Andre Tourigny shakes up Utah Hockey Club lines before matchup with the Sharks

If there were ever a 'get right' game, this would be it for the Utah Hockey Club. Utah will take on the San Jose Sharks at home in the Delta Center tonight. The San Jose Sharks just became the first team in NHL history to lose the first nine games of their season in back-to-back years.

Utah started the season with a bang, but their recent form tells a different story. They've lost five of their last six games, and their offensive prowess has taken a hit, with only five goals in their previous four games. San Jose has struggled defensively, allowing 4.18 goals per game, the second-most in the NHL and the fifth-most high-danger chances.

With Utah struggling to find good scoring chances on the offensive end, this could be a chance for Utah to work on getting that puck back into the middle of the ice.  

With Utah struggling to find the back of the net, Andre Tourigny is looking for a spark and has switched up the forward lines ahead of Utah's matchup with the Sharks. Let's look at these new forward lines and discuss what we can expect from this new look Utah Hockey Club.

Andre Tourigny changes Utah Hockey Club lines ahead of matchup with the Sharks.

For most of the season, Utah's lines have looked something similar to this ...

Clayton Keller - Barrett Hayton - Nick Schmaltz
Jack McBain - Logan Cooley - Dylan Guenther
Lawson Crouse - Alex Kerfoot - Josh Doan
Matias Maccelli - Kevin Stenlund - Various Others.

No one line can be blamed for the recent offensive struggles, but Nick Bjudstad returning to the lineup provided Andre Tourigny with the chance to change things up and try some new combinations.

Tonight, the lineup against the Sharks will start like this.

The first thing you will notice is the promotion's Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther got to the top line with Clayton Keller. While it could lack some physicality, this line is exciting, considering Guenther is showing signs of being an elite NHL scorer, and Keller and Cooley are phenomenal playmakers. However, when Cooley and Guenther were playing with McBain, that line only felt like they had one way to beat you, but adding Keller to the mix gives Cooley another excellent goalscorer to look for, which should make this Guentherr and Cooley duo far more dynamic.

The following trio of Maccelli, Hayton, and Schmaltz could also be great. Maccelli and Schmaltz's playmaking should pair well with Hayton, who has been producing expected goals, scoring chances, and high-danger chances at the third-highest rate in the NHL.

The other most notable changes are on the fourth line. Kevin Stenlund remains the big body that staples that line. However, we will see Liam O'Brien slotted back into the lineup tonight and play on the opposite wing of Jack McBain on Utah's fourth line. This is the fourth line of physical checking that Utah has been missing. They have had their skilled players far too spread out throughout the lineup, and this new combination of lines will hopefully spark some momentum against a Sharks team that is just downright awful.