What does Utah HC do well offensively?

Hockey nerds, this one’s for you.

I sat down and rewatched all 20 of the Utah Hockey Club’s goals this season, looking for trends. Here’s what I found.

If you happen to be a video coach for one of Utah HC’s upcoming opponents, you’re welcome for making your job a little easier.

Aside from Utah HC’s 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Monday, it has averaged five goals a game. Dylan Guenther leads the league in goals and is accompanied by Clayton Keller and Barrett Hayton in the top 10 in league goal scoring. It also has four players in the top 25 in points.

That’s pretty good. Let’s see why they’re scoring so much.

Lateral passing

On 65% of Utah HC’s goals so far, the primary assist was a lateral pass.

Given only that stat, those who watched the Arizona Coyotes last year might assume that Matias Maccelli is involved in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, but that’s not the case. The credit is evenly spread among the top six forwards and a few defensemen.

Whether on rushes or established zone time, Utah’s players consistently make heads-up plays to find the open man, either through a short, easy pass, a long saucer pass or anything in between. Nobody seems to care who gets the credit for the goal as long as it ends up in the back of the net.

That’s a mark of the new generation of NHL talent. Everyone is skilled enough to make smart, skilled plays. Being the fifth-youngest team in the league, Utah HC is a good representation of that next generation.

Spatial awareness

Utah HC players have consistently gone against the status quo to create their own lanes. It hasn’t always resulted in goals, but here are two occasions where it did.

The first was Keller’s overtime goal on Saturday to lift Utah HC over the New York Rangers.

As he scooped the puck up behind the Rangers’ net, Mika Zibanejad and K’Andre Miller both left to cover the two passing options. Recognizing his opportunity, Keller circled to the front of the net, made a nice move and roofed it past Igor Shesterkin on the backhand.

Nick Schmaltz made a similar play in Utah’s overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. He saw that Brian Dumoulin was cheating over to intercept a pass to the point, so he cut to the front of the net instead, ultimately creating a rebound for Hayton to hammer home.

Net-front presence

It’s not a secret that putting bodies in front of the goaltender increases the odds of shots going in. Utah HC is far from the only team to do it, but it’s done it with such an incredible success rate that it needs to be pointed out.

Two of Hayton’s four goals have come by way of deflections. Jack McBain scored a nice tip-in against the Ducks. Lawson Crouse has put a couple home by picking up the garbage at the front of the net.

The only aspect of the net-front game that hasn’t played to Utah HC’s advantage yet is screens. McBain, Crouse and a few other depth forwards can be pretty hard to move from the front of the net, which could create more goals from defensemen — something that has only happened once for them this year.