Three games into a new era, the Utah Hockey Club is showing that change does not have to come with an adjustment period.
Utah will look to remain perfect Monday when it continues a four-game road trip by visiting the New Jersey Devils in a Columbus Day matinee in Newark, N.J.
Both teams were off Sunday after earning wins Saturday, when Utah edged the New York Rangers 6-5 in overtime and the Devils beat the host Washington Capitals 5-3.
It was the second consecutive overtime victory for Utah, which became the first NHL team to open 3-0-0 this season. Fifteen of the club’s 16 goals have been scored by players who were on the team last season, when it played as the Arizona Coyotes before relocating to Salt Lake City in April.
The Coyotes last started 3-0-0 in 2015-16, when Shane Doan — the father of the team’s right winger Josh Doan — was Arizona’s captain.
Utah overcame a pair of one-goal deficits in a 5-4 win over the New York Islanders on Thursday night before squandering a two-goal advantage Saturday night, when Clayton Keller gave Utah the win by scoring with 55 seconds left in overtime.
“I think it honestly goes back to that game on Long Island, kind of the resilience we showed,” said Utah center Barrett Hayton, who opened the scoring Saturday night. “Having the confidence from that, and the way we responded there, kind of carried over (to) this one.
“I think we put ourselves in a couple positions we’d rather not be in. … So just shows a lot of resilience out of our group.”
The Devils have been provided plenty of opportunities to display their resilience as well. New Jersey opened its season by winning two games against the Buffalo Sabres in the Czech Republic before giving up the first three goals in their home opener Thursday, when Toronto Maple Leafs cruised to a 4-2 victory.
On Saturday, the Devils overcame an early deficit, then squandered a 2-1 lead just 32 seconds into the middle period before Tomas Tatar and Paul Cotter scored in a 10-minute span. Tom Wilson got the Capitals within 4-3 just 1:35 into the third but New Jersey maintained its lead despite being outshot 11-8 over the final 20 minutes.
Goalie Jacob Markstrom made a pair of saves after Washington pulled goalie Charlie Lindgren in the final two minutes. Dawson Mercer provided insurance for New Jersey with an empty-net goal at the 19:52 mark.
“I liked the way that we competed,” said Devils right winger Stefan Noesen, who collected a career-high three assists Saturday. “Every time we got a goal scored against, the next couple shifts were really big for us. We kind of changed the momentum of the game.”
–Field Level Media
