Fighting for a playoff spot in their inaugural season, the Utah Hockey Club look to keep rolling against the struggling Chicago Blackhawks Tuesday in Salt Lake City.
Utah owns a 4-2-0 record in its last six games, which includes an important 2-1 victory Sunday over the Vancouver Canucks. Because Vancouver owns the last Western Conference wild-card slot, Sunday’s result moved Utah within four points of a postseason berth.
Forward Dylan Guenther admits he’s already keeping an eye on the standings — even though there are still 24 games on Utah’s schedule.
“This is why you work hard to play in moments like this,” Guenther said. “I think it’ll help us not just this year, but as we continue to get a little bit older as a team. Just getting that exposure is huge.”
Despite a 32-15 shots advantage over Vancouver, Utah didn’t pull ahead until Guenther’s power-play goal 14:07 into the third period. It was Guenther’s team-leading 21st goal, continuing the 21-year-old’s breakout season.
Guenther has nine points (five goals, four assists) during a six-game points streak. Three of the forward’s five tallies in that stretch were game-winning goals.
Utah has another clear chance to keep amassing points Tuesday against the Blackhawks. Chicago has the second-fewest points in the league and sits 1-4-2 in its last seven games.
The NHL’s two-week hiatus for the 4 Nations Face-Off seemingly gave the Blackhawks a chance to regroup, but they’ve lost twice since returning to action. A 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday was quickly followed by a 5-2 home defeat against the Toronto Maple Leafs Sunday.
“It’s disappointing. After a break, (we) need to come back and play some good hockey,” forward Teuvo Teravainen said. “And now just a couple tough losses, back-to-back games. (We’ve) just got to learn, see some video and get better.”
Connor Bedard remains the Blackhawks’ bright spot. The second-year star leads the team with 49 points (16 goals, 33 assists) over 57 games.
Because Arvid Soderblom started against Toronto, Chicago’s usual goalie rotation suggests Petr Mrazek will face Utah. Mrazek is 10-19-2 with 3.33 goals-against average and an .894 save percentage over 32 games this season.
The Utah Hockey Club also have been deploying a goalie timeshare, though Karel Vejmelka has far superior numbers than Connor Ingram. Vejmelka played Sunday, so Ingram probably will start against Chicago. He seeks to rebound from a 1-3-1 record and an .881 save percentage in his last six appearances.
Special-teams play has been one of the Blackhawks’ few strengths this season, as Chicago kills 81.2 percent of its penalties and scores on 25.2 percent of its power plays to rank among the NHL’s top 10 in both categories. The power-play unit has been particularly dangerous lately, going 5-for-10 over the last five games.
Utah’s power play has been even more productive, going 6-for-12 over the team’s last four games. However, Utah’s penalty-killers are only 5-for-10 in that same span.
Chicago and Utah last played on Oct. 8 in both teams’ opener. Utah picked up the 5-2 victory in its NHL debut.
–Field Level Media
