The Utah Hockey Club lost to the Winnipeg Jets 3-0. The Jets have been one of the hottest teams in the league, but Utah’s offense was silent. The Jets improved to 12-1, while Utah dropped to 5-5-3 on the season.
The first period was scoreless. Both teams played impressive defense. The Jets got on the board in the second period when Gabriel Vilardi scored on a power play goal.
In the third period, Nico Niederreiter scored two goals for the Jets. The last goal came in an empty net. He has seven goals for the season.
Utah Hockey Club couldn’t score on goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. He made 21 saves for the Jets.
The Jets had 18 blocked shots and won 54 percent of the face-offs. They also had more shots on goal than Utah (28 to 21). Utah went 0-for-4 on power play possessions.
Utah’s head coach, Andre Tourigny, spoke with the media after the game. Here’s his reaction to the team’s performance.
Utah Hockey Club Head Coach Andre Tourigny reacts to loss to Winnipeg Jets
“We played well defensively tonight,” Tourigny said. “Offensively, we had a great chance where we didn’t connect, we didn’t hit the net, try to do a little bit too much. I think we were forcing it a little offensively early in the game. We adjusted well; the boys reacted well in the second and third periods. I think we had good looks. Our execution of our breakout could have been better.”
Utah did not take advantage of putting up goals, especially when they were on a power play, which has been a struggle for them. Tourigny knows some changes need to be made for this team to have an edge over the opponents on the power play.
“I think we generate some good looks, but we need more good luck, and that will come from better entries,” Tourigny said. “When we’re under pressure, we lose the battle, and it’s clear. So now it puts a ton of pressure on your execution if you know if there’s a battle, it will be clear every time now when you have the puck, you live with the pressure of not making a mistake or not creating that kind of battle, and that is what’s killing us right now. We need to win more battles.”
Utah has a lot more work to do. Various parts of their game need to be cleaned up.
Utah will continue its road trip on Friday night when it takes on the St. Louis Blues.