Utah was bound to lose at some point in the season. While it took them until the fourth game of the season to lose their first game in history, it was a talented New Jersey Devils who shut them out 3-0. While there are things to learn from the loss, the eastern seaboard road trip can be labeled as a success. Here are some takeaways from Monday afternoon’s game.
Utah HC’s Special Teams Were Abysmal
On a complete flip from Saturday’s game, Utah’s power play and penalty kill didn’t look great. It was a sudden change from the incredible-looking special teams from the game against the New York Rangers.
Power play-wise, the team wasn’t setting up as well as they had on Saturday. Of course, the Devils’ defense looked very good both offensively and defensively. Seamus Casey produced two points in the win. However, not only did Utah fail to deliver the pressure that they did on Saturday, but they also failed to get any shots on Jake Allen during the power play.
It wasn’t just the power play where the offense was severely lacking. Most of Utah’s shots were easy saves. The Devils easily outshot Utah 33-20 and despite a couple of chances including early in the first where Allen barely saved a wrap-around chance from Utah, it wasn’t the team that we’ve seen in the past three games.
Going back to special teams, Utah’s penalty kill hampered them as well. The defense was poorly positioned on most of the power play opportunities which allowed the Devils to control and dominate the game. Two of the three Devils’ goals came on the power play including Nico Hischier’s third-period goal that you could see coming from a mile away.
The clear problem was the amount of penalties Utah took. The Devils had seven power play opportunities. If you look through the penalties, there are some careless ones. One that stands out is the bench minor for too many men on the ice. Fans who have been following this team for a while know it’s a common penalty for them to take. It’s been one of the only criticisms so far in head coach Andre Tourigny’s career but it is something that needs to be fixed.
One of Utah’s flaws so far this season is their abundance of penalties. They are currently one of the most penalized teams in the league and it could be a huge weakness going forward. Of course, the penalty kill needs to improve but the main thing that needs to happen is reducing the amount of careless penalties the team is taking. Moving forward to the next game, it’s something Utah needs to address to be the best team they can be.
Karel Vejmelka Looked Good in Season Debut
Although not a lot of players had a great game against the Devils, Karel Vejmelka looked stellar. After Connor Ingram started the first three games for Utah, Vejmelka made his season debut on Monday. The Czech goaltender made 30 saves against a highly talented Devils team.
Despite getting the loss, Vejmelka posted a .909 save percentage and helped kill off five of the seven Devils power plays. It was a good sign for the goaltender who struggled at points last season which eventually led to Ingram getting the starter’s position near the end of the season.
If Vejmelka can play at the level he did on Monday for the rest of the season, Utah could have a two-headed monster in net this year. Ingram, like Vejmelka, has looked great so far this season. Paired with an improved defense, especially when John Marino returns from injury, scoring against Utah could be a difficult task for opponents this season.
Decent Road Trip so Far
Despite the loss against the Devils, it’s been an excellent start for Utah this season. A 3-1-0 start isn’t bad at all, especially when you consider the three most recent games were against opponents who have made the playoffs in the past two seasons. Comparing last season’s eastern seaboard road trip, the team managed to get one more win than last season’s team.
While there have been some issues that have arisen over the past four games including a potential Sean Durzi injury which could be concerning, the team has looked good and a lot of the players are having career starts including the NHL’s First Star of the Week Dylan Guenther and Barrett Hayton. However, there are 79 games left in the season to try to win. While the road trip has been a success so far, Utah will quickly look to their next set of games to try to get an early lead in the Central Division.
One more game remains on the road trip as Utah travels to the other side of the country to play the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. The Ducks are 1-1-0 so far this season and are coming off a 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
