SALT LAKE CITY – As the city of Salt Lake got their first taste of Connor McDavid’s greatness, the Utah Hockey Club managed a point against the Edmonton Oilers despite another poor second period performance. While Lawson Crouse finally managed to break his cold streak, and the second line stayed hot, the Utah Hockey Club will need to correct their recent second period woes to avoid dropping more points.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s overtime loss to Edmonton.
After 14 games, forward Lawson Crouse was finally able to net one and break out of his cold streak with a timely goal to tie things up against the Oilers in the third period.
Big time goal to break the cold streak.
Great pass from Bjugstad and Crouse buries it top shelf. Well done, Sheriff 🤠 https://t.co/83qGu6Kpgq
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) November 30, 2024
“Finally. I’ve had some good looks throughout the last couple weeks, and they weren’t going in. It’s easy to get down on yourself but you’ve just got to keep doing the things that you do and tonight it went in,” Crouse said.
Lawson Crouse on scoring his first since Oct. 24: “Finally. I’ve had some good looks throughout the last couple weeks and they weren’t going in. It’s easy to get down on yourself but you’ve just got to keep doing the things that you do and tonight it went in.”#UtahHC pic.twitter.com/YvsLupUyb7
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) November 30, 2024
Every NHL player is prone to cold streaks occasionally but considering how long Crouse went without a goal, it was a huge positive for him to see one go in.
“That was a big positive point of the night. You know, Bjugstad, him, and Maccelli played against McDavid all night long. At five on five, they shut him down and got the big goal to get us a point. So, there’s a lot of positive there,” Head coach Andre Tourigny said.
The key for Crouse moving forward will be take this goal and build off of it. Over the last few weeks, this team has been somewhat lacking in terms of veteran production as Nick Schmaltz and Michael Carcone have yet to score this season, Keller hasn’t scored since October 30th and Crouse just barely netted his first since October 24th.
Utah needs more production from their veterans and Crouse needs to seize the opportunity to lead that charge.
As of late, the Utah Hockey Club’s second line has easily been their best and it’s not particularly close.
Over the past four games, Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley and Jack McBain have collectively scored seven of Utah’s 14 goals with seven assists as well. Whether it’s Guenther’s sharpshooting, Cooley’s speed or McBain’s physicality, they’ve used their individual strengths to light the lamp and lead the way with great hockey.
Breaking it down a bit further, the second line is about as well-balanced as a forward line can be in the NHL. They’ve got speed, shooting, physicality, active sticks, hustle, great passing, chemistry, a strong net presence and an ability to put the puck in the net consistently.
Against the Oilers, that was again on full display throughout the game as they produced some wizard offensive plays with several no-look passes, well placed pucks and a Cooley goal.
Watch Cooley the whole way.
Puck doesn’t go originally, it gets wrapped around the zone, he goes straight to the net and works hard for a greaser goal.
The 2nd line is Utah’s best right now. Producing a lot of goals lately.#UtahHC https://t.co/tW4pgzxyXt
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) November 30, 2024
“Our line as a whole has a lot of different aspects that help us be successful…we’re all pretty young too so we bring that young juice, young speed, and it’s a lot of fun to play with those guys,” Dylan Guenther said.
The most exciting part about this line is the fact that they are so incredibly young. Cooley and Guenther are only 21 years old and McBain is just 24. These guys are only scratching the surface in terms of potential and will get a lot better as they lead this team towards contending down the road.
A consistent issue for the Utah Hockey Club recently has been poor second period performances where they absolutely implode, lose their composure and the game gets away from them.
It happened against Boston, Toronto and again against Edmonton on Friday night. During those periods, Utah has been collectively outscored 7-0 and ended up losing each game because of it.
“I think we got killed on the PK in the second period…we’ll work on it and get better,” Kevin Stenlund said.
Another consistent and costly pattern is the number of penalties Utah committed during those periods. Between those three games, Utah committed nine total penalties and gave up several power play goals to the opposition. Against the Oilers, two of the three were surrendered while down a man which gave Edmonton a 3-2 lead and all the momentum.
Salt Lake Leo 😎 #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/gITftnxVEo
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 30, 2024
Davo Deluxe 😳 #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/LK6wGRnSX7
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 30, 2024
The composure simply has to be better. Most nights, Utah comes out buzzing in the first period and dominates the game in almost every facet. But as of late, they’ve taken their foot off of the gas, given up penalties, surrendered the momentum and ended up losing because of a poor display in the second 20 minutes.
“I think just to stick with it—there’s going to be highs and lows in hockey games, but it’s how quickly you can bounce back and get that momentum back. That’s just what you gotta do” Crouse said.
Sometimes, the difference between making the playoffs and missing them can be a matter of a few points. So, while it was a positive that they were able to get one, they should’ve secured a second.
The Utah Hockey Club will now travel to Las Vegas for a matchup with the Golden Knights 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.
