The Utah Hockey Club had a rough start to their seven-game homestand after losing to the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Wednesday. However, Utah kept up with the defending Stanley Cup Champions throughout the contest. Here are some takeaways from Wednesday night’s game.
Utah Keeps it Cool
Logan Cooley is one of the most skilled players in the Western Conference. He has the raw talent to score some pretty goals – like the one he scored in Australia last season when he put on a spin move to escape his opponents and then shot the puck into the net while falling.
🥶 LOGAN COOLEY 🥶
— NHL (@NHL) September 23, 2023
The @ArizonaCoyotes have something special in this kid! #NHLGlobalSeries
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He almost had another highlight-reel goal against the Panthers. With incredible speed, Cooley entered the Panthers’ zone and put on a spin move. He then tucked the puck between his legs and fired it at goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Unfortunately, no dice for Cooley, but the creativity behind the play was remarkable. However, he did get on the board. Clayton Keller slid a pass to the side of Bobrovsky’s net to Cooley, who ripped it top shelf to get Utah’s first and only goal of the game.
Cooley now has 35 points in 40 games this season, including four points in his last five games. In his second season in the NHL, Cooley has been impressive, and his teammates have noticed.
“To be able to do what he’s doing at that age is pretty impressive,” Jack McBain said. “It’s not always the big play or the crazy move or anything. (It’s) the little things that he’s able to do with the puck, the speed that he’s moving, the way he thinks the game. He’s a good player.”
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Utah Beaten Down By Physicality
The Panthers also showed off their skills on Wednesday night. Players like AJ Greer and Dmitry Kulikov wore Utah down with their physicality. While Utah has players like Liam O’Brien and Kevin Stenlund, who can stir things up and keep things physical, they can’t match the Panthers’ relentless attack. They had trouble clearing the zone, and Florida capitalized on the opportunity.
“Give them credit. They check hard,” head coach André Tourigny said. “They’re number one in a lot of areas defensively. They didn’t give us time or space.” Tourigny also complemented Panthers Sam Reinhart and Aleksander Barkov for their impressive stick game and puck management.
The Panthers also have depth. Jesper Boqvist scored two goals in the win. Utah will hope to get to where the Panthers are now, but it will take time.
UHC Shows Signs of Growth
It was a close matchup for most of the game, and the final score was inflated by two empty-net goals. Last season, the Panthers took down the team pretty convincingly with a 4-1 win at Mullett Arena (one empty-net goal and the Panthers outshot the Arizona Coyotes 38-22) and a 6-2 win in Sunrise. The 4-1 loss was the closest game the two teams have played against each other.
Tourigny noticed the difference. “For us, you look at the growth of the team,” Tourigny said. “You look at where we were last year in that kind of a game against them. We got pushed around a little bit. We didn’t get pushed last year physically, but we got pushed emotionally, we got pushed mentally.”
Utah is close to where the Coyotes were this time last season, hovering around 42 points – the Coyotes finished with 77 points. However, the team has confidence that they will finish higher in the standings and challenge for a playoff spot.
The players have also improved. McBain finished last season with eight goals and 26 points. This season, he already has 10 goals and should easily surpass his number of points with 15. Dylan Guenther wasn’t in the NHL this time last season. This season, he’s thriving with 34 points. However, Cooley has shown the most growth. Last season, he struggled in the first half before Guenther joined the team, finishing with 44 points. This season, he has 35 points through 40 games and is set to shatter his stats from last season.
“I think you learn a bit each year,” Cooley said. “Last year was a lot of ups and downs. This year, I feel a lot more steady. Obviously, there are still some ups and downs. It’s a long year. You’re going to go through some challenges, but for me, I think confidence is a big thing, and I’m having that right now.”
Progress takes time. The Panthers were consistently bad throughout the 2000s. From 2001 to 2019, they made the playoffs twice. However, when they hired the right people and developed over time, they made the playoffs every year from 2019 until they won the Cup last season. It might be frustrating, especially because most of Utah’s losses have come at home, but there has been growth.
Utah has played some of the toughest teams in the league recently, including the Dallas Stars, who have made it to the Western Conference Finals three times in the past five seasons, Edmonton Oilers, who lost in Game 7 of the Cup final last season, Colorado Avalanche, who won the Stanley Cup in 2022, and the defending Stanley Cup Champions. But Utah managed to stick around and fight for the win until the very end of each contest. They’ve shown resiliency and are out to prove they should not be underestimated.
What’s Next for Utah
Utah’s next opponent is the San Jose Sharks, who come to Salt Lake City on Friday. The Sharks are coming off a 4-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday and are 13-24-6 on the season. While Utah won the most recent game against them, 4-3, fans remember the embarrassing 5-4 loss on home ice in October when the Sharks rallied back from a 4-1 deficit in the third period to win the game.
