The Utah Hockey Club begins its first road trip of the season tonight when it plays the New York Islanders.
This will be the first game of a four-game road trip. The NHL is proud to show off its new franchise, as Utah will be in New York City all week. The first three games of this road trip are the Islanders, New York Rangers, and New Jersey Devils. Then, the team will fly across the country to play the Anaheim Ducks to close out the week-long road trip.
Tonight, Andre Tourigny will make his first lineup change of the year. Michael Carcone will draw into the lineup and play on the fourth line instead of Liam O'Brien, who played that role on opening night.
Michael Carcone is making his season debut for the Utah Hockey Club
Liam O'Brien coming out of the lineup may shock some, considering he played a phenomenal game on opening night and was voted the third star of the game. He didn't record any points but was a plus two while on the ice and finished the game with seven hits.
However, O'Brien was likely only in the opening night lineup because he was a fan favorite in Arizona. He was the enforcer who gave the crowd a show when the team couldn't put on a show with the quality of hockey they were playing. It is very telling to me that O'Brien did not find a dance partner in the opener against the Blackhawks, that he and this team now believe that the quality of hockey this team can play will entertain the crowd, and he does not need to go finding needless fights anymore.
However, with this team improving, they will be in fewer positions where they need an enforcer. The truth is, the guys that made healthy scratches on the opening night are better, more skilled players than O'Brien, and coach Andre Tourigny can deploy guys like Michael Carcone and Kailer Yamamoto in many more situations than he can with a guy like O'Brien.
Carcone has now played parts of three seasons in the NHL, with last year being his first full year in the NHL. Carcone went undrafted but was signed by the Vancouver Canucks, before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who then shipped Carcone to Nashville, then Ottawa before he eventually wound up signing with the Arizona Coyotes.
Carcone had 21 goals and 29 total points in 74 games last year. He will draw in on the fourth line tonight and play with Kevin Stenlund and Alex Kerfoot.