Matias Maccelli stood in front of his cubby in an empty Utah Hockey Club locker room.
The 24-year-old tried to find answers for a third-period meltdown he did not cause, nor necessarily have the veteran NHL experience to talk about.
“Just sucks. It’s frustrating,” Maccelli said. “You’re up three goals going into the last four minutes ...”
But in the span of 1:50 of the third period against the San Jose Sharks Monday night at Delta Center, Utah saw its 4-1 lead turn into a 4-4 tie after giving up three goals in under two minutes.
Alexander Wennberg’s snapshot at 1:26 of overtime secured the 5-4 win for the Sharks — the team’s first of the season — and ended the Hockey Club’s breakdown with a fourth consecutive loss.
“They just got two good shots through a screen and the last one we blocked it and they got a good rebound,” Maccelli said. “Just frustrating.”
Maccelli’s two-goal night — his first and second tallies of the season — was quickly overshadowed by his team’s inability to close out a game, on home ice nonetheless.
The Sharks nearly doubled Utah’s shots on net with 45 to the Hockey Club’s 23. The goals just didn’t hit until the dwindling minutes of play in the third.
Fabian Zetterlund’s tip-in shot at 15:28 put Utah on its heels, and Mikael Granlund’s goal just 25 seconds later brought San Jose within one, 4-3, with 4:07 remaining on the clock in regulation.
Panic seeped into the Hockey Club’s game. Its structure became flustered, coverage became spotty and lead soon became nonexistent with Tyler Toffoli’s rebound, game-tying play at 17:18. Ian Cole’s block of Jake Walman’s shot landed on an unmarked Toffoli’s stick by the left circle where he wired it past Connor Ingram to knot things 4-4 and force overtime.
Utah Hockey Club left wing Matias Maccelli (63) shoots against the San Jose Sharks during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, Oct 28, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
“We stopped putting pressure, we let them play with the puck, we let them make plays, we stopped defending like we can do,” head coach André Tourigny said. “What happened there is unacceptable. It’s embarrassing.”
With Wennberg’s winning shot, Utah has given up 17 goals in the last four games while scoring only seven itself. The defensive injury woes are an easy excuse to point to, but Monday was a full-team flailing.
“You’ve got to just learn how to close games,” Maccelli said. “That can’t happen.”
Before the game slipped away, Dylan Guenther scored his first goal since Oct. 12 to give Utah a 1-0 lead at 11:00 of the opening frame. Clayton Keller picked the puck up from along the boards and dished it over to Guenther by the left circle. The 21-year-old forward snapped it past Sharks goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood for his sixth of the season and Utah’s first first-period goal in four games.
Utah extended its lead to 2-0 with Maccelli’s first goal of the season. Cole blasted the puck from the point and Maccelli fought through two Sharks in front to knock the rebound in while sliding on his knees at 16:24 of the first.
Utah Hockey Club left wing Matias Maccelli (63) celebrates after scoring against San Jose Sharks goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (29) during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Monday Oct 28, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
The Finnish forward was set up once again by Cole, who released a shot from just above the left circle which Maccelli scooped from the crease and backhanded over Blackwood’s shoulder and in. Maccelli’s second tally of the night made it 3-1 at 10:38 of the middle stanza following Zetterlund’s goal to get the Sharks on the board.
“It feels good to score, but if you lose like that, it doesn’t really feel good anymore,” Maccelli said.
Mikhail Sergachev bolstered Utah’s advantage with 24 seconds remaining in the second period. The defenseman lasered a shot from the blue line home for his first goal with Utah and the 4-1 lead heading into the third period. And then things collapsed.
Tourigny said the last five minutes of the game turned mental for his team. Perhaps that shows the growing pains in maturity the group is facing in the fourth year of a rebuild. Or, maybe, it’s inexperience in keeping one’s foot on the pedal until the final buzzer.
A team can’t let up for a second in the NHL, let alone the final moments of a game. Utah is learning that the hard way this season.
“First before moving on we need to unpack that,” Tourigny said. “That’s not who we are and that’s not who we want to be. At home in front of our fans, give credit to San Jose, but that’s not who we want to be.”
