Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Utah Hockey Club defeated Minnesota 6-1, marking their third consecutive win.
- Clayton Keller led with a career-high 5 points, contributing significantly to the victory.
- Utah is now just 2 points shy of a playoff spot, showcasing newfound confidence.
SALT LAKE CITY — As Utah Hockey Club André Tourigny left the press conference dias following his team's 6-1 win over Minnesota, he was asked if he was going to go watch the end of the Ducks-Canucks game.
That game in Anaheim had some pretty big playoff implications.
"What do you mean?" he joked. "I don't know — Anaheim's up 3-2 — I don't know."
There's still plenty of games left — weeks even — but on Thursday, Utah certainly looked like a team ready to challenge for the postseason (the Ducks' 5-2 win over the Canucks didn't hurt, either; Utah is now just 2 points shy of Vancoucer for the final wild card spot).
With the trade deadline looming next week, the Utah Hockey Club has made a strong case for sticking together, if not being even more of a buyer.
Utah's rout of the Wild was the team's third straight victory and sixth in its last eight games. This one, though, was a bit different.
The Hockey Club has grown used to the heart-pounding pressure of one-goal games. The team's collective pulse got to take a break on Thursday.
Instead of white-knuckling an ending, Utah posted three goals in the third period for a relatively easy victory.
"It's weird," Tourigny said of not having to sweat out the end of a game. "That was cool. I think we were consistent in the way we play. When we got up 3-1, 4-1, we did not change. We didn't start to play differently or start to peel back. We stayed engaged, we stayed in the moment, and we just kept going."
Clayton Keller had a career-high 5 points, scoring his 22nd goal and adding four more assists. He had the primary assists on the game's first two goals (the first to Barrett Hayton and the second to tee up Dylan Guenther for a one-timer). He added two more assists and a goal in the third period.
So what was working on Thursday for the capitan? He said nothing really was different — the puck just found its way into the back of the net.
"Just trying to do the same thing every single night," he said.
That seemed like an understatement, but it was a thought echoed by defenseman Sean Durzi.
"I mean, the thing about Kells, you know he's bringing every single day; practice, games, he's going to bring that focus every single day," Durzi said. "Tonight, the puck went in for him, which you always root for a guy like that. And it's huge."
The puck went in for a few more guys, as well.
Nick Schmaltz, who had to head to the locker room after getting hit in the mouth with a high stick, added 3 points of his own (a goal and two assists). Barrett Hayton, Logan Cooley and Mikhail Sergavehv also had multi-point games. In all, Utah had six different players score goals and seven had an assist.
It was Hayton who opened the scoring early in the first period when he made a nifty move in front of the net to poke in a goal during a power play. Guenther added another goal in the period on a one-timer from the left circle.
Minnesota cut Utah's lead in half at the 16:02 mark of the second period, but then the floodgates opened for The Club.
Durzi had a near-immediate response to the Wild's goal with a dart from distance for his first goal of the season and first as a member of the Utah Hockey Club.
Schmaltz, Keller and Cooley added goals in the third to add to a horrific night from Minnesota's future hall-of-fame goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
That flurry was a sign of growth for The Club, which is now on the verge of a playoff spot.
"Even when we have the lead, still looking to score," Keller said. "But playing the right way, getting pucks in, being good on the fore check. I think we've learned and gotten better as the year has gone on of just how to play with the lead. And we have some new confidence and some swagger."
