SALT LAKE CITY – Despite a hard-fought battle and a more closely contested game than the final score depicted, the Utah Hockey Club dropped another one at home to the Colorado Avalanche. While Nathan MacKinnon and his squad proved to be just a bit too much, Utah continued to demonstrate their progress and potential in a one-shot game against another potential Stanley Cup contender.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s loss in the Rocky Mountain Rivalry.
It’s been a season of adversity for the Utah Hockey Club as they’ve been hit hard by the injury bug on both their blue and between the pipes.
However, following an upper-body injury to Connor Ingram, Karel Vejmelka has not only answered the call, but he’s been sensational for Utah as their top goalie.
“He’s been great,” Coach Andre Tourigny said. “He’s been tuned in, kept us in the game. Gives a chance every night to win the game.”
Entering the matchup with Colorado, Vejmelka boasted the fourth best save percentage in the National Hockey League at .917 percent.
He’s also top five in terms of goals against per game at 2.33. Simply elite netminding since accepting the No. 1 spot.
Against the Avalanche, Vejmelka remained superb as he made several monstrous saves and was a reliable anchor during penalty kills.
Vejmelka with a HUGE save on MacKinnon and the Veggie chants erupt at Delta Center.
Miscommunication by Utah gave MacKinnon a wide-open opportunity on the doorstep. He elected to shoot, and Veggie slammed the door.
Big time save.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) December 28, 2024
To stop MacKinnon in a one-on-one situation like he did was a testament to how good he’s been for Utah this season.
Rather than panic, he remained composed, kept his stance and didn’t bite when MacKinnon tried to craft a way to beat him in close.
Not a typical response from most goaltenders when MacKinnon has a Grade A chance near the net.
“He’s obviously unbelievable. His stats show that. He comes in and gives us confidence every game. He’s not just stopping pucks, but playing the pucks well too. He’s huge and we love his game,” Mikhail Sergachev said.
Sergachev on Vejmelka: “He’s obviously unbelievable. His stats show that. He comes in and gives us confidence every game. He’s not just stopping pucks, but playing the pucks well too. He’s huge and we love his game.”#UtahHC pic.twitter.com/HIT50TVyHd
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) December 28, 2024
With 33 saves on 35 shots (94 percent), Vejmelka was the number one reason that Utah had a chance against Colorado despite conceding twice.
If they can find ways to win more of these close games, Utah very well could ride his hot glove into the playoffs as he’s been simply phenomenal.
Despite tying the game early in the third period and reclaiming momentum, the Utah Hockey Club experienced a poor defensive breakdown with just a few minutes remaining in the third that ultimately cost them the game.
Fire us 🆙#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/FfAtygrqMW
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) December 28, 2024
“D1 should have a better gap. We should have a better track from our fourth guy. From the moment they kicked out, we had a forward who was playing in the position of the defenseman and should have taken the speed to the net. When you play defense, you take the speed to the net, and you let the forward track on the outside,” Tourigny explained.
“We made quite a few mistakes on that one. I think it’s four mistakes. Your system must allow one mistake, not four. You need a great save from your goalie to bail you out. Too many mistakes.”
Yet again another close game at home decided by a single shot. But why does this seem to keep happening?
According to Nick Schmaltz and Coach Tourigny, Utah may just be playing a bit simpler on the road than at Delta Center.
“Might play a little different on the road. Whether you simplify a little bit more and try to take the crowd out of it…it’s frustrating for sure. I think we can make this a tough place to play. So, that’s the ultimate goal,” Schmaltz said.
“We want to do too much. We get emotional really quickly in the game. The frustration is easier, to get under our skin and stuff like that. We would love to be at the level of the energy of our fans…the effort is there; the love is there. Now we need to find a way to just stay a little bit more composed and a little bit more even keeled. Get the deal done,” Tourigny added.
Playing in front of a home crowd like Delta Center is a new experience for a lot of these players.
For the last few seasons, they’ve been in a much smaller building and struggled at times to fill it with more home than away fans.
So, learning to deal with the emotions and pressure of performing in front of strong home crowd is an understandable challenge. With time, that pressure will fade, and they’ll figure out how to make Delta Center a tough place to play from visiting clubs.
While the Colorado Avalanche ultimately defeated Utah 4-1, the final score did not accurately depict the fact that this was another one-shot game.
Similar to their previous seven losses, the outcome against Colorado was decided by just a single goal.
Frustrating, but a really good sign when you consider their competition and the growth that this team is demonstrating.
“It’s one shot away tonight…same thing against Dallas, we’re right there…those teams believe they have a chance to win a Stanley Cup this year. We fight to make the playoff. Those guys want to win the Stanley Cup…We’re right there with them…We just need to trust the process and stay with it…just keep closing the gap with those teams. We’re right behind them,” Tourigny said.
To his credit, Utah has progressed a lot already this season. They’re exceeding expectations, have strung together some nice wins, responded to adversity and are still well in the playoff conversation with more than half of the season remaining.
The key, however, will be continuing to build. Learning from games like this and figuring out how to become a team that makes the big play consistently rather than being on the losing end of those.
“I think in those critical moments; we have to step up and make a play when it matters. I think that’s what it comes down to. It’s either you make the play, or they make the play. It’s tough to be on the end of those games where we’re losing by one, so we have to find a way,” Schmaltz said.
Will that come this season? That remains to be seen. But this team is clearly growing and getting better with each passing day.
They’re equipped with future superstars, a superb goaltender, talented veterans, a plethora of prospects and a handful of defensemen that at some point will return from injury.
If Utah can learn in the near future how to finish off more of these close games, that’s when they’ll be a team like Dallas or Colorado with legitimate aspirations of winning a Stanley Cup.
The Utah Hockey Club will travel to Seattle to take on the Kraken on Monday 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.
