Sometimes, you are your worst enemy. On Monday night, the Utah Hockey Club was exactly that in a 5-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken. Faults from the blue line resulted in their losing streak extending to four. Here are some takeaways from Utah’s loss on Monday.
A common theme in the past month for Utah has been players ending their goal droughts. Nick Schmaltz did it at the beginning of the month. Barrett Hayton did it recently during Utah’s homestand. On Monday, it was Alex Kerfoot’s time to end his personal scoring drought.
Michael Carcone rushed into the Kraken zone and got a shot off. Philipp Grubauer made the initial save but couldn’t control the rebound and Kerfoot put the puck into the wide-open net. It was his first goal since Nov. 30 and his first point in the past five games.
Kerfoot has been an important part of the fourth line. Although he only has 12 points in 35 games, he’s been a great two-way player for the team. He, along with the rest of his line consisting of Kevin Stenlund and Carcone, has gotten some crucial goals in crucial moments but has also made a lot of great defensive plays which has persuaded head coach André Tourigny to put the line out during critical faceoffs and penalty kills throughout the season.
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“I think the more you play together and get to understand each other…I think that’s how you make that bond, that mold and have success together,” Carcone said. “I’m playing with some high-IQ guys.”
The mix of the three players, who have played a lot of hockey games in their respective careers, has really paid off for Utah. They’ve helped make the bottom six perform a lot better lately, with the continued disappointment of the third line.
Too Many Odd Man Rushes
There was a common theme between most of the Kraken goals. Utah allowed them to get ahead of their defense which resulted in odd man rushes. If the Kraken player didn’t score on the breakaway like Jaden Schwartz did with the overtime winner, they quickly capitalized on the rebound like Matty Beniers did with the fourth goal.
The number of breakaways was unacceptable and it was the reason why Utah couldn’t keep up with the Kraken. Tourigny knows this and acknowledges the team needs to improve on that specifically, especially in their upcoming game on Tuesday.
“You cannot win if you give the number of opportunities we gave tonight in terms of…
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