The Winnipeg Jets may be the best team in hockey at the moment, but the Utah Hockey Club doesn’t care. They pulled off the upset on Saturday night with a 4-1 win on home ice.

Utah played a near-perfect game. The struggling power play struck twice, the captain scored his 500th point, Kevin Stenlund tallied two points against his former team, Barrett Hayton matched his career high in goals and Karel Vejmelka, yet again, played a solid game.

“We played against a really good team and it was a hell of a game,” said head coach André Tourigny. I’m really proud of the guys.”

Utah’s playoff hopes are still alive, though slim. Their fate rests partially on the success or failure of their competitors, but they’re doing all they can to stay in it.

“They’re the easiest team to coach in the league right now,” Tourigny said. “They’re tuned in. They’re locked in.”

Utah Hockey for dummies

When the season began, there were a lot of fans who identified as “hockey dummies.” But as the year has progressed, I’ve been delighted to see hockey intelligence rise in this state.

That intelligence was on full display at the Delta Center on Saturday.

See, in the early part of the season, the officials took way more booing than they deserved — clear penalties called against Utah, clean hits on UHC players, offside and icing calls — anything that didn’t favor the home team. On Saturday, every fan reaction was on point.

For example, with about 14:25 left in the third period against the Jets, the referees missed what I would call a clear holding penalty on Michael Kesselring. I’ve often felt like the only person that noticed missed calls, but this time there was a 16,000-person choir booing in agreement with me.

It was at that point that I realized it had been weeks — maybe months — since I last heard an unjust boo. And it’s still as loud as ever inside the arena.

When asked about the fans’ engagement after the game, Tourigny responded with a question:

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“Yeah,” we responded.

“Imagine us. We’re jacked. That’s great.”

Utah Hockey for casual fans

As mentioned, Clayton Keller’s pair of points on Saturday elevated him to 500 career points.

“He’s getting better every day,” Tourigny said of the captain. “The way he showed up today and the way he fought against a heavy team like Winnipeg, it doesn’t bother him at all.”

But it’s not just on the ice that Keller has improved.

“Where I’m most proud of him is as a human being,” Tourigny said. “The way he’s matured. The teammate he’s become. He’s always been a good teammate, but now he’s captain. He’s great. The way he can take the good and the bad and make the best out of it, learn from his mistakes.”

Keller said that, going into the game, he had no idea he was approaching that milestone. “I was a bit surprised,” he said.

He took the opportunity to direct the spotlight upon the people who have helped him along the way.

“So many people in my life sacrificed for me to get to this level, so (I’m) just super thankful for everything that they’ve done for me,” he said. “My teammates, coaches, there’s so many people that have helped me get to where I’m at.”

As neat as it is to hit such a big milestone, Keller also emphasized that he’s not done yet. After all, he’s still only 26 years old.

Utah Hockey for nerds

The month of March was filled with articles critiquing Utah’s power play. At a success rate of 13.2%, it was the sixth-worst in the league, despite being the 10th best before that.

That seems to be reverting back to the way it was.

They ended Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings with a last-minute power play goal. Then, on Saturday, they put two of them past Connor Hellebuyck.

Those two goals were the difference in this game, as it was 3-1 until the Jets pulled their goalie.

“We, maybe, emphasized it more in practice, video, watched clips that made us successful,” Keller said of the changes the group made. “(Assistant coach Blaine Forsythe) does a great job of breaking it down — breaking down teams in zones, their forechecks, things like that.”

The other change to the power play was putting Barrett Hayton back on the first unit. He filled that spot while Logan Cooley was injured, scoring a hat trick in the process. Cooley retook his place a few games after returning, but for whatever reason it just didn’t click.

If they can keep firing on all cylinders with the man advantage, they might be able to keep that sliver of playoff hope alive a little longer.

What’s next?

Utah’s penultimate home game of the season comes Tuesday as they host the Seattle Kraken.

The Kraken have already been eliminated from playoff contention, but don’t take that as a sign that it will be an easy game for UHC. NHL teams tend not to tank, even when they have no chance of making the playoffs.

Utah has lost both games they’ve played against Seattle this year. They’ll look to make up for it here.

The game begins at 7 p.m. MDT and will be broadcast on Utah HC+ and Utah 16.