SALT LAKE CITY – While the Toronto Maple Leafs may have stolen the extra point following a shootout victory, the Utah Hockey Club demonstrated heart and grit as they overcame a seemingly insurmountable three-goal deficit. As the team continues to battle for a playoff spot, Utah snatched a precious OT point that could make a big difference down the road.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s shootout loss to Toronto.
Despite a decent start through the first 10 minutes of the contest, Utah committed several poor stick penalties that resulted in an early 2-0 hole against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
After Josh Doan tripped William Nylander and the Leafs opened the scoring, Ian Cole was then called for a high stick late in the first, and Toronto doubled their lead.
View this post on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
While Utah was able to tie things up and completely stole the momentum in the second period, those mistakes were unnecessary and forced the club to play absolutely explosive, high-energy hockey to get back into the game.
Not that penalties are ever acceptable, but when the opposition has players like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander, who collectively have 200 points, teams need to extra careful in order to stay out of the sin bin.
So, was the comeback a performance for the ages? Absolutely.
But they didn’t need to put themselves in that situation against such a dangerous team with the 10th best power play in the league.
Following the third Toronto goal that lacked conclusive evidence to overturn a high-stick, Michael Kesselring dropped the gloves with defenseman Simon Benoit and the two went at it.
Beginning with a Superman punch where Benoit went airborne to deliver a blow to Kesselring’s face, Kesselring then unleashed the beast as he swung with ferocity and landed several shots to the back of Benoit’s head.
“No, that was a little interesting. But whatever, it’s a fight, right? You sign up for it,” Kesselring said about Benoit’s superman punch.
“You know something’s coming so it’s all good.”
View this post on Instagram
Just as Kesselring switched into a different gear, Utah responded with an explosion of offense and scored three goals in less than four minutes to tie the game.
As I’ve noted before, fighting is all about timing and Kesselring couldn’t have picked a better moment to not only drop the gloves but he brought Delta Center to life.
“I’m playing a little less, so I’ve got to find ways to impact the game. I thought it was a good opportunity,” Kesselring said.
“Just tried to get the boys going a little bit. We need every point we can get so it was huge to get the one.”
What followed was an unbelievable sequence of effort, grit, and heart as the ice tilted heavily in favor of the Utah Hockey Club.
Through 65 minutes on the ice, Utah and Toronto couldn’t be separated in five-on-five or three-on-three hockey which ultimately resulted in a shootout to determine the winner.
Unfortunately for Utah, facing an onslaught of shooters such as Nylander, Matthews and Marner, the Leafs firepower was simply too much to handle as Toronto scored on two of their three chances.
Based on the pace, physicality, and momentum swings between the two teams, the outcome deserved more than a skills contest to determine the winner.
While there needs to be some sort of quick result to determine a winner, which a shootout provides, perhaps a lengthened OT period of 10 minutes would produce a more honest winner.
“For me today we didn’t lose. That’s the way I think. We didn’t lose a hockey game, we lost a skills competition. Which has to happen, that’s the reality of our league,” Tourigny said.
“We’re missing one point. That’s the only thing we can complain about. The rest? It’s unreal.”
Shootout opinions aside, like Tourigny said, the way Utah came back against Toronto was simply unbelievable.
To trail by three goals in the second period but somehow rally in short order and go toe-to-toe with one of the most offensively talented teams in the NHL was wildly impressive.
It also demonstrated the growth and grit of the Utah Hockey Club as they desperately claw for a playoff spot.
“It was great. Earlier in the year we might have been too hot and got away from our game, and now you can see that we’re calm. The guys are saying the right things on the bench so it’s great to see that,” Clayton Keller said.
“We just have to continue to do that. Those are key moments, big moments, the moments you want to be a part of and that’s the most fun part about it is fighting for our lives here.”
Even if the season ends and Utah narrowly misses the playoffs, they’ve clearly taken steps and shown promise as they emerge from a rebuild.
Not only have they demonstrated obvious growth, but there is no doubting how much this team cares and wants to claim a playoff spot for the state sewn across their sweater.
The Utah Hockey Club will now host the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night at Delta Center. The game can be viewed on TNT or Max. Fans can also tune in on air on the KSL Sports APP or on 97.5 and 1280 The Zone. Click here for the full schedule.
