‘We need to be better — much better’: Utah HC loses first game in franchise history

NEWARK, N.J. — You didn’t expect them to win every game, right?

The Utah Hockey Club officially lost for the first time — a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the New Jersey Devils in Newark on Monday.

Seamus Casey, a defenseman playing in the fifth game of his career, scored his third goal and fourth point, which would be the eventual game winner. Stefan Noesen and Nico Hischier would add goals to secure the Devils’ victory.

If you missed the game, don’t fret: Utah 16 will show a rerun at 7 p.m. MDT.

Utah Hockey for dummies

You’re not going to win many games if you can’t stay out of the penalty box.

The goals against weren’t necessarily the biggest problem: Utah’s penalty kill operated at 71% — generally a good number. But when you spend nearly an entire period in the penalty box over the course of a game, you don’t get many chances to score.

“There (were) a lot of stick penalties,” said coach André Tourigny after the game. “We need to move our feet, work on body positioning. We need to be better — much better.”

Stick penalties, as you might have guessed, are penalties in which a player’s stick is used to take the penalty. Examples include high-sticking, which Utah HC got caught for twice, and hooking, which got it once.

Utah HC also took penalties for holding and interference, both of which speak to Tourigny’s point that Utah has to put itself in better position defensively, rather than taking illegal actions to slow their opponents down.

Utah Hockey for casual fans

The second defenseman on Utah HC’s depth chart, Sean Durzi, left the game early in the second period with an upper-body injury. If he misses more than this game, it will hurt Utah on both ends of the ice.

Durzi is well-known across the league for his offensive prowess, but he doesn’t get enough credit for his defense. He also plays both right and left sides, which is a skill not held by many elite defensemen.

John Marino is already out for Utah HC, so an injury to a second top-four defenseman could take a toll if it becomes a long-term injury. This might open up a roster spot for Robert Bortuzzo, though, who has yet to play a game this season.

Marino’s status is “week to week,” meaning he’s not likely close to returning. Tourigny said Thursday that he was in Utah get reevaluated.

Utah Hockey for nerds

When I played youth hockey, one of my coaches would have a parent count the number of successful passes our team had in each game. He would tell us the numbers and then challenge us to beat them in the next game. It got us passing more frequently and more accurately.

Tourigny might need to adopt a similar strategy, because passing was one of Utah’s biggest downfalls on Monday.

Establishing the zone was not an issue. Utah would gain the zone, cycle it around the first few times, and then try impossible cross-zone passes that got broken up — or missed altogether — almost every time.

“If you don’t get inside, they sit on your passing options,” Tourigny said. “Now you don’t have a lot of space to make your play.”

What’s next?

Utah HC goes from coast to coast this week, facing the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday in the last game of this five-game road trip. After that, the team returns home for a Saturday night date with the Boston Bruins.

There’s no such thing as an easy win in the NHL, but if teams could choose their own opponents, lots of them would probably take the Ducks. They are 1-1-0 so far this season, having beaten last year’s worst team, the San Jose Sharks, in their season opener.

This will be the fourth and final home-opener Utah HC plays in this year. It starts starts at 8 p.m. MDT and will be available on Utah HC+ and Utah 16.

The Bruins are expected by most to make the playoffs this year. They’re 2-2-0 to start the season. The game starts at 7 p.m. and can be seen on Utah HC+ and Utah 16.