A change of scenery wasn’t any help for the Utah Hockey Club as they ventured to Southern California to play a quick one-game road trip against the Los Angeles Kings. Despite some line changes, the return of one of their leaders, and a player scoring their first goal for the team, Utah was unable to end its losing streak, falling to the Kings 3-2. What happened at Crypto.com Arena that was different from the prior losses? Here are some takeaways from Saturday’s (Oct. 26) game.
Nick Bjugstad Returns
There’s no doubt that Nick Bjugstad is a big part of Utah’s locker room and culture. After sitting out the first eight games of the season with a lower-body injury, the forward made his Utah debut on Saturday against the Kings on a line with Matias Maccelli and Lawson Crouse.
The line played decently, creating the first couple of chances for Utah early. While neither he nor his line ended up on the scoresheet, Bjugstad looked pretty good, especially considering he hadn’t played in a regular season game since last season.
“I felt alright,” Bjugstad said. “On the goal, I could have been a little more on the defensive side. (I’m) just trying to keep growing each and every day and trying to get better.”
Nick Bjugstad is making his season and Utah debut this afternoon. He will play on a line with Lawson Crouse and Matias Maccelli. #UtahHC pic.twitter.com/jJ2D7aUBVl
— Chase Beardsley (@ChaseBeardsley_) October 26, 2024
While the addition of Bjugstad into the lineup didn’t give Utah the win, their offense looked better. The power play that hasn’t scored in the past 12 opportunities produced a goal, albeit a couple of seconds after the penalty expired. Maccelli and Crouse both looked better. Communication looked better. While Bjugstad won’t be the lone key to the puzzle on how to solve Utah’s issues, he does make the team better.
Related: Maveric Lamoureux’s Path to the Utah Hockey Club Was Anything but Easy
“He’s a big guy,” head coach André Tourigny said. “He protects the puck well. He plays both sides of the puck in those kinds of games. I think he was massive for us today.”
The only player that was featured on the opening night lineup now that has yet to make their debut with Utah is John Marino. However, he remains out with an injury for another three to four months.
Logan Cooley Gets His First
There are a couple of players on Utah that have been snake-bitten in terms of offense. One of which was Logan Cooley who had only scored six assists leading up to Saturday’s game. With the expectation of improvement from last season, Cooley has been a mixed bag so far for Utah.
Drafted third overall in 2022, Cooley was a dominant player for the University of Minnesota. In his final season with the Golden Gophers, the Pittsburgh native scored 60 points along with 22 goals. After that season, he signed an entry-level deal with the Arizona Coyotes.
In his lone season with the Coyotes, Cooley scored 44 points. After a low-scoring first half of the season, the forward produced most of his offense in the second half of the season after being paired with fellow rookie Dylan Guenther. However, Cooley became more of a playmaker than anything with Guenther being the goal-scorer.
Flash forward to Utah, Cooley was able to score his first goal with the team after Michael Kesselring fed him a pass that he tipped right in front of the net. You could see the relief from the former Golden Gopher as he celebrated his goal. The team and Tourigny know that was a big goal for him and are hoping it’s the start of a productive year for Cooley.
“I think it’s great for him,” Tourigny said. “I think he’s working hard. He played his best game in a couple of games. I really liked his game, both sides of the puck, (his) compete level. I’m happy for him.”
Video: pic.twitter.com/CMZ4p7tBU1
— Chase Beardsley (@ChaseBeardsley_) October 27, 2024
Perhaps it’s the line changes that Tourigny made after the disappointing 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche that could improve Cooley’s game. While still paired with Guenther, Josh Doan was added on to his line. Tourigny liked what he saw from the new lines, especially the line that fans are calling “the kids line” due to all of Cooley, Guenther, and Doan being under 22 years old.
“We tried to maximize our group, tried to create a spark at some point offensively,” Tourigny said. “I felt Cools was playing well. Same thing for Kells. I tried to match them together, give us a goal, tried to spark something.”
It’s more than likely that we’ll see Doan back on the same line as Guenther and Cooley for Monday’s game. Can the line keep producing? We’ll get a better sense of that Monday (Oct. 28), but for now, Cooley finally has the monkey off his back. The expectation now is for him to keep up that production.
Utah’s Losing Streak Hits Three
The loss against the Kings puts Utah on a three-game losing skid. It also puts them at a .500 record of 4-4-1. The hot start has now cooled off and it seems like the team is back at square one. However, not everything was bad about Utah’s game on Saturday. Tourigny thought the game was a good one for his team.
“We liked the way the guys fought,” Tourigny said. “Obviously, it’s not the result we wanted, but it’s a good league, good team. We played good. They played good. It’s frustrating.”
However, that doesn’t change the fact that Utah did lose. In their last three games, they’ve been outscored 12-3. Even with the Clayton Keller goal in the second period right after the Kings’ penalty expired, the power play hasn’t scored in the past couple of opportunities. It has been a rough couple of games for Utah.
What do you blame? Offense? That is surely part of the problem. Guenther still hasn’t scored since Oct. 12 versus the New York Rangers. Nick Schmaltz and Barrett Hayton have both cooled off, too. How about defense? They weren’t very good on Saturday, either, with a couple of turnovers and some bad penalties by Ian Cole. Goaltending? It’s been a mixed bag. Sometimes the two netminders have stood on their heads. Other times, they’ve looked average at best.
However, instead of blaming parts of the team, Utah needs to come together to end this losing streak and end it quickly. It’s not the first losing streak the team has had. Last season with the Coyotes, Utah’s core players experienced a 14-game losing streak. Bjugstad remembers it well and he’s determined to end this current one before it even comes close to the one last season.
“We’ve been through it,” Bjugstad said. “We went through a real tough stretch last year, so I think you learn from those situations. It’s not ideal, losing three in a row here, but you can’t hit the panic button. When you win you can’t feel too high of yourself. So we got the tools, we got the guys in there, and it’s just going to come down to having that killer instinct. I think we’ll come out of this and be stronger.”
Video: pic.twitter.com/i5czf43yYf
— Chase Beardsley (@ChaseBeardsley_) October 27, 2024
It’s only the start of the season and even some of the best teams in the league don’t have a great record (ex: the Nashville Predators who have been competitive again recently). However, they’ll want to find their winning ways again quickly. Utah won’t want to find themselves buried in a massive hole like last season.
Utah will have a pretty good chance to end their losing streak on Monday when they host the San Jose Sharks back at Delta Center. The Sharks are the only team in the league that has yet to win a game. They are 0-7-2 this season and are coming off a 7-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
