Utah Hockey Club loses for first time ever

The house always wins. That’s the lesson Utah Hockey Club learned in its trip to Las Vegas on Friday night.
An evenly matched first two periods made some wonder if the game would need overtime, until the Vegas Golden Knights took control in the third period to defeat Utah HC 5-2.
Win or lose, you have to have liked two things Utah HC showed: the white jerseys and the development of Logan Cooley.
I might have to run a poll on X sometime soon to see if I represent the people of Utah with this claim, but the white Utah HC jerseys are superior in every way to the darks. They’re so clean. It’s a shame the team won’t get to wear them in front of the home crowd at the Delta Center.
As far as Logan Cooley goes, even you hockey dummies — said with the utmost love and respect, of course — probably noticed him at a few key points during the game.
My favorite was when he spun off of an opponent in the offensive zone and threw a perfect pass all the way to the other side for Michael Carcone, who got a great shot off. Then, not two minutes later, Carcone gave essentially the same pass to Cooley, though it was too hot for Cooley to handle.
Plays like that don’t just happen, and not everyone can pull that kind of thing off. Cooley is a special player with a ton of potential in the NHL.
“You’re still trying to get all the systems down and just trying to get in the best shape possible come regular season,” Cooley said after practice on Friday morning. “Keep building off little things in practice and preseason and just try to be (in) the best shape come regular season.”
The 20 year-old center had a good year statistically last season, but you can probably expect him to really break out this year.
The bottom-six forward group is a hotly contested topic in Utah HC circles at the moment. You could make a case that at least nine different forwards deserve bottom-six spots, but basic math tells you that a few guys have to get cut.
I’ve spent the last few days saying that Kailer Yamamoto, who is currently on a PTO, is proving that he deserves one of those spots. I’ve speculated that although Josh Doan is showing that he belongs in the NHL, his entry-level contract makes him the easiest of the group to send down if the team does sign Yamamoto.
Doan is making that decision hard for Utah’s staff.
He showed his true value about 12 seconds before assisting on Utah HC’s first goal. He stripped the puck away from Golden Knights captain Mark Stone, who’s best known for stripping opponents of the puck himself.
As the play transitioned back towards the Golden Knights’ zone, Doan joined the rush and played a key role in setting up the goal.
Good defensive plays like that are commonplace for Doan. Another one came in the dying seconds of the first period. The Golden Knights carried the puck into Utah HC’s zone for one last chance before the buzzer sounded, and rather than trying to strip his man of the puck, Doan simply angled him into the boards and then tied up his stick until time was up.
Coaches value two-way players, and that’s exactly what Doan is.
If Doan does get sent to the AHL to start the year, it will likely be a Dylan Guenther type of situation. Guenther started last season with the Tucson Roadrunners but got called up to the Coyotes in January. He played the rest of the season with the big club and produced enough to earn an eight-year contract.
Whether he plays in the NHL the whole year or just as needed will depend on what management thinks is best for his development, there’s no doubt that Doan can hold his own in the big leagues.
Generating offense proved to be Utah HC’s downfall on Friday. It was a lot less noticeable in the first and second period when both teams struggled to control the puck in tight, but the Golden Knights must have changed their game plan during the second intermission because something switched.
The shot clock is a somewhat accurate indication of offense created, though it certainly doesn’t tell the full story. In the third period, Utah HC managed just six shots compared to 13 by the Golden Knights. That’s when the Golden Knights ran away with the game, scoring three times.
This was obviously an incomplete lineup, so it’s not time for Utah HC to hit the panic button. Most of the good offensive looks came from the guys who will be expected to provide them throughout the season, while the depth players played a tight defensive game that, until the third period, hardly allowed anything through.
That’s exactly what depth players are there for, so you can’t blame them for not creating much offense.
Utah HC returns home to sleep in its own beds on Friday and Saturday before making a quick flight to Denver for a game against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.
Much like the Golden Knights, the Avalanche are a skilled team that plays a heavy brand of hockey. It will be a good chance to see what some of Utah’s veterans are made of.
The game starts at 5 p.m. and will be streamed on Utah HC+.