The second game in the books, the second win in the win column for the Utah Hockey Club as they start their season 2-0-0. It was another five-goal game for Utah as they began their eastern seaboard road trip. It was also another game filled with firsts in franchise history. Here are some takeaways from the 5-4 overtime win on Thursday.
Dylan Guenther: Certified Goal Scorer
Head coach Andre Tourigny said that Dylan Guenther is more than just a goal scorer after the 5-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. He also mentioned it’s not a bad thing to have the goal-scoring skill set that the forward has. He had a complete game on Thursday. His defensive play was impressive when it had to be and he showed why Tourigny said those things about him.
However, what’s more eye-catching is Guenther’s two goals that he scored against the Islanders including the overtime winner. Both of them were scored off his lethal shot that beat Petr Mrazek twice the game before as well. He has picked up where he left off last season with Logan Cooley. The two have been dominant in the two games that Utah has played so far.
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Now, along with the record of the first goal scorer in Utah franchise history, Guenther picks up the record of the first overtime scorer in Utah franchise history. He currently has four goals in two NHL games and leads the entire league in goals and points. If he continues the pace, he could pick up another record: most goals in a single season for Utah.
Josh Doan, who is another young forward for Utah, also scored in what ended up being the tying goal heading into overtime. Alex Kerfoot was able to find the Scottsdale native in a beautiful spin-o-rama pass that Doan collected and put behind Semyon Varlamov on his backhand. It was a very nice play. It was also another one of Utah’s collection of youth making an early impact in the season.
Special Teams Good, Penalties Bad
Utah’s game was pretty good against the Islanders, especially when it came to special teams. The group thrived on the power play, scoring on both opportunities they had. Once from Guenther and the other time by Lawson Crouse who scored the first Utah road goal in franchise history.
The penalty kill was pretty good as well, only letting the Islanders score once out of the six opportunities they had. However, the amount of penalties Utah took wasn’t great. One was due to an unsuccessful challenge against the Islanders’ first goal, which is fine. However, a double minor against Ian Cole and two other penalties in the first alone isn’t great.
While the penalty kill was fantastic on Thursday, that could easily change against someone like the defending Presidents’ Trophy winners: the New York Rangers. Utah needs to learn to stay out of the box more often.
However, it was a successful penalty kill and power play group that Utah iced last night. Quite a few players stepped up, especially Mikhail Sergachev who made a lot of impressive defensive plays with his stick and eventually assisted on Barrett Hayton’s goal.
Connor Ingram Puts On a Clinic
One of the most impressive players of the game was Connor Ingram who kept Utah in the game, especially during the penalty kill. One of his saves found him out of his net. With the Islanders approaching, he Superman-dived across the crease to save the puck from going in. It could be a save of the year candidate. In total, Ingram stopped 21 shots.
While Ingram’s save percentage was below .900, he arguably wasn’t bad at all in the game. It was him bailing out Utah from mistakes that gave his team the win. Karel Vejmelka will most likely start on Saturday against the Rangers to give Ingram some rest. However, the Saskatoon native has done a great job in net so far for Utah and could be the official starter when we get deeper into the season.
Utah is now 2-0-0 to start their inaugural season, winning both their first home and away games in franchise history. However, they’ll have a tough time on Saturday when they face off against the Rangers. The team won the Presidents’ Trophy last season which is awarded to the team with the best regular season record. They are flying high with a 1-0-0 record after beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-0 on Wednesday.
