ELMONT, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 10: Dylan Guenther #11 of Utah Hockey Club skates against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on October 10, 2024 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS, Missouri – Minutes after giving up a lead they had held for much of the night, Dylan Guenther broke loose on a 2-on-1 breakaway and gave his team a late lead when his pass bounced off a St. Louis defender and into the net.
The St. Louis Blues (7-6-0, 14 points) are hosting the Utah Hockey Club (5-5-3, 13 points) at Enterprise Center on Thursday, November 7.
GREAT stick by Guenther to break up the pass and force an odd man rush the other way.
Definitely was trying to make a pass to Cooley but a lucky bounce puts the puck in the back of the net. https://t.co/p51SSiBtrE
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) November 8, 2024
Utah HC outshot the Blues all night long but struggled to break through. After Michael Kesselring scored the NHL’s fastest goal of the year 18 seconds after the puck dropped, the offense went dormant until Matias Maccelli beat Joel Hoffer for a 2-1 lead two minutes into the second period.
St. Louis never gave up, scoring a pair of equalizers, including Jordan Kyrou’s goal midway through the third that evened things at two.
Three minutes later, a poorly played puck from St. Louis ended up on Guenther’s stick in space. With one defender between him and Logan Cooley, Guenther held onto the puck until the last moment before trying to dish a pass to Cooley. The pass deflected off a Blues defender and into the net to give Utah momentum.
Utah added an empty-net goal late for a 4-2 win.
Generating shots on goal continues to be an issue as the season goes on for the Utah Hockey Club.
Utah averages 25.7 shots per game (28.5 league average) while allowing 29.6 a night. Through 12 games, Utah is 29th in the league in shots on goal and likely didn’t improve after only 21 against the Jets the last time out.
Taking on the Blues tonight. ⤵️https://t.co/HK1jvIPOiO
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) November 7, 2024
While their strategy isn’t necessarily to try and outshoot teams each contest, it’s becoming a pattern in losses, especially against some better teams.
Las Vegas outshot the team 35-19, the Sharks 46-23, Anaheim 34-30, New Jersey 32-20, and again against Winnipeg, 28-21.
They simply have to shoot more. Being outshot so heavily is unacceptable, resulting in a significant struggle to light the lamp.
Utah Hockey Club games can be viewed on SEG+. Fans can also tune in on air on the KSL Sports APP or 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. Listen to Cole break down the team on KSL Sports Zone and KSL 5 TV.
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Brian Preece is a KSLsports.com insider covering Locals in MLB and Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball coverage here.
