
