Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — For a moment, Utah Hockey Club fans dared to believe the puck crossed to the goalline.
With six seconds remaining, Jack McBain tipped a shot that banged loudly off the inner post. Fans raised their hands in celebration but the official's signal was clear: no goal.
That's how close Utah was to salvaging a 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues Sunday at the Delta Center.
As it was, Utah dropped its fifth straight game and the third straight by a single goal.
That late play then can be seen as an encapsulation of the season as a whole. Ever since a thrilling opening week that saw two late comeback wins, Utah has struggled to produce in critical moments. Be it finding late goals or keeping late leads.
"We've had a lot of meetings about this and had a lot of talk, and I think that everyone's really said just about all that could be said," Ian Cole said. "I mean, at some point, it needs to get put into practice on the ice, right?"
Even when Utah broke through on Sunday, it was quickly forgotten. Defenseman Michael Kesselring tied the game in the early minutes of the third period with a shot from the point off a face-off win. His rocket leveled the score at 1-1 and looked to have saved Utah from a lackluster opening period.
It seemed like cruel irony that, as Kesselring's goal was announced over the Delta Center public address system, St. Louis's Jordan Kyrou scored what ended up being the game-winning goal.
After that, Utah had two consecutive power plays where it couldn't find the net and then failed to score once it pulled Connor Ingram in the dying moments, even with a few good looks.
Utah remained the only team in the NHL that hasn't scored after pulling its goalie this season. And it's not like it hasn't had ample opportunities. The majority of Utah's losses have come in one-shot games.
"It's tough," Kesselring said of those late moments. "I mean, we just got to get more pucks on net and bodies and bang away. It's a tough situation. We've got to get out of those situations. We should be tied or winning the game by then."
The positive spin: At least Utah is generating some looks on the six-on-five now. Earlier in the season, it often felt like pulling the goalie was a sure-fire way to turn a one-goal deficit into a two-goal hole.
"I think in the last two, three times we pulled the goalie we've been better generating shots on them," head coach André Tourigny said. "But I think we need to simplify that. I think we're trying to make sometimes too good of a play."
He probably can say that for the offense as a whole. Utah has scored just 8 goals during the recent five-game losing streak.
The losses of Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther — two of Utah's four top point-getters — have been hard to overcome, especially with the likes of Lawson Crouse (11 points in 52 games) and other veteran forwards still struggling to consistently produce.
Tourigny said that Kesselring's blast is an example of how Utah will need to generate offense, especially with Cooley and Guenther out.
"I often compare it to football, if you just run the ball in football, at some point, you could predictable and you get stopped," he said. "You need to run and throw the ball so you need your D to chip in and get pucks at the net and get the dirty one, the rebound, the tips, the deflections. That opens up space down low. Now you can make plays."
A similar shot is how Utah came oh-so-close to tying things up in the waning seconds on Sunday. John Marino sent a shot toward net and McBain tipped it; the puck just hit the post.
And that led to yet another loss.
"We're judged on whether we win or lose, so obviously something we need to change right now and right away," Cole said.
