The Utah Hockey Club had an opportunity to play catch-up in the Western Conference playoff race during its seven-game January homestand.
But Utah has gone 1-4-0 to fall six points behind Calgary in the race for the final playoff spot on their side of the league. Utah will try to get back on track Saturday night against the St. Louis Blues in Salt Lake City.
“We are all trying to do the right things,” Utah forward Logan Cooley said after his team fell to the New York Rangers 5-3 on Thursday. “We’re trying to be selfless, do what’s best for the team. But at the end of the day, it comes down to the result, and it’s another loss.
“So, it’s frustrating, but we’ve got to find a way out of this.”
Utah has lost three straight games. It took a 3-2 lead into the third period against the Rangers before New York scored a short-handed goal to flip the game’s momentum.
That erased the progress Utah coach Andre Tourigny saw in his team’s game.
“I think we did a lot of good things, to be honest,” Tourigny said. “I think we were disappointed. I think we played hard. The way they scored their two goals in the third, those things will happen. But I think we deserved better.”
The Blues returned to the road after a 3-1-0 homestand, which they concluded with back-to-back victories over Calgary to move within a point of the Flames in the playoff chase.
“We needed to win both games to really get close,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “They have two games in hand, but they’ve got to go win those games to separate from us. We did what we needed to do here in these two games.”
St. Louis has gained more offensive balance with the emergence of a second scoring line featuring Dylan Holloway and Jordan Kyrou flanking captain Brayden Schenn.
After producing six goals and three assists in 38 games for Edmonton last year, Holloway has 15 goals and 19 assists in 46 games this season. He has five goals and 10 assists in his last 11 games.
“I’ve very grateful just for the opportunity that I’ve been getting,” Holloway said. “How welcoming this team has been for me. It seems like it’s been a great fit so far, and I’m having a lot of fun.”
Could he have imagined such strong production after coming to the Blues?
“I got high standards for myself, and it was definitely a goal of mine,” Holloway said. “I think it’s been great so far, and I’m really grateful for it.”
Utah defeated the Blues in their previous meeting, 4-2 on Nov. 7 in St. Louis. Goaltender Connor Ingram only had to make 13 saves in that game and Dylan Guenther led Utah offense with a goal and an assist.
Kyrou and Colton Parayko scored goals for the Blues and Joel Hofer took the loss while allowing three goals on 30 shots. Hofer started Thursday against the Flames, so the Blues will likely go back to No. 1 goaltender Jordan Binnington.
–Field Level Media
