Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Lawson Crouse's reflective break led to a Utah win over Chicago.
- Crouse adopted a shot-first mentality, scoring the decisive goal in a 2-1 victory.
- Utah's recent form has improved, enhancing their playoff prospects in the Western Conference.
SALT LAKE CITY — Lawson Crouse got reflective over the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
The transition to Utah hadn't gone the way he had hoped. The regular 20-goal scorer has been on a points pace that he hadn't seen since his first two years in the league.
So he used the time off to try and figure out what had gone wrong. As he studied himself, something stood out: He wasn't playing like he used to.
"I felt I was getting away from the shot-first mentality," Crouse said. "When I take a look at the goals that I've scored in previous years, it's on and off my stick."
So when he got back from break, he had a goal for himself: shoot the puck, and shoot it a lot.
That helped Utah get a win on Tuesday.
With 7:48 left, Crouse scored on a quick backhander to lift Utah to a 2-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at the Delta Center.
"He has less doubt in his head," Tourigny said. "He's playing a little bit more mind-free. He's shooting quickly. You can see it; he doesn't overthink the game. I like the way he played, the pace he played, I think that line was excellent again tonight."
That goal came after plenty of other chances from Crouse. He led the team in shots during Sunday's win against Vancouver — and that number didn't even include a couple of breakaway chances where he didn't find frame — and he did so again on Tuesday.
His final shot finally broke through.
"We attacked as a unit, and (Josh Doan) made a great play to find me in the middle," Crouse said of the play. "There was a lot of open ice, and I think the key player on that play was Jack McBain just being at the net, and that allowed me to have that extra second to get the shot off, and threw it in on the backhand. I saw an opening and felt really nice."
It's too early to say that the one goal will change Crouse's fortunes. But, who knows, Crouse's new approach could lead to more and more production in the future. At least his captain thinks so.
"He's such a great teammate, scoring, not scoring, through the ups and downs, a guy we love being around at the rink," said Clayton Keller, who scored the game-tying goal in the final minute of the second period. "Anytime another guy has success, it's awesome. And that'll get him going for sure."
And that would help the team continue its current run of play.
Utah has gone 5-2-0 in its last seven games and has moved to within 3 points of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. It's a team that is officially in the playoff hunt, and Crouse has joined the fray.
The Club is starting to find ways to win games that earlier in the season it would have folded. Utah outplayed Chicago for much of the game, but heading into the final minute of the second period it was down 1-0.
The power play had generated looks but hadn't finished any. Utah had created turnovers and odd-man rushes and came up empty. Earlier in the season, frustration may have ruled the day. It didn't on Tuesday.
"In the past, maybe you get frustrated and cheat, but we stuck with it and it paid off," Crouse said.
For him and the team.
"We stayed with it, and we play with confidence," Toruigny said. "Confidence on our play without the puck, and confidence if we keep pegging away and putting pucks behind and putting pucks at the net something will go in and it did."
