SALT LAKE CITY – Despite efforts to try and find consistency, the Utah Hockey Club struggled yet again to play a complete game and were completely overwhelmed by Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. With two more goals added to Ovechkin’s pursuit of the all-time goal record at Delta Center, Utah struggled all over the ice and is still seeking answers after a 6-2 loss to Washington.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s deflating loss.
Coming into the game against the Washington Capitals, the Utah Hockey Club was ranked No. 25 in the NHL with a 15.9 percent power play unit. Against the Capitals, it only got worse as they went zero for seven on the man advantage and failed to capitalize in key moments.
Utah is 0/6 on the PP tonight.
They’ve had good possession but just cannot seem to generate overly dangerous opportunities.
Something needs to change there.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) November 19, 2024
With that many opportunities, you simply have to net one as a team is begging to be scored on by giving up so many chances. Unfortunately, Utah was unable to do so, and it was a primary reason that the Capitals were able to keep Utah at comfortable distance.
Now, the power plays weren’t completely terrible, they just couldn’t find the back of the net. Utah did well at possessing the puck, moving it throughout the zone and generating some shots. But most the time, it felt like they were making one too many passes and not putting enough quality shots on goal.
“We’re not getting enough from anybody. We’re getting possession, shots, things like that, but we don’t finish. We missed the net on a lot of great opportunities,” head coach Andre Tourigny said.
In addition to the inability to create quality opportunities, they also had three or four go off the post and quite a few shots that went wide for a combination of bad luck and poor execution.
Nice possession from #UtahHC on the PP but they’re 0/3 tonight including a 5 on 3 for 24 seconds.
Hit the post twice and a couple blocked shots from Washington. Those are opportunities you HAVE to capitalize on when you’re playing a team this good.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) November 19, 2024
Ultimately, something needs to change with Utah’s power play. They’ve really struggled through the early parts of the season, and it doesn’t appear that it’s going to get any better. There’s just too much talent on this special team’s unit to be performing as poorly as they are.
Just as they’ve done with the regular lines, Utah may want to consider switching it up on the top power play unit. Replacing Nick Schmaltz with Logan Cooley or Matias Maccelli may provide a spark as those two have better chemistry with Dylan Guenther.
Lawson Crouse on the power play: “We have to be way better. It’s easy to sit here and say that we hit crossbars but that’s no excuse. We’ve got to find a way to put the puck in the back of the net…we were 0/7, that’s not good enough.”#UtahHC pic.twitter.com/G5knxuUEdx
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) November 19, 2024
“We have to be way better. It’s easy to sit here and say, we hit cross bars, but that’s no excuse. We have got to find a way to put the puck in the back of the net. We had seven chances tonight, and we were 0-7, that’s not good enough…Maybe you tie the game up and it’s a different story. We’ve talked about a lot, we’re talking about it consistently, in the room in intermission, seeing what we can do. It’s hard to pick one thing, but we have got to be much better,” Crouse said.
Like Crouse said, they simply have to be better.
Through their first 18 games of the season, the Utah Hockey Club has made a habit of playing bad hockey during key stretches.
The same can be said regarding their performance against the Capitals as they gave up two goals in 10 seconds and four unanswered goals between the first and second periods.
Ian Cole: “We have a bit too much of a macro instead of more of a micro view in terms of individual guys winning their shift…when things start to slip, they slip big…we don’t really need cheerleaders, we need to fix the issues.”#UtahHC pic.twitter.com/uZhLjElcpM
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) November 19, 2024
“I think we could get into a lot of more detailed things as to why. But personally, I think that we have maybe a bit too much of a macro view instead of more of a micro view in terms of individual guys winning their shift or winning their responsibility on the ice, whatever that is. I think we have a tendency to when things start to slip, they slip big. We kind of get the weight of the world on our shoulders, and we need to do a better job of grabbing that before that kind of snowballs into a 2, 3, or 4 goal lead,” Ian Cole said.
No team is going to win hockey games with so many breakdowns and poor stretches. But right now, that seems to be absolutely plaguing the Utah Hockey Club.
The toughest part is that when this team is at their best, they’re a very good squad that can compete with anybody. However, most nights they’ve been their own worst enemy and consistently put themselves in deep holes early on without any chance of climbing out.
It’s never an easy decision but the Utah Hockey Club is facing a dilemma in net, and they need solutions before things get out of hand.
Coming into the game against Washington, Utah’s netminders had a collective .894 save percentage with 3.29 goals against per night. Not great.
Breaking it down further, No. 1 goaltender Connor Ingram has a .879 save percentage with 3.4 goals against while Karel Vejmelka owns a .921 save percentage with 2.49 goals against.
Against the Capitals, it was arguably the worst showing between the pipes for Utah all season. With only 24 shots on net, Washington scored six goals (75 save percentage) and dominated Utah on the scoreboard. Against just 13 shots, Ingram allowed four goals (69 save percentage) and was pulled in the second period. A necessary change.
“At that point we needed to try to get some momentum back and spark something. We thought it was the right decision,” Tourigny said.
Connor Ingram is headed to the bench after allowing a fourth goal.
Vejmelka will take the net.#UtahHC
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) November 19, 2024
As for Vejmelka, he finished with nine saves on 11 shots (81 save percentage). Still not great, but better.
In the NHL, goaltending is often based on who has the hot glove and right now, its Vejmelka. Not that he’s been outstanding, and his sample size is quite a bit smaller, but he has been better as of late and appears to be more confident right now.
With that in mind, the rotation needs to shift in favor of Vejmelka. He’s been more reliable and has given Utah a better chance to win in the games he’s played.
The Utah Hockey Club will now begin a four-game road trip against Boston on Thursday 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.
