Utah Hockey Club head coach André Tourigny had a question Tuesday morning.
Could his group maintain consistency against the Ottawa Senators after its overtime win against the Boston Bruins on Saturday?
“We did a really good job against the Bruins. It doesn’t mean anything anymore,” Tourigny said. “Now can we, as a young team, move on? Can we just stay in the present, stay humble and be urgent as much as we were against the Bruins? That’s the challenge for us.”
That challenge proved too hard to overcome as Utah fell 4-0 to the Senators Tuesday night at Delta Center.
The game slipped away from the Hockey Club in a span of eight minutes in the first period in which the Senators scored four goals. While Utah pushed and produced high-danger chances in the second and third, its opening-frame lapses buried the group — as well as a shutdown 31-save performance from Ottawa goaltender Anton Forsberg.
“That was a drop off I think in our focus. We obviously came out strong, playing well. But we didn’t stay in the moment,” Tourigny said. “We got carried away — a little soft defensively, force a play, turnover…We got ahead of ourselves and we paid for it.”
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Referees break up a fight during the game between the Utah Hockey Club and the Ottawa Senators at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
After outshooting the Senators 7-1 in the first 10 minutes of the game, Utah fell off to finish the first.
Drake Batherson got things going for Ottawa at 11:43 with a tac-tac-toe goal off the rush. The forward snapped it from the lower left circle for the 1-0 lead.
The Senators doubled their advantage after Utah turned the it over at center ice while trying to break out. Nick Jensen carried the puck into the offensive zone before sliding it over to Claude Giroux who one-timed it past Connor Ingram at 13:06.
A Robert Bortuzzo holding penalty gave the Senators a power play, and they were quick to capitalize. Ridly Greig wired it home from below the hash marks at 18:05 to put Ottawa up 3-0 just 15 seconds into the man advantage.
“It’s tough. I liked our start tonight. A couple mistakes cost us, but we never quit,” said Clayton Keller who led Utah’s forwards in ice time and had three shots on goal. “Those little mistakes can determine the game sometimes.”
Brady Tkachuk finished off the first-period scoring frenzy for Ottawa with eight seconds remaining in the frame. The Senators’ captain was stationed in front of the net and knocked in the rebound of Thomas Chabot’s shot to push Utah behind 4-0.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) and Utah Hockey Club defenseman Ian Cole (28) defend during the game between the Utah Hockey Club and the Ottawa Senators at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
Ingram was pulled from the net after the first 20 minutes of play. Karel Vejmelka made his Delta-Center debut to start the second period.
“Everybody in life has a bad day at the office sometimes. I think as a goaltender you’re exposed more than anybody else. I think you need to make the right decision for the team, it’s nothing personal,” Tourigny said of the decision to make the switch to Vejmelka.
Vejmelka posted 14 saves and looked sharp and composed while denying the Senators any more goals for the remainder of the matchup. The goaltender’s first start of the season came on Oct. 14 at Prudential Center against the New Jersey Devils where Utah fell 3-0. Tuesday was his second game action.
“Obviously it’s not easy but I try to be prepared to play. Like any other game, just be ready any time. Just try to focus for the first shot and get into it,” Vejmelka said. “I just tried to enjoy the game. It was my first one in front of the home crowd. It was a great feeling.”
Utah outshot the Senators 14-5 in the second period. Josh Doan just missed the net on a breakaway and Dylan Guenther unleashed two blasts from the circle on the power play, but nothing hit for the Hockey Club. It was more of the same in the final stanza.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club right wing Josh Doan (91) and Ottawa Senators right wing Claude Giroux (28) during the game between the Utah Hockey Club and the Ottawa Senators at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024.
Utah’s thinned backend and younger roster will have their expected fall-offs, but it will cost wins. Letting up and losing consistency for just eight minutes of a 60-minute game evidently did just that.
“We’re still early in the season, we’re learning. We’re learning how to play as a team, we have a lot of new guys,” Keller said. “It’s a long season, can’t get frustrated. Have to stay patient and get better every day and good things happen.”
