SALT LAKE CITY – Despite a heartbreaking loss to the Minnesota Wild in the first-ever NHL shootout inside Delta Center, the Utah Hockey Club played a respectable game and still managed a point. With continued production from their fourth line, a strong third period and a heroic response from their captain, Utah is still playing really good hockey.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s shootout loss to the NHL’s top team.
Over the last six games, the Utah Hockey Club has been getting superb production from their fourth line.
During that span, Alexander Kerfoot, Kevin Stenlund and Michael Carcone have combined for seven goals and six assists. Not only have they been one of Utah’s most productive lines, but they have also been arguably one of the best fourth lines in the NHL in recent weeks.
3️⃣ goals in the last 3️⃣ games for Stenny! @budlight | #EasyToCelebrate pic.twitter.com/PM2Z2GYmij
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) December 11, 2024
Against the Minnesota Wild, the fourth line remained hot and had no problem producing against the NHL’s best team as Carcone assisted Stenlund on a gorgeous one-timer for his third-straight game with a goal.
“He [Kevin Stenlund] is awesome. Such a great guy, great player. He does all the little things right. He’s probably got one of the best sticks that I’ve ever seen.”
“He’s always in the right spots; he’s picking passes off. He’s scored a couple of goals lately and it’s great to see him rewarded. Can’t say enough great things about him,” Clayton Keller said.
This was a phenomenal sequence from #UtahHC.
Not shown was the elite zone entry and sneaky shot fake from Maatta to free up space.
Utah then followed it up with nice movement, great patience, net traffic and a great one-timer from Stenlund. https://t.co/Ng4JMn44wW
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) December 11, 2024
This sudden outburst of production has come at a really good time for the Utah Hockey Club.
The fourth line has certainly answered the call in terms of veteran production and been one of the primary reasons Utah has picked up some much-needed wins and a few extra overtime points recently.
“It means a lot right now,” head coach Andre Tourigny said. “They’re playing really well right now. They bring a lot of momentum to our team. They play good minutes against any line as well…I like what they do offensively but defensively as well.”
Generally, fourth lines aren’t quite this productive, so to say that Utah has greatly benefited from their efforts is an understatement.
While the fourth line has been rolling as of late, the third line has been abysmal and really struggled to produce.
Over the last six games, Lawson Crouse, Nick Bjugstad and Matias Maccelli have combined for just one goal and four assists. Meanwhile, a guy like Logan Cooley has three goals and two assists during that same stretch on his own.
Now, one could argue that the third line has been starting and playing against opposing team’s top units. While that is true, they’re plus/minus is collectively minus seven on the year.
Additionally, that shouldn’t necessarily stunt production in such an extreme manner and keep you from putting the puck in the back of the net.
If this continues over the next two or three games, something needs to change because it’s reaching alarming levels.
Why not bring Josh Doan or Kailer Yamamoto back up from the AHL? There’s no guarantee they’ll produce but either of those players would come with a fire in their belly and give 110 percent effort every night as they are desperate to prove they belong.
After scoring only one goal since October 30 and struggling to personally light the lamp, captain Clayton Keller was a man on a mission against the Minnesota Wild as he scored two power play goals to keep the team in the game during clutch moments.
🚨 KELLS RINGS THE BELL! pic.twitter.com/FB153MJRYN
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) December 11, 2024
“I thought those two were really clutch at key moments. I like the way he competes. I think his game is really taking off, and the way he competes, the way he works from the inside, both sides of the puck. He’s doing a good job,” Tourigny said.
That’s what a team needs from their captain. To step up in big moments when a team is desperate for a goal to stay in the game. He did that twice on the power play to keep Utah afloat when they had no other choice but to respond.
“I felt like I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can every day…I’m just going to try to be the best captain I can be and help this team win hockey games and get into the playoffs,” Keller said.
Aside from the captain’s heroics, Utah played good hockey and forced the NHL’s best team to a shootout in an eight-goal game. That’s impressive. Especially considering the fact that Minnesota has allowed the fewest goals in the league and were only allowing 2.4 a night.
Utah put four on them and managed to still secure a point.
“I think the biggest positive, for sure, was…(that) I don’t think we really had our execution in the first 40 minutes. I think we were chasing the game a little bit. But the way that we came out in the third period, that was really good (on) our end,” Valimaki said.
“We’re playing good hockey…Sometimes we haven’t gotten the results. It’s been good the last couple games. Really good third; we’ll take that away. We wanted to try and find a way to get a win there. With how the first 40 minutes went, we can be proud of our effort in the third.”
Is it a bummer to be leading by a goal with less than a minute left in regulation and lose 1-0 in a shootout? Absolutely. But to force the NHL’s best to the brink, respond after a poor second period, get a huge lift from your captain and play another really good hockey game is very impressive.
The Utah Hockey Club will now travel to Colorado to face the Avalanche 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.
