The Hat Trick: Utah Hockey Club Lose Another At Home To St. Louis Blues

Feb 2, 2025 , 9:17 PM | Updated: Feb 3, 2025, 1:06 pm

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COLE BAGLEY


Utah Hockey Club Insider

SALT LAKE CITY – In spite of another one goal loss, the Utah Hockey Club simply lacked energy throughout the majority of the contest against the St. Louis Blues. While Michael Kesselring was able to tie things up in the third and give Utah some new life, the team played flat for the majority of the game and surrendered two precious points to a desperate St. Louis team.

Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s loss to the Blues.

After a rough season, Utah Hockey Club needs to consider scratching Lawson Crouse

Through 52 games with the Utah Hockey Club this season, forward and Associate Captain Lawson Crouse has managed just 11 points despite appearing in every contest.

How does that compare to last year?

As of right now Crouse is on pace to finish with a measly 17 points in 2024-25, down approximately 59 percent year-over-year (42 points in 2023-24).

Simply not good enough, especially when the team has been desperate for more offense.

But what about his defensive presence?

A lot of the time, Crouse can be quite impactful defensively with his size, physical play and an active stick which has earned him a spot on the PK.

However, against the Blues, the forward made a critical mistake in overcommitting to the puck which left his assignment wide open, and St. Louis cashed in.

In light of the recent scratch to Matias Maccelli, Crouse would greatly benefit from a similar message from the coaching staff.

As a primary leader on the team, Utah simply needs more from their Associate Captain as hopes of a playoff push begin to dwindle.

Utah is desperate for both offense and wins. If they’re going to achieve either, they need a lot more from Crouse and a scratch just might send the right message to appropriately motivate him.

The Four Nations Tournament couldn’t come at a better time for Utah Hockey Club

While every team in the NHL will benefit from the Four Nations tournament in February, Utah may perhaps have the most to gain from the lengthy break.

With only two players participating (Olli Maatta & Juuso Valimaki) and two critical players getting closer to a return, Utah desperately needs some time off to recuperate, reenergize and regroup before potentially making a final effort at a playoff push.

“You just grind through it. These are playoff games for us. We need to win. We need to push,” Kesselring said.

“It’s the NHL, we’ve got to find a way here.”

Over the last few games, the team has simply looked tired and why wouldn’t they be?

52 games into the NHL season, they’ve experienced an unfair number of injuries to some of their star players which has put a lot of extra weight on others.

Clayton Keller, Mikhail Sergachev, Logan Cooley and Nick Schmaltz have carried this team for a majority of the season as they’ve accounted for roughly 42 percent of the team’s offensive production.

But with Cooley now out in addition to Dylan Guenther and Sean Durzi, Utah understandably needs time off.

That way, they can hopefully get healthy, play as close to a full roster as possible and make more of a legitimate push as long as they’re able to pick up some points before the break.

“It’s super important. For us, we’re in a sprint. I talked before, it’s a race. Every step is important. It’s an extremely huge game for us (Tuesday) against Philly,” head coach Andre Tourigny said.

“We need the two points; we need to finish the homestand at least at .500, hit the road and have a helluva road trip before the break. There’s no doubt about it.”

If not, it may not fully matter.

But if they do somehow manage to finish strong, their best chance to make a push will come after some needed rest.

Utah Hockey Club played flat while St. Louis remained desperate

Despite just another one goal loss on home ice, the Utah Hockey Club significantly lacked energy against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday night.

Outside of roughly a five-minute stretch in the third period after Michael Kesselring tied things up, Utah was flat and played uninspired.

“There’s no excuses,” Michael Kesselring said. “We had an easy day yesterday. Obviously, it’s a tough part of the year but you’ve got to be ready to play. It’s the NHL.”

Through 60 minutes of hockey, Utah was outshot 29-25, outhit 23-12, lost 62.5 percent of faceoffs and only generated two takeaways to the Blues eight.

The result?

Another loss at home and even more points squandered amidst a critical stretch of hockey.

“Everyone’s really said all that can be said. At some point, it needs to get put into practice,” Ian Cole said.

“We’re judged on whether we win or lose. Obviously, it’s something we need to change right now & right away.”

Like Cole pointed out, there’s really nothing more that can be said as of right now. They simply need to play better.

If not, this team is going to have a tough time making any sort of push if they’re more than 10 points behind a wild card spot.

Next For The Utah Hockey Club

The Utah Hockey Club will host the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday 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. 

Cole Bagley is the Utah Hockey Club insider for KSL Sports. Keep up with him on X here. You can hear Cole break down the team on KSL Sports Zone and KSL 5 TV.

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