SALT LAKE CITY- After a busy first period in which Matias Maccelli scored two goals in ten minutes, and New York and Utah combined for four goals, the Hockey Club wasted no time retaking their lead, thanks to Logan Cooley.
Less than a minute into the period, Utah went on the power play. For the first minute and a half, Utah couldn’t break through and the one-man advantage was nearing an end.
The puck made its way back into the zone, giving the Hockey Club another chance to find a scoring opportunity. The puck got jammed in the near corner but found its way to Nick Schmaltz who dumped it to Clayton Keller at the near dot.
Keller didn’t even turn around fully before firing a pass across the ice, hitting Logan Cooley’s stick right on the tape, allowing him to send a one-timer right past the New York tender and into the back of the net for Utah’s third goal of the evening.
Absolutely filthy pass from Keller. To know he was there and put it right on his stick is ridiculous.
Then Cooley buries it.
Utah is letting shots fly tonight and it's working. https://t.co/mE41KLvk5G
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) January 17, 2025
It’s no mystery that the Utah Hockey Club has lacked consistency in recent weeks.
With continued second period woes, losses stacking up, and an inability to win on home ice, Utah has simply been unable to play a complete game as of late.
So, can they fix it?
According to 30-year-old Olli Maatta, it’s more about showing up on a nightly basis if they want to emerge from their current slump.
Olli Maatta on Utah’s recent struggles:
“Consistency is not there…I don’t think we are consistently playing at that level that we can every night.”
“You’ve got to pull a full 60 together…We have that 20 minutes, 40 minutes & then a bad 20 minutes. You can’t have that.” pic.twitter.com/vfKxWxYrT7
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) January 15, 2025
“Everybody kind of has to look at ourselves and their game. That’s personally what I’m doing,” Maatta said.
“But knowing we’ve got the answer, this group has shown it throughout the season. You’ve got to bring it every night. It’s a tough league. There’s no easy games. Everything matters now…We’ve just got to show up.”
Looking at it a step further, poor second periods have been one of the primary reasons for Utah’s recent struggles.
Over the last 10 games, they’ve been outscored 12-6 during the middle frame.
But even when they’ve adjusted and found success in the second, they seem to struggle in one of the other periods.
