Though it was true for a number of years, nobody can accuse the Minnesota Wild of playing “boring” hockey any longer. They’ve shown that time and time again this year, and their visit to Utah on Tuesday was no different. That’s probably why ESPN chose it as one of their nationally broadcast games.
It was a back-and-forth game, as one team would take the lead and the other would score a couple quick ones to leapfrog ahead. It all culminated in a tied game after regulation and went all the way to a shootout, where Matt Boldy was the eventual hero, scoring the lone shootout goal of the game to launch the Wild into first place in the NHL.
Utah gained a single point, putting it above .500 once again.
I’ll give my opinion on shootouts later in the article, but for now let’s just say the chairs at the Delta Center didn’t get much use during the shootout.
How this works
This is a three-part article geared toward three different audiences.
- First, we’ll have “Utah hockey for dummies” for all you new hockey fans. Welcome, by the way — we’re glad you’ve taken an interest in the greatest sport in the world.
- Next, we’ll have a section titled “Utah hockey for casual fans,” aimed at those who have a basic understanding of the sport.
- Finally, we’ll have “Utah hockey for nerds.” That will be for those of you who, like me, think about nothing but hockey all day, every day.
Feedback is welcome, so let me know what you think in the comments of this article or the comments section on “X.”
Utah Hockey for dummies
There has been a lot of conversation in hockey circles recently about video review. Some people feel it’s overused, and others feel the league doesn’t do a good enough job at making their determinations.
But nobody could argue the Utah Hockey Club’s overturned goal in the second period Tuesday.
If you’re new to hockey, now’s a good time to learn about the place video review has in the game. The on-ice officials do their best to catch things that would prevent goals from counting — offside and goaltender interference, for example.
But, being human, they make mistakes. When the team getting scored on recognizes something that should have nullified the goal, they can use a coach’s challenge to contest it.
If there is substantial evidence that the goal should have been disallowed, the call is overturned. If it’s too close to call, the call on the ice stands.
That’s not dissimilar to coaches’ challenges in other sports, but hockey has one distinction: If the challenge is unsuccessful, the challenging team is assessed a two-minute penalty for delay of game.
A failed challenge can drastically change the course of a game.
A coach’s challenge played into Utah’s win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, when a Flyers goal was disallowed for goaltender interference. On Tuesday, it had the opposite effect: Utah lost a goal due to a challenge for offside.
Utah Hockey for casual fans
Much to the dismay of my fellow beat reporters, Utah HC participated for the first time Tuesday in the most exciting thing that can possibly happen in an NHL game: a shootout.
The shootout, which comes if the score is still tied after a five-minute overtime period, is a brilliant display of talent, giving the best goal scorers from each team the chance to shoot solo on the goalie.
They get creative and try all sorts of moves, the only bounds being that the puck must remain in forward motion and you can’t score on rebounds.
Shootouts have produced some of the craftiest goals in hockey history. I, for one, fell in love with players such as Pavel Datsyuk and Patrick Kane through watching their shootout compilations.
Of course, it’s not the greatest display of team play, but in my opinion, neither is 3-on-3 overtime. The only way to get a proper winner is to do it playoff style: 5-on-5 until someone scores.
That’s just not realistic for an 82-game season though, so overtimes and shootouts suffice.
Utah head coach André Tourigny is among those who dislike the event.
“Did you ever meet a coach who liked to to finish on a skill session?” he asked. “I never met that coach. If you met one, introduce him to me.”
Utah Hockey for nerds
I’ve written extensively about how being included or excluded from the 4 Nations Face-Off has boosted players’ performances. That was the case again on Tuesday.
Kevin Stenlund scored in his third consecutive game, Clayton Keller potted two power play goals in the same game for the first time in his career and Juuso Välimäki, who hadn’t scored until Sunday, got his second goal in the last two games.
I asked Keller after the game if those rosters are something that’s affecting those particular players.
“Yeah, for sure,” he said. “That’s a team that everyone wants to be a part of and when you’re not selected, you look yourself in the mirror and you go to work the next day with a little extra jump.”
For the players who didn’t get the nod, one motivating factor is the possibility of being selected as an injury replacement, if necessary. Teams can add players for injury reasons until just before the tournament starts.
In Keller’s case, it also doesn’t hurt that he scored twice against Team USA general manager Bill Guerin’s team Tuesday.
What’s next?
It was just a one-game home stand for Utah HC. They now embark on another two-game road trip.
First up are the Colorado Avalanche. The two teams have played each other once already this season: a 5-1 Avalanche win at the Delta Center. You know Utah will want to get their revenge against the divisional rivals.
The Avalanche have made some roster moves since that game. Most notably, they’ve revamped their goaltending tandem — the part of their game that had struggled the most. They now have Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood between the pipes in hopes that they’ll see a bit more consistency.
Blackwood hasn’t played a game for his new team yet, but Wedgewood has been excellent. Over a three-game span, he has two wins, a .951 save percentage and a 1.44 goals-against average.
In the Avalanche’s 6-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, star forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen each scored five points. Handling those two will be priority number one for Utah on Thursday.
The game starts at 7 p.m. MDT and will be available on Utah HC+ and Utah 16.
