Brandon Montour #62 of the Seattle Kraken looks to shoot against Karel Vejmelka #70 of the Utah Hockey Club during the first period at Climate Pledge Arena on March 14, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Hockey Club was their own worst enemy on Friday night as they gifted the Seattle Kraken a plethora of golden opportunities and were punished for their mistakes in a deflating 4-2 loss. Despite dropping a critical must-win game to begin their road trip, Utah will need to quickly move on as they face the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday in the biggest game of the season.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s loss in Seattle.
After trailing the Seattle Kraken less than 60 seconds into the initial frame on Friday night, the Utah Hockey Club received a much-needed spark from forward Kevin Stenlund to get on the scoreboard.
SCHMALTZ SCORES AND UTAH HAS TIED THIS HOCKEY GAME!
What a play by Stenlund right out of the penalty box.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 15, 2025
Following a two-minute high-sticking penalty, Stenlund burst from the sin bin and immediately went on the attack to help Utah tie the game at one a-piece.
With only two shots on net leading up to the goal, Utah was in desperate need of offense as they were unable to generate any dangerous scoring chances despite several sustained O-zone possessions.
In response to the offensive struggles, Stenlund kicked on the afterburners, went coast-to-coast, attacked the net and served up an easy one-timer for Nick Schmaltz to finish.
Fresh out of the box, Stenlund made this goal happen by serving up an easy one for Schmaltz.
Utah needed something to get them going and 82 got it done. Phenomenal effort. https://t.co/EwOYZ1CLoB
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 15, 2025
Stenlund then followed up his apple with a brilliant goal as he battled for position in front of the net and was the beneficiary of some elite puck movement from Michael Carcone and John Marino.
This forehand-backhand play by Marino is filthy.
What a sequence by Utah to take the lead. https://t.co/jDHiEXdCcO
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 15, 2025
At times, it can be difficult to generate dangerous chances due to the pressure of the defense, the performance of the netminder or pucks simply failing to find their way to the net.
When that’s the case, individual brilliance is often required to get something going.
For Utah, Stenlund was the only spark on an otherwise off night offensively.
While it was certainly an off night offensively for the Utah Hockey Club, defensively, it was mostly a disaster.
For the night, Utah had 23 giveaways, the biggest of which resulted in the game-winning goal for Seattle in the third period.
In an attempt to clear his own zone, Mikhail Sergachev mistakenly played the puck into the side of Utah’s net which took Karel Vejmelka by surprise and the Kraken quickly capitalized with a wraparound goal.
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“We feel like we let that one slip away. Obviously, every game from here on out is a playoff game with the race being so tight,” Defenseman John Marino said.
“We feel like we had our chances and we kind of gave them the goals that they got.”
Like Marino pointed out, most of Seattle’s chances tonight were self-inflicted mistakes by Utah due to poor puck management, an inability to properly clear the zone and bad passes from a collection of different skaters.
At this point in the season, that simply can’t happen.
It’s too late in the year to be fumbling with the puck, especially with playoffs on the line and every game so fragilely crucial.
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.
The Utah Hockey Club will now face the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night at Rogers Arena. The game can be viewed on SEG+. 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.