What went wrong in Utah HC's loss to Stars?

The Utah Hockey Club’s last two regulation losses have now come at the hands of the Dallas Stars following Monday night’s 3-2 loss at home.

An insufficient effort in the second period was Utah HC’s demise. Outside of that, it was as evenly matched as any game.

“I think that second period’s a learning lesson, honestly,” said Utah center Barrett Hayton. “I thought we did a great job in the first period. We were urgent, we were intense, we were on the ball, playing the right way. You just can’t afford those lapses against good teams, and that’s what our second period was.”

A late push from Utah yielded some close calls, but sports fans know “close” doesn’t cut it.

Utah Hockey for dummies

Hayton seems to have found his scoring touch once again.

Until this week, the 24-year-old who centers Utah’s top line hadn’t scored since Oct. 30. Now, he has a pair of goals in as many games. It’s his second time scoring in bunches this year, as he scored in each of the team’s first three games and again in its fifth game.

He told the media after the game Monday that there’s not much rhyme or reason to his streaks.

“I think you’ll score and produce when you’re playing well and playing the right way,” he said. “It all comes full circle like that, so I don’t know. It’s just coincidence.”

Regardless of whether the puck goes in the net or not, Hayton has played an immaculate defensive game this year, which has opened his linemates up for offensive success.

Clayton Keller, who plays on Hayton’s left wing, has scored more than a point per game this year. Nick Schmaltz, his other winger, is just below a point per game.

Interesting note: There’s a discrepancy as to how many points Hayton now has in his career. The team is celebrating his goal as his 100th point, but NHL.com says it’s only his 99th, with the same number of games played, goals and assists.

HockeyDB and most of the other sites agree that it’s number 100. I’m not good enough at math to figure out who’s right. Someone add it up and let me know in the comments.

Utah Hockey for casual fans

Although Utah HC managed just 26 shots Monday, Stars goaltender Casey DeSmith was the story of the game. He plays at the top of his crease, which is especially effective when facing shots from medium and close distances. It earned him the honor of first star of the game.

Time and time again, Utah would create plenty of open space, make a great play and put a solid shot on net, only to have it go straight to the crest of DeSmith’s jersey.

“There weren’t many holes on him,” said Utah center Nick Bjugstad. “There were some good chances on our end, but I still feel like traffic and making it a little harder on him would have been beneficial for us.”

Utah Hockey for nerds

The fatigue of a back-to-back affects teams more than we probably think it does. In this, the second game in as many nights for Utah HC, they got much-needed energy from the third line: Bjugstad, Lawson Crouse and Matias Maccelli.

All night long, that line created chances out of thin air. They seemed to have the chemistry together that earned them all the best or second-best point totals of their careers last year.

One example came midway through the first period Monday. Bjugstad was streaking down the left wing but was forced to the outside by the Stars’ defender.

Rather than trying to beat him with speed, Bjugstad threw on the brakes and sent a spinning backhand pass straight to the stick of Crouse.

DeSmith matched him with a perfectly positioned save, but the play gave Utah a jolt of energy.

Then on the first shift of the second period, they had a similar high-energy rush. It was not by coincidence that Utah head coach Andre Tourigny selected his highest-paced line to set the tone for the second.

These are the kinds of things that third lines are typically responsible for, in addition to chipping in a goal once every two or three games. They’re really struggling to do that second part, but they showed on Monday that they can do the first thing.

“When you’re not scoring as a line, you try to figure out what to do,” Bjugstad said. “For us, it’s just simplifying.”

What’s next?

There will be three silent nights for Utah HC — and the rest of the NHL — before getting back into action on Friday as they host the Colorado Avalanche.

It’s the third and final match this season between the two teams. They’re both 1-1-0 against each other so the season series is on the line.

It’s a big game in the sense that both teams are competing for one of the same five playoff spots, so every point matters. It’s a good chance for one team to gain the edge over the other.

Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon is as hot as ever right now, with 16 points in his last seven games. With that in mind, it shouldn’t surprise you that he has a five-point lead in the NHL points race.

The game starts at 7:30 p.m. It will be broadcast nationally, meaning it won’t be available on the normal channels. Instead, it’s on ESPN2.