NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 12: The Utah Hockey Club celebrate a first period goal by Barrett Hayton #27 against Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on October 12, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK – Utah Hockey Club captain Clayton Keller scored his second goal of the season in the second period against the New York Rangers on Saturday.
Assisted by Alexander Kerfoot, Keller was set up right in front of goal for an easy tap-in.
The effort from Alex Kerfoot on this goal is unreal… 🥵 #NHLFaceOff pic.twitter.com/ARZQOhbPDw
— NHL (@NHL) October 13, 2024
Kerfoot applied pressure on the puck down the length of the rink and jumped on the opportunity once it presented itself. He wrapped the puck around the net and dumped it off to Keller for the goal.
Both of Utah’s first two goals gave them the lead but New York was able to quickly respond.
Following the captain’s score, Kevin Stenlund was able to find the back of the net from long range to put Utah up 4-2.
The two goals in less than three minutes nearly silenced the Madison Square Garden crowd.
He shoots, he scores ‼️
Kevin Stenlund goal! https://t.co/nGRHfvrG2U pic.twitter.com/uU1zreXEFZ
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) October 13, 2024
The cushion added to the lead proved to be valuable very quickly.
Less than a minute after Stenlund’s goal, New York scored to cut the lead in half.
While it’s only been two games since the start of the new NHL season, the Utah Hockey Club has been one of the hottest teams offensively in the league.
According to Captain Clayton Keller, Utah has found success by going back to the basics and executing inside close to the net.
With 10 goals in two games, Utah is tied with the Boston Bruins for the third most goals in the NHL. A season ago, it took the Coyotes four games to reach 10 goals as they were shut out once and only scored a single goal against the Rangers during that same stretch.
So, what’s working for the Utah Hockey Club early on this season? Aside from Dylan Guenther being an absolute menace offensively, Keller says it’s been their ability to get inside and return to the basics that has yielded an onslaught of goals through the first two games.
Through 2 games, the UHC is one of the top scoring teams in the NHL.
Clayton Keller said it’s been all about the basics and getting inside to create opportunities.#UtahHC pic.twitter.com/9pURq1xEx1
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) October 12, 2024
“Just getting to the inside and a lot of traffic as well,” Keller said. “We started off camp a little slow getting inside and just trying to make plays every time. We’ve kind of simplified it down a little bit and just going back to the basics. When you do that, the other plays open up. We’re going to continue to that, especially tonight.”
If you go back and watch the 10 goals Utah has scored, they’ve all come relatively close to the net with a plethora of bodies in front. Guenther’s first came near the top of the slot, Keller’s was on the doorstep, Barrett Hayton has scored twice on tips, Crouse netted one from the slot against the Islanders and Josh Doan tied the game late by crashing the net hard.
