It’s only preseason, but the Utah Hockey Club looks impressive. Utah Hockey defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-1 on Tuesday night, improving to 4-1 in preseason. Kailer Yamamoto led the team by netting two critical goals in the third period.
The game between the Utah Hickey Club and the Sharks occurred at SAP Center. Utah's victory is another important step in preparing for the regular season. The chemistry continues to flourish, the toughness is there, and making stops is slowly improving.
Aside from Yamasoto’s heroic performance, this game had other heroes. Goaltender Connor Ingram made 19 saves for Utah. The Sharks couldn’t break him. Ingram was as sharp and focused as any proud coach or teammate would want.
The first period of the game was completely blank. Both teams avoided mistakes and played stellar defense, which is why it was scoreless.
Kailer Yamamoto’s third period heroics lifts Utah Hockey Club to Victory
It wasn’t until the second period that Sharks’ Matt Benning put the Sharks on the board. Seven minutes later, Utah responded with Sean Durzi's own goal. It was Durzi’s first goal of the preseason.
Unfortunately, Utah didn’t get to race the Sharks’ first overall pick, Macklin Celebrini, at full strength. Celebrini had to leave last night's game with a lower-body injury after crashing into the boards in the second period. Celebrini will be a great hockey player for years to come if he stays healthy and develop his game.
Utah needs to reduce the penalties. They had eight minutes of penalties. Four players (Maveric Lamoureux, Milos Kelemen, Kailer Yamamoto, and Matias Maccelli) all received two-minute penalties for holding, interference, tripping, and hooking.
The game could’ve gone either way, but Utah came out victorious in the third period. The team took advantage of opportunities and made the proper adjustments.
Right-wing Clayton Keller was also instrumental in this game, recording two assists and going plus-2. Barrett Hayton also picked up two assists.
Utah won the power-play battle. They went 1 for 2 in power-play possessions, while the Sharks went 0-for-4 on the power play. Utah won shots on goals (25-20) but lost the face-off battle.
The Sharks were also more physical and blocked more shots. If you’re Utah, you can’t allow stuff like this to continue, especially in the regular season.
Utah needs to bring the same toughness they did against the Los Angeles Kings. Utah can bring physicality but don’t allow the opponent to beat you.
Utah’s next game will be against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday at 10:30 pm EST. Utah is currently in second place behind the undefeated Dallas Stars in the Western Conference standings.