With their losing streak hitting three after a 1-0 loss to the Boston Bruins on Thursday (Nov. 21), something had to give for the Utah Hockey Club. It seems like the team’s answer to success came in the form of a 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. While it’s only one game, Utah’s game against the Penguins could give them some momentum as they continue their road trip. Here are some takeaways from Saturday night’s (Nov. 23) win.
Sidney Crosby Hits 600
In a lone bright moment for the Penguins, Sidney Crosby was able to collect his 600th career goal. It’s an accomplishment only 20 other NHL players have ever done.
Erik Karlsson was skating up the middle of Utah’s zone and found Crosby on the side of the net with a pass. Crosby put the puck behind Karel Vejmelka for his legendary milestone. The entire Penguins bench emptied in celebration as they congratulated their captain on the ice.
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Despite a disappointing season so far for the Penguins, Crosby is in the midst of yet another good season. He currently has 21 points in 23 games despite now being 37 years old. Similar to fine wine, Crosby just continues to get better and better. Scoring his 600th career goal against Utah is just another testament to that.
After the game, despite his team being blown out, Crosby sat down with reporters and even answered questions about Utah’s new captain: Clayton Keller. It shows how classy Crosby is even when he’s on the losing end of the game.
With Alex Ovechkin scoring twice earlier this week in Utah’s loss to the Washington Capitals and now Crosby’s goal, Utah has been plagued this week by superstars having great games while they hunt down records. However, against all of those stars, Utah has shown resilience in their game which showed on Saturday with the 6-1 win.
While Crosby seeks to continue his remarkable season, he might have to place his whole team on his back while doing so. The Penguins are currently at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division, and with losses for them piling up, it seems like that won’t change soon.
Utah’s Power Play Returns
Utah did something it hadn’t done in a while on Saturday: score a power-play goal. For the past couple of games, the team has failed to generate any offense on the man advantage but that changed on Saturday. Michael Kesselring took a hard shot near the blueline which Nick Bjugstad eventually tipped, giving Utah a two-goal lead. That goal was Bjugstad’s fourth goal in the past five games.
However, it wasn’t just one power-play goal that Utah managed to score. It was multiple. Dylan Guenther scored twice with help from Logan Cooley to scrape together three goals on the man advantage making it the first time in Utah team history a player has scored more than one power-play goal in a single game.
The power play looked different on Saturday. They generated a lot of chances and looked well-composed during their opportunities. Utah scored on three of the four chances they got which hasn’t been something they’ve been able to do recently.
Utah’s penalty kill did pretty decent as well. Besides the Crosby goal, they stopped three of the Penguins’ power-play opportunities. While it might be easy to say it was because Utah played a not-so-good team, it could be the start of Utah’s special teams really coming together and performing to its highest standards, which is something we haven’t seen for most of the season.
While penalties still could be reduced, Saturday’s game is one the Utah players and coaching staff need to analyze and continue doing what they were doing because it clearly worked. With the talent of Guenther and Cooley on the power play as well, there’s no reason why they can’t always generate great opportunities on a consistent basis.
Utah’s Revitalized Offense
It wasn’t just the special teams that were looking way better than usual. The entire offense looked very good as well. From top to bottom, many of Utah’s players had a great night and it felt like they were always threatening to extend their lead throughout the game.
Jack McBain was placed back on a line with Guenther and Cooley prior to Saturday’s game. It paid off almost immediately as he scored the game-opening goal almost halfway through the first period. Michael Carcone was also a notable player after assisting on two goals for Utah which ended up being his first two points as a member of the team.
Shots-wise, Utah did well for themselves. In most of their games, the team usually finds itself being outshot, but that didn’t happen against the Penguins. Utah was able to outshoot their opponents 30-28. Even if the Penguins had a chance, Vejmelka stood strong in the net once again for Utah. His work has paid off as his .927 save percentage is now tied with Anthony Stolarz for the second-highest in the league.
After dropping their past three games, this was a game Utah needed not just for their record but for their team morale as well. It’s never fun losing multiple games in a row, some even coming via blowout. However, this win hopefully is one that jumpstarts Utah to play like they did on Saturday in every game. With tough teams like the Edmonton Oilers and the Vegas Golden Knights on the horizon, they’ll need to continue what they did well against the Penguins and use that in their upcoming games. However, Saturday night’s game was one Utah can be proud of and hopefully use as momentum.
Utah has inched closer to being above .500 again, now sitting in fifth place in the Central Division with an 8-9-3 record. They’ll continue their four-game road trip on Sunday (Nov. 24) as they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs are 12-6-2 and are coming off a 3-0 win against the Golden Knights.
