The Utah Hockey Club visited the New York Islanders on their first-ever road game, pulling out a thrilling 5-4 OT win on Thursday night.
The Islanders dominated much of the first part of the game, but the Hockey Club didn’t quit. They came back strong, eventually winning the game on an exciting goal by the red-hot Dylan Guenther.
While Utah faced a much tougher test in the Islanders than the Chicago Blackhawks, the Hockey Club was up to the challenge. So, let’s take a look at three thoughts from the Utah Hockey Club’s first-ever road win.
3 thoughts on the Utah Hockey Club’s first-ever road win
Connor Ingram was the star
Once again, Connor Ingram dazzled in net. Sure, he gave up four goals. But it was the quality of the saves that he made that allowed Utah to stay in the game.
In particular, a huge save in the first period stands out. After a bouncing puck rattled behind the net, Ingram tried to play it. But the puck bounced in front of the net, leaving a wide-open cage for Kyle Palmieri. Palmieri nailed the shot but a diving Ingram got a glove on the puck, making a highlight-reel save.
Ingram made other key saves throughout the game, especially during the Isles’ late, third-period double minor power play. Ingram stood tall and gave the Hockey Club a chance to win the game.
The Hockey Club kept coming back
After the Isles opened the scoring, the Hockey Club came back to tie the game late in the first on a goal from Lawson Crouse on the power play.
When the Isles scored twice to take a 3-2 lead early in the third, Dylan Guenther tied it on the power play. When the Islanders got a late 4-3 lead, Josh Doan scored a sick goal to send the game to overtime.
Then, with the game in overtime, Utah capitalized on a turnover and Guenther buried the game-winning goal. This sort of effort, especially from a young team, is a highly encouraging signal of things to come. Hopefully, the Hockey Club can continue building on that momentum.
Guenther and Cooley are red-hot
The Logan Cooley-Dylan Guenther combo has been on fire right from the start. Guenther has scored four goals in two games while Cooley has four assists.
Both players have looked fantastic together, generating offense, and leading the Club in tight, third-period situations. Moving forward, Utah seems to have two solid offensive lines. This situation should give opposing coaches headaches as they look to play key matchups throughout games.
Hopefully, the Hockey Club can get more scoring support from the bottom six, especially as opposing defenses begin to clamp down on Utah’s top six.