History has been made! The Utah Hockey Club played and won its first game in franchise history last night. Utah opened its season against the Chicago Blackhawks. They came out flying early and took a two-goal lead they would not relinquish and would come away with a 5-2 win.
Yesterday was a day like no other. It started with ESPN's exclusive coverage of all the NHL games live from the Delta Center. The presence of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Ryan and Ashley Smith, owners of the Utah Hockey Club, who fielded questions on the concourse in front of the Delta Center, added a unique touch. A concert from Shaboozey further electrified the atmosphere, and the arena was transformed with 'snow' falling from the sky, to list some of yesterday's highlights.
There is much to discuss from yesterday's festivities, but let's talk hockey and recap the first NHL game played in Utah.
Utah Hockey Club vs. Chicago Blackhawks Recap:
Barrett Hayton won the opening faceoff; from there, Utah would dominate the first period. It only took Dylan Guenther five minutes to open the scoring rocket from the top of the slot on the rush that beat Mrazek under the blocker and above the pad before he could even react. Then, 10 minutes later, captain Clayton Keller would bang home a loose puck in the slot after Schmaltz lost the puck on a poke check following a creative zone entry from Keller, who dished to Hayton, who found Schmaltz in the slot.
Utah went into the first intermission up 2-0 and added another on a shot off Mikhail Sergachev's stick that Hayton tipped eight minutes into the second period. From there, Utah started to grip their sticks tighter, and the nerves began to show through.
After dominating most of the first and the early part of the second, Utah started to sit back and give the Blackhawks a lot of time in the offensive zone. The Blackhawks answered back with two goals, one late in the second and one five minutes into the third.
Neither of these goals can be blamed on anyone; the first was just a result of Connor Bedard making a great play, creating a man advantage on the rush, where he found Teuvo Teravainen in front of the net wide-open. The second goal was just a tipped point shot from Nick Foligno. Connor Ingram didn't have a chance. In a perfect world, that shot needs to get blocked, or the stick in front needs to be tied up, but these goals will happen from time to time, and you've just got to overcome them as Utah did.
After the Blackhawks scored their second goal, Utah kicked it back into gear; we started seeing more guys attacking the puck and cutting off passing lanes in the defensive end, especially once the Blackhawks pulled the goalie. Pass interceptions led to two chances at the Blackhawks net, which both missed, but fortunately, Guenther was there to pick up the puck on the end boards after the second miss and put the puck in the net to take a 4-2 lead. Utah would then add one more goal for insurance on their own shot from the point Lawson Crouse tipped in front to make the score final at 5-2.
That was a great first game for Utah; although they were tentative at points, how could they not be? There was so much anticipation and build-up to this moment over the offseason in Utah, and tremendous pressure has been put on these guys now that they have playoff expectations. Utah managed their emotions well to bounce back from a poor second period and close out a big first win against an opponent they should beat by multiple goals.