SALT LAKE CITY – At the tail end of their four-game road trip, the Utah Hockey Club struggled on both ends of the ice and were shutout by the Nashville Predators. With continued offensive and defensive inconsistency, the Predators veteran lineup dominated Utah during key stretches for their first win in four games.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s loss to Nashville.
Against the Predators, Utah’s first period effort was very poor as they not only gave up two power play goals, but they were outshot 12-4, outhit 12-5 and sat in the box for a total of eight minutes.
None of those things are going to help you win an individual period, let alone a hockey game.
“They got momentum on their power play and obviously they got two goals off of it. We’ve got to try to kill those and give ourselves momentum. Tough game,” Kevin Stenlund said.
Probably one of the worst periods of hockey Utah has played this season.
They trail 2-0.
They were also outshot 13-4, outhit 12-5, and sat in the box for 8 minutes.
Have to regroup and respond in the second.#UtahHC
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) November 10, 2024
Coming into tonight, the Nashville Predators were the No. 13 power play unit in the National Hockey League at 20.8 percent.
Allowing them eight minutes of a man advantage was playing with fire, especially with Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Philip Forsberg on the other side of the puck.
Power play off to a hot start 🔥 pic.twitter.com/FgDSdsDOZB
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) November 10, 2024
Told ya the power play was feeling it 😏 pic.twitter.com/McHhNeRAnX
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) November 10, 2024
In addition to the two goals, the Nashville power plays also decimated Utah’s offense as they were defending their own zone for a majority of the period and could not get the momentum to swing in their direction.
The Utah Hockey Club is not being outplayed for entire games in their one-sided loses. But they are consistently playing poor stretches of hockey that put them in a hole, and they fail to crawl their way out.
Entering tonight’s matchup, the Nashville Predators were the worst team in the NHL with just nine points. But rather than giving in, Nashville played with desperation and were a vicious wounded animal.
Right from the start, Nashville was relentless on the forecheck, suffocated Utah in their own zone and outshot them 12-4 in the first period while lighting the lamp twice.
Nashville also seized a big moment when Utah suffered a critical defensive breakdown, and Forsberg danced his way to another goal and a 3-0 lead.
The mustache is alive 👨 pic.twitter.com/jjEgInX2I7
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) November 10, 2024
For the Utah Hockey Club, there just wasn’t enough desperation or urgency against Nashville. They started off slow, dug a hole with a plethora of penalties and failed to score.
Now, it’s understandable that the energy wasn’t quite there as Utah wrapped up a four-game road trip against the Predators. But still, a 4-0 loss to the worst team in the league is an unacceptable result.
Saturday night was an opportunity to finish the road trip strong, create some consistency, take advantage of a struggling team and return home with five of eight possible points.
November is arguably the toughest month for the Utah Hockey Club. They’ll need to play desperate hockey to consistently find wins.
Related: November Will Be Critical Month For Utah Hockey Club Amid Difficult Schedule
Over the last nine games, the Utah Hockey Club has been shut out three times, outscored 31-19 and posted a 2-5-2 record.
#UtahHC loses 4-0 to the Nashville Predators.
Over the last nine games, Utah has been shutout 3 times, outscored 31-19, and posted a 2-5-2 record.
Four game road trip ends 1-2-1 and it doesn’t get any easier heading home.
Utah needs to find some consistency.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) November 10, 2024
During that stretch, both the goaltending and the goal scoring has been so inconsistent. While they dominated the Calgary Flames 5-1 and took care of business against the St. Louis Blues 4-2, they also lost to the Ottawa Senators and Colorado Avalanche by a collective score of 9-1 in addition to shutouts against the Predators and Winnipeg Jets.
On both ends of the ice there’s way too much inconsistency.
For most of the past few weeks, the net has felt impenetrable at times and was for three entire games. However, against Calgary and San Jose, everyone was getting in on the fun as they scored nine goals between the two matchups.
As for their own net, Utah ranks No. 26 in the NHL with 3.36 goals against per game and a collective .885 save percentage. Sure, a lot of penalties have contributed to those numbers as their percentage jumps near .92 when playing 5-on-5, but the goaltending simply has to be better if Utah wants to win more games.
Related: Three Highs, Three Lows For Utah Hockey Club After 13 Games
“On our side, we need to find a way to generate more offense from our O-zone play,” head coach Andre Tourigny said. “I think our rush comes to life right now. We’re having more speed in the neutral zone, a few good looks but we need to find a way to generate from our O-zone play.”
Offensively, Utah just hasn’t looked anywhere near as good as they did in the first three games of the season. They’re playing too high in the O-zone, failing to create second-chance opportunities, aren’t generating enough traffic and shooters are not getting to their spots. Barrett Hayton has gone cold; Logan Cooley has struggled to score, and Nick Schmaltz has yet to light the lamp this season.
Simply put, the team needs to find some consistency and fast because the gauntlet schedule of November has just begun.
The Utah Hockey Club will now return home and begin a three-game homestand against the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday 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.
