The Utah Hockey Club is on fire to start the year. They are 3-0 after beating the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, and New York Islanders.
Utah will wrap up a three-game trip on the East Coast tonight with a matchup with the New Jersey Devils before travelling across the country to California, where the Hockey Club will close out a four-game road trip with a matchup against the Anaheim Ducks.
The New Jersey Devils will be another tough test for the Utah Hockey Club. Last year, this Devils team's season was derailed primarily due to terrible goaltending but also due to injuries. However, the year prior, the Devils finished the regular season with 112 points, and now, with the addition of Jakob Markstrom in the net, the Devils are expected to be a 100+ point team again.
Utah and the Devils are similar in that they are young, talented, growing rosters. The Devils have higher expectations, but that is also partially because they have made win-now trades, bringing in Timo Meier from the Sharks last season and trading for Jakob Markstrom this past off-season. But this should still be an exciting and competitive game, and it will be interesting to see if the Utah Hockey Club can beat back-to-back playoff-calibre teams on the road.
Utah Hockey Club vs New Jersey Devils Game Preview
The New Jersey Devils started their season earlier than any other team except the Buffalo Sabres. These two teams kicked off the NHL season by playing in the NHL Global Series, which was held in Prague, Czechia.
The Devils would sweep this series, beating the Sabres in both games; the Devils would return home and lose to the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 in their home opener.
Both of these teams have tons of speed and are incredibly talented offensively; this game will come down to which goalie can make more timely saves because each one will let in some goals. I expect a ton of quality scoring chances to be going back and forth in this game, and the x-factor is going to be which goalie makes the one or two game-winning saves.
Utah Hockey Club vs New Jersey Devils Projected Starting Goalies
Utah Hockey Club - Connor Ingram
Connor Ingram has started all three games for Utah and is expected to start tonight. Despite his .874 save percentage and -2.08 goals saved above expected, Ingram has played well. Utah has given up many great looks to opposing teams, which he has turned away, and has had some bad luck with the goals that have gone in. Last night, the Rangers got a goal from dumping the puck in, and it took a funny bounce off the boards into the net Ingram vacated to try to retrieve the dump.
Ingram has also had three deflection goals put past him, goals that can't be blamed on the goalie. Utah's defensemen need to help Ingram with these and do a better job tying up sticks in front of the net.
Despite some bad luck, Ingram has been battling in the net, making big saves to keep Utah in games, and I wouldn't expect anything different tonight.
New Jersey Devils - Jakob Markstrom
Markstrom has only made two starts so far this season. In the first against the Sabres, he was excellent, but in the second game, I would argue he was the sole reason they lost that hockey game.
However, Markstrom is one of those guys that can always steal a game. Last year, he ranked fourth among goalies who played 1000 minutes in high-danger save percentage, but he can be very inconsistent (via NaturalStatTrick).
If Markstrom plays well, the Devils will be challenging to beat, but we just saw Utah light up Igor Shesterkin for six goals, and that should give them the confidence to think they can score on anybody.