SALT LAKE CITY- The Utah Hockey Club and Anaheim Ducks are in the midst of an exciting Sunday matchup as the two teams combined for three goals in the first period.
The first goal was a gritty effort at the front of the net from Clayton Keller who put a rebound into the back of the net, and the second goal came when Utah turned the puck over near the blue line, which resulted in a 2-on1 in favor of the Ducks. Robby Fabbri took advantage and tied the game at one goal a piece.
For the majority of the first period, Utah and Anaheim battled to find the lead.
After two penalties in quick succession, the Hockey Club and Ducks found themselves playing with open ice during two minutes of 4-on-4 play. Utah was looking for an opening in their offensive zone as Olli Maatta danced across the blue line. Barrett Hayton cut backdoor on his defender and Maatta hit him with a pass on the left side of the crease. Hayton received it and patiently moved across the face of the goaltender waiting for a window. As the goalie pushed off to move to his left, his legs opened and Hayton slit the puck through and into the back of the net.
The Utah Hockey Club took this momentum into the first intermission.
Good find from Keller and a nasty finish from Hayton in front.
Great patience. Utah up 2-1. https://t.co/iPwz2vwbN5
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) December 22, 2024
While the number of penalties taken by the Utah Hockey Club on Friday was not ideal, their response to all five was perfect as they refused to allow Minnesota to score.
In addition to superb netminding from Karel Vejmelka, Utah had textbook positioning, an impenetrable shape and continuously sacrificed their bodies to block shots.
“We made some adjustments on the PK, it works well…We get big blocked shot, we get urgency. So, that’s pretty good. Power play, I don’t think we were extremely good, but we scored,” head coach Andre Tourigny said.
Utah simply responded when they needed to and that’s been the story as of late for this team.
After Minnesota scored in the first period, Utah responded with a tying goal just moments later.
Whether it was penalties committed in the first, second or third periods, they responded with critical stops.
When Minnesota pulled their goaltender late in the third for an extra attacker, the team held their ground, cleared the puck and secured the victory.
Regardless of what has been thrown at them, Utah has discovered a way to respond and that’s made a massive difference in winning close games, even if they are a bit greasy.
