Saturday night brought a huge win to the Delta Center for the Utah Hockey Club as they took down their division rivals, the St. Louis Blues, by a score of 4-2. It was a massive night for a lot of the players and Utah themselves as they got a crucial win to stay in the playoff picture. Here are some takeaways from Saturday night’s game.
Have a Night Clayton Keller
As expected, Clayton Keller scored against the Blues. However, Keller didn’t just score once. He ended the game with four points.
Keller’s night started on the power play with some nice passing with Logan Cooley. The puck eventually got to Michael Kesselring who sniped the puck past Jordan Binnington. Keller’s second assist came off of a shot that eventually was redirected into the net by Nick Schmaltz.
The third point for Keller was a beautiful one. After being tripped up, Cooley somehow managed to keep possession of the puck while drawing a penalty. Cooley passed it on his backhand to Keller who spun it around and got it past Binnington. It was a highlight reel goal and showed the growing chemistry between the two forwards.
Here’s another look at that goal. Keller had a big spin o’ rama to wheel that puck in. Incredible determination and skill by Cooley to keep that play going. #UtahHC https://t.co/uOdoMtlMxi
— Chase Beardsley (@ChaseBeardsley_) January 19, 2025
Keller’s fourth point came from a nice backhanded pass to Cooley who once again put it into the back of the net. With his four-point night, Keller tied his career high for the most amount of points scored in a single game. Cooley also tied his career high, ending the night with three points.
With his four points, Keller extended his point streak against the Blues to eight games. In those eight games, the Missouri native has five goals and 11 assists. Keller grew up playing hockey around St. Louis and rooted for the Blues. For him, it’s always a special treat to play against them.
“It’s always just a special feeling for me playing against them,” Keller said. “(It’s) the team I grew up watching, going to all the games, watching my favorite players, idolizing those guys. A lot of memories in St. Louis. It’s just a special feeling.”
For Cooley, he has quickly developed chemistry with his two new linemates. After Dylan Guenther was sidelined with injury, he was promoted to the top line with Keller and Schmaltz. Cooley has impressed many with his raw skill but hasn’t always produced the number of points many think he could get. Saturday’s game showed just how deadly he can be.
With Schmaltz and Keller, Cooley has thrived. The passing between the three forwards has been incredible and it showed with all of Utah’s goals against the Blues.
Related: Utah HC: Can Clayton Keller Match His Career-High Point Total This Season?
“They’re two unbelievable players,” Cooley said. “They make the game really easy for me. I think we’re just reading off each other really well right now. It’s big. It’s nice to have chemistry in this league. (It) allows you to make plays and eventually get chances and score like we did tonight.”
Even in the final couple of minutes, the top line still pushed to try to get another goal. It shows how hungry and determined Cooley, Keller, and Schmaltz were. The entire lineup looked great on Saturday, which is something that hasn’t been common this season with Utah. Head coach André Tourigny liked his team’s play against the Blues, especially the effort made by Keller and Cooley.
“I’ve said it many times how competitive those two guys are, they’re never satisfied,” Tourigny said. “I liked a lot of guys on our team, I liked the fight… If you look throughout the lineup, there’s a lot of positives.”
There were certainly a lot of positives across the lineup, especially from the top line. It was an impressive outing. It’s the type of play that Keller and Cooley need to keep up if they want to guide Utah to a playoff spot.
Connor Ingram Gets His Win and John Marino Has a Big Game
There were a lot of standouts for Utah on Saturday but one that might be overlooked is Connor Ingram, who got his first win since Nov. 7. Ingram looked outstanding vs. the Blues and it was a win well deserved.
After going through the death of his mother, Ingram was called up from the Tucson Roadrunners by Utah. His first game back against the New York Islanders was a terrific one by him. He made some excellent saves throughout the game and it looked like, at a point, he was going to get the win. Unfortunately, the team around him collapsed and Utah lost the game late in the third period despite Ingram making 29 saves and recording a .938 save percentage.
Against the Blues, Ingram once again came up huge, especially in the third period, where Utah took three straight penalties. Ingram made 22 saves on 24 shots. Arguably, the first goal by the Blues early in the first wasn’t his fault, as Liam O’Brien was out of position, allowing Tyler Tucker to hammer the puck home.
John Marino was a big help for Ingram as well. With Mikhail Sergachev being held out of the lineup, Marino was forced to be Utah’s number-one defenseman in just his third game back from injury, playing a total of 24:13 on Saturday.
The defenseman’s biggest moment was an impressive block during a penalty kill in the third period, which kept a shot from going into Utah’s wide-open net.
What a great look by John Marino shorthanded here. What an addition for Utah to have him healthy and in the lineup. #UtahHC https://t.co/w6u18Vngcy
— Chase Beardsley (@ChaseBeardsley_) January 19, 2025
Marino also got his first-ever point with Utah off of an assist from Schmaltz’s goal. All in all, it was an impressive game for Ingram and Marino. Although they didn’t show up on the scoresheet like Cooley and Keller, they were just as important in helping Utah win over the Blues.
A Massive Win for Utah
There’s no question that the win over the Blues was massive for Utah in a couple of different ways. The first is that Utah gets a much-needed win over a Central Division opponent. This keeps them in the wild-card hunt and keeps the Blues from pulling away further.
The win puts Utah at 45 points and keeps the Blues at 48 points. The Calgary Flames, who currently hold the second wild-card spot, and the Vancouver Canucks, who are right behind them, both won games on Saturday. This increased their point totals to 51 and 50 respectively. However, the win gets Utah within six points of the Flames, which is way better than eight.
The win also puts Utah back at .500. They are now 19-19-7 this season. It’s good enough to place them in sixth place in the Central Division.
The final reason why the win was so big for Utah was because it was another win on home ice, which has plagued the team all season long. The win against the Blues was just their seventh win at Delta Center. While Utah did get a win at Delta Center a week ago against the San Jose Sharks, there had been a couple of games in between that win and Saturday’s game, which brought back the narrative that the team just can’t win at home in front of their passionate fans. For many in the locker room, Saturday’s win felt incredible.
“There’s no better feeling than winning, especially on home ice,” Cooley said. “These fans deserve it, and obviously, it felt like it’s been a year since we had a win at home, so it’s nice. I thought it was a great effort by everyone in here, a full 60 minutes, and that’s how we need to play, especially [against] a team like that. It’s an important game. It’s basically a playoff game, so it’s unbelievable to get those two points.”
It’s two points and a win that could benefit Utah tremendously down the road, especially if they can keep up in the wild-card race. However, their sights need to be focused now on the immediate future, as they finish off their seven-game homestand against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. The Jets are 31-13-3 this season and are currently in first place in the Central Division. They are coming off of a 3-1 loss to the Flames. Utah last saw their division rivals in November when they were shut out 3-0 in Winnipeg.
