Utah HC gains point, loses defenseman in overtime loss to Anaheim Ducks

They didn’t get the win, but the Utah Hockey Club gave a much better effort against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday than they did against the New Jersey Devils on Monday.

It was a 5-4 loss for Utah HC, but they still get a point in the standings for making it to overtime.

Leo Carlsson was the hero for the Ducks, potting the game-winning goal just 54 seconds into overtime with a magnificent deke.

They now move from fourth to second place in the Central Division.

The injuries continue

Defenseman Sean Durzi got hurt on Monday, and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo seems to have been injured on Wednesday. Utah HC was already missing defenseman John Marino, so if this injury bug persists, they might be forced to acquire some extra guys.

In an attempt to break up a play in the defensive zone, Bortuzzo fell to his belly. He took a tripping penalty for causing Ducks forward Mason McTavish to stumble, but more devastatingly he seems to have had his leg stepped on during the exchange.

Remember: That hurts with skates.

Head coach André Tourigny did not have a status update on Bortuzzo after the game.

Utah Hockey for dummies

Barrett Hayton already has more goals this year than he did last year.

Yes, he was injured and only played 33 games in 2023-24, but still — Four goals in five games puts him on pace for an excellent season.

He scored on Wednesday, picking up a rebound beside the net and pounding it home.

“Last year was tough for me, missing a lot of time,” Hayton said after Thursday’s game against the New York Islanders. “At the same time, you’re watching a lot of games and learning a lot of stuff, so you just get a different perspective. I think I took some of that into the offseason and also the start of this season.”

I don’t personally know Hayton all that well yet, but from observing him at training camp and talking to people who know him better than I do, I gather that he cares a lot about how he plays. When he’s hot, nothing can stop him. When he’s cold, you can give him nothing but empty nets and he won’t score.

Now is obviously one of those hot streaks for Hayton. His job now is to figure out how to turn this version of himself into the standard, rather than the anomaly.

Utah Hockey for casual fans

Failing to effectively move the puck up the ice resulted in three of the Ducks’ goals, not to mention countless scoring chances.

If Utah HC is going to get through these injuries unscathed, they need another puck-moving defenseman. Mikhail Sergachev is probably the only one in Wednesday’s lineup with any semblance of that particular skill.

It’s not enough to just get the puck outside the blue line, but that’s all Utah HC has been able to do for the most part. The best defensive teams spend far more time in the offensive zone than the defensive zone, and that doesn’t happen if you’re always stuck in your end.

Whether Bill Armstrong thinks he can get that from his young AHL defensemen, a trade or a free agent signing , it’s something the team desperately needs.

By the way, don’t ever trust Ian Cole to clear the zone. Tourigny places high trust in the veteran defenseman, giving him an average of 22.5 minutes per game and playing him in lots of important defensive situations, but he often gets trapped in his zone.

It resulted in far too many goals against for the Vancouver Canucks last season and it has caused some scares for Utah HC already this season.

Utah Hockey for nerds

After being shut out by the Devils on Monday, everyone on and around the team blamed Utah HC’s inability to score on their inability to get to the inside of the ice. They solved that problem on Wednesday.

Nine minutes into the game, Jack McBain tipped a Mikhail Sergachev shot past Lukáš Dostál for Utah HC’s first goal. Four and a half minutes later, Nick Schmaltz cut to the front of the net on the power play, creating a juicy rebound for Barrett Hayton to hammer home.

Utah HC then scored two goals on rushes, which had been a struggle of theirs for the last few games.

“I think we just gotta get pucks to the net,” said Utah HC defenseman Michael Kesselring, who scored on a rush on Wednesday. “Be a little more simple. Obviously, we’ve got a lot of skill, we want to make plays, but sometimes we’ve got to dumb it down a little bit and get pucks to the net.”

That’s similar to Dylan Guenther’s message after Utah HC’s loss to the Devils.

“Sometimes, you wanna be a little bit too cute, but I think just dumbing it down and looking to create (offense) off shots (is key),” he said.

What’s next?

Utah HC’s road trip is finally over. They return home for Saturday’s matchup against the hard-hitting Boston Bruins.

The Bruins are 3-2-0 to start the season — probably a worse record than they’d hoped for. They are well-coached and don’t take anything for granted, so you know they’ll show up ready to play on Saturday.

Going back 50 years or longer, the Bruins have carried a reputation of being big and bad. This year is no exception. The average height of Bruins defensemen is 6-foot-3 and the average height of the forwards is 6-foot-2.

They play a relentless, intelligent brand of hockey, which has led them to have great regular season success in the last few seasons.

The game starts at 7 p.m. and will be available on both Utah HC+ and Utah 16 cable.