Utah HC overcomes 2 overturned goals, wins 6-4

Nobody can accuse the Utah Hockey Club and the Tampa Bay Lightning of playing boring hockey on Saturday afternoon — and it came at a great time.

Utah HC held its “Next Gen. Game,” which was geared toward children. Youngsters held a variety of capacities around the arena, helping out with in-game entertainment, broadcasting, photography and more.

Some kids even got to stand with the players and officials during the singing of The Star-Spangled Banner.

It just so happened that the most goals ever scored in a game at the Delta Center came during Next Gen. Night.

“Kids like goals,” said Alexander Kerfoot, who was responsible for two of UHC’s tallies. “It wasn’t our plan to go out and score six or give up four, but it’s fun. I think that this was a great atmosphere for kids to come and watch the game. This is a new market. We’re trying to grow hockey here.”

The final score was 6-4 in Utah’s favor, with an additional two Utah goals that came back due to coach’s challenges. Those goals, combined with a spirited fight and rally towels, made the game one to remember.

Logan Cooley, who also scored two goals, was likewise appreciative of the environment in the arena.

“It wasn’t easy when the building’s packed and we weren’t winning in front of our fans,” he said, “but credit to them. They’ve stuck with us when things weren’t going our way, and now when you win in front of them, it’s such an amazing feeling. I like when they have those towels, too.”

Utah Hockey for dummies

Jack McBain made a statement in the second period with his fight against Zemgus Girgensons.

There’s an unwritten (but almost always followed) rule in hockey stating that if you throw a dirty hit, you have to answer for it in the form of a fight.

So, when Girgensons stepped out of the penalty box after serving his time for a bad hit on Michael Kesselring, his gloves came off.

The custom exists for the purpose of vengeance without going to the extreme of an eye-for-eye situation. Nobody wants to see injuries, but that’s what tends to happen when players refuse to answer for bad hits.

It’s also worth pointing out that Girgensons’ hit on Kesselring was, indeed, dirty (contrary to what Lightning fans proclaimed on social media).

It was late and Kesselring was in a dangerous position, meaning it could have warranted a penalty for either interference or boarding. Girgensons knew it, as did McBain, and that’s why they fought.

Utah Hockey for casual fans

Every “casual fan” is familiar with Cooley at this point, but they might not all be aware of just how good he’s actually been.

According to the NHL public relations department, Cooley became just the fifth active American player to record multiple 20-goal seasons at age 20 or younger.

As I explained in an article earlier this week, Cooley’s entry-level contract has bonuses built into it for certain milestones. Hitting the 20-goal mark guaranteed him an extra $250,000.

Cooley is far from the only player to get that bonus money this season, but he’s one of only four players who aren’t in the last years of their respective deals to do it. You may have heard of the others: Macklin Celebrini, Adam Fantilli and Matvei Michkov.

That’s elite company.

“It’s always, probably, in the back of your head, but it’s something that, you know, you’re scoring to help the team win,” Cooley said of the achievement. “Individual success is nice, but again, it’s just two big goals that get us the win.”

At any rate, that’s a lot of success for someone who’s just 20.

Utah Hockey for nerds

When a team has a goal overturned due to a coach’s challenge, it can really shift the momentum. When it happens twice in the same game, it can be enough to cause the frustration to boil over.

But that wasn’t the case for Utah on Saturday.

“That’s just where our team grew, and that’s where our team (is) capable of weathering the storm here and there,” said head coach André Tourigny said of his group’s attitude with the two overturned goals.

In fact, it hasn’t really been the case for Utah all season.

Utah has had goals overturned in 11 games this season. Their record in those games is an astounding 8-1-2. That’s the kind of mindset that it takes to win in the NHL: If you get too low, you lose your confidence. If you get too high, lose the attention to detail that it takes to win.

That mindset was apparent on Saturday outside of the overturned goals, too. On two occasions Utah HC lost their lead, but both times, they went right back out and scored on the very next shift.

If they continue holding their heads high — but not too high — they’ll be in a position to have success for years to come.

What’s next?

Utah is back in action on Monday as the Detroit Red Wings come to town.

The two teams played in Detroit earlier in the month. Though the game didn’t start the way Utah HC drew it up, they found a way to get back in it and they ultimately walked away with the win.

Another Utah win will be critical in keeping its playoff hopes alive. The Calgary Flames and the St. Louis Blues both won on Saturday, meaning Utah HC remains four points out of the final wild card spot in the NHL’s Western Conference and behind the Blues, Flames and Vancouver Canucks.

Monday’s game starts at 7 p.m. MST and will be featured on both Utah 16 and Utah HC+.