SALT LAKE CITY- The Utah Hockey Club and Vancouver Canucks entered the third tied at one goal a piece. The two teams only had 20 minutes to decide who would leave Rogers Arena with a newfound advantage in the playoff race.

It was a sloppy start for Utah as Logan Cooley was assessed a holding penalty less than two minutes into the period, giving Vancouver a golden opportunity to take the lead. However, Utah was able to bend without breaking, surviving the Canucks power play.

The penalty kill gave Utah a slight edge in the action as the two sides pushed for the leading goal.

The game entered its last 15 minutes with the game still tied, but Utah possessed the puck in their offensive zone. Some awesome puck movement was displayed as it whipped around the zone, opening a widow for Utah.

Eventually, the puck was dumped in behind the net, finding the stick of Nick Schmaltz on the far side of the ice. He brought it back to the blue line, protecting it with his body, then passing back and forth quickly with Olli Määttä before sending the puck towards the net.

The puck ricocheted off a group of tangled players in front of the net, bouncing almost directly to the right, exactly where Logan Cooley was. With no defender and the Vancouver goaltender turned the wrong direction, Cooley was able to put the puck into the back of the net from a tight angle, giving the Utah Hockey Club a 2-1 lead.

Brilliance from Cooley.

Watch him drift towards the net on the weak side. HELL of a shot too. Made that look easy.

2-1 Utah https://t.co/aXwsDYat6N

— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 17, 2025

After a poor performance in Seattle, Utah Hockey Club needs to regroup and move on

While the game against Seattle was a missed opportunity to pick up a more attainable pair of points, Utah has to move on quickly as they face their biggest game of the season on Sunday night in Vancouver.

Was there much that went right for Utah against the Kraken?

No. But they can’t dwell on the immediate past given the nature of this stretch.

“I’m not happy about much to be honest. Our execution was not there. I don’t think we had our usual transition game, our usual offense,” head coach Andre Tourigny said.

“It’s one of those off nights where you put the tape right in the trash and move on.”

As players and coaches have repeatedly stated, the playoffs have already started for the Utah Hockey Club.

Similar to the nature of the postseason, there’s no time to dwell on the mistakes they made tonight as it simply won’t help them win the next game.

“At midnight, we’ll turn the page, and all focus will be on the next game. We have to move on,” Tourigny said.

Looking ahead to Sunday’s matchup, this is the monstrous game for both teams.

For Utah, they’ll have a day’s rest while the Canucks will be on the second of a back-to-back.

If the Canucks happen to lose to Chicago on Saturday, Utah can force a three-way tie with Calgary and Vancouver for the final spot.

So, while things went poorly in Seattle, Utah needs to move on and completely shift their focus towards Sunday.

To them, this is a game-seven, Stanley Cup Final situation which could have major implications on who ends up in the playoffs.

Cole Bagley is the Utah Hockey Club insider for KSL Sports. Keep up with him on X here. You can hear Cole break down the team on KSL Sports Zone and KSL 5 TV.

Tanner Tripp is a sports writer for KSL Sports covering all teams across the state of Utah. Follow him on X @tanner_tripp and Instagram @tanner.tripp here.

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