Utah Hockey Club: Spicy Tuna’s big chance, injury updates, and a new addition

Utah Hockey Club is back in Salt Lake City for a seven-game homestand at Delta Center. Here’s a look at some of the key questions facing the team during an important month of hockey.

Liam O’Brien seizing opportunity on third line

Liam O’Brien’s mindset since the beginning of the season has been to “stay ready.” That mental and physical preparation paid off for the forward last week as he entered the lineup for the first time in two months.

Utah has been lucky so far — no one in its forward group has dealt with serious injuries. That left O’Brien as the 13th forward and a healthy scratch for all but three games before the team’s most recent road trip. However, an illness that swept through The Club opened a spot for “Spicy Tuna” on Dec. 31 against the Calgary Flames and he took advantage.

O’Brien slotted onto the third line with Nick Bjugstad and Lawson Crouse while Matias Maccelli was moved to the fourth line to play with Kevin Stenlund and Alex Kerfoot. Crouse — who had not scored in 14 games — potted two goals in his second game skating with O’Brien.

“Obviously you want to play. I’ve been in the last few games and it’s been fun,” O’Brien said. “It’s been great to play with Bjugstad and Crouse. Two big bodies and I think the game is pretty predictable when we play together. It’s been nice.”

The switch-up has worked for more than just the third line. Maccelli — who had not scored since Nov. 7 — earned two goals on Saturday against the Dallas Stars. Accordingly, head coach André Tourigny said he planned on sticking with the new combinations this week.

“Sometimes just mixing the lines up … mixing and matching throughout the season, whatever you can find works. In this case, I think OB brought a whole other element for our entire team,” Bjugstad said.

While O’Brien has yet to log a point this season, his strong forecheck and physicality have opened things up for his teammates. The 30-year-old registered 12 hits in three games and played a season-high 10:25 total ice time on Saturday.

O’Brien skated in 75 games for the Arizona Coyotes last season and had 14 points (five goals, nine assists). If given the opportunity to stay in the lineup, O’Brien is focused on maintaining a “simple” game which, in hand, can turn into contributions on the scoresheet.

“I keep it pretty simple most of the time anyways,” O’Brien said. “I just want to get in and create energy and make the game hard on the other team. Grind them and be physical on them and know they’re kind of in one.”

It’s only been three games, but Utah can feel the fire O’Brien brings on a consistent basis.

“He drags you into the fight,” Tourigny said. “You cannot have a night off with OB, he’s going.”

Defensive pick-ups, injuries and returns

Utah Hockey Club’s blue line has changed form a few times throughout the season due to injuries. But, it seems like the team may be able to turn a corner in the next month or so and get some impactful bodies back.

After joining the team in a non-contact jersey at the end of December, John Marino is now skating in a regular jersey and was a full participant in Monday’s practice at the Olympic Oval. Marino is working to return from lower-back surgery to make his Utah debut after missing both training camp and the start of the season following his trade from New Jersey this summer.

“He’s on schedule,” Tourigny said of Marino. “The last two practices he had a normal jersey, so it’s coming. We’re talking — not this week, but it’s coming.”

Sean Durzi joined the beginning of practice on Monday. The defenseman shot around before doing some individual work on the speed skating track while the rest of his teammates did full-contact drills. Durzi underwent shoulder surgery in October and is a bit behind Marino in his recovery but is pushing nonetheless. Monday was the first time Durzi skated with the team since his injury.

“It’s a few weeks now he has skated. But need to hold him back a little bit,” Tourigny said.

Robert Bortuzzo, on the other hand, took a step backward after returning to the lineup on Thursday against the Flames. The veteran defenseman had been sidelined for nearly a month, got back into a game on the road trip and was subsequently put on injured reserve on Saturday. Bortuzzo is now week to week with a lower-body injury — presumably a similar problem he was dealing with before.

“I don’t know if it’s exactly the same. Same body part but I don’t know if it’s the same thing,” Tourigny said. “It’s too bad because he helps us so much at being predictable, communication on the ice, experience on the bench.”

When Bortuzzo was activated for the Calgary game, Utah put Dakota Mermis on waivers with the intention of assigning him to the Tucson Roadrunners in the AHL. However, Mermis was claimed by his previous team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, leaving a roster spot open for another defenseman once Bortuzzo was put on IR.

Utah went out and claimed former New Jersey Devil Nick DeSimone off waivers on Sunday. The right-shot, 30-year-old defenseman was at practice with the team less than 24 hours later. DeSimone was on a West Coast road trip with the Devils when he got claimed, so only had to fly from Seattle once his rights were picked up by Utah.

“I’m packed for California, not winter. So that’s a potential problem. But we’ll figure that out at some point,” DeSimone said. “It was nice to come here the next day and get on the ice, meet the guys right away. It was nice to kind of just jump right in.”

This process is not new to DeSimone — he was claimed by the Devils last January after the Calgary Flames put him on waivers. So now, he is just trying to be the best defenseman he can for his new team.

“Just a simple, steady defenseman. I feel like my skating is probably what I do best. Probably that and just move pucks,” DeSimone said. “Pretty good forward group here so just get them the puck and watch them play offense.”

Tourigny said there’s a chance DeSimone could get in the lineup for load management. DeSimone has yet to play an NHL game this season; he had three assists in 12 AHL games with the Utica Comets before arriving in Utah.

“It’s important — on the backend you never have too many good defensemen,” Tourigny said. “It’s a guy we liked in the past. He was available, we had a roster spot. I think it’s a great move.”

Preparing for lengthy homestand, getting over sickness

Utah Hockey Club is happy to be home. Coming into the week, the team was tied with the St. Louis Blues for most road games so far this season with 23. Utah began a seven-game homestand and will play a season-high nine games at Delta Center in January.

“Having that opportunity to be home, to be with our people, that will help. A road trip is always good, but we’ve had our share quite a bit,” Tourigny said. “It’s good to settle, get home and do groceries not just for a sandwich but planning for a full week. That was great.”

The Club has struggled in Salt Lake City as of late, dropping eight of its last 10 games in front of its local audience. They’ll be forced to figure it out this month.

“It’s been not as good as we’ve wanted it to be at home,” Bjugstad said. I think definitely this is going to be a huge homestand regardless of who we are playing or what’s going on in the standings for us. We want to be able to be hard to play against at home and generate at home.”

The Club had three days off between its last road game and the start of this homestand. Time is always valuable in the NHL, but especially when a team is dealing with an illness. Both Maccelli and Clayton Keller missed a game each on the road trip due to the bug that’s going around the group. Utah is on the mend, but not 100% healthy yet.

“It’s still there. It’s going. It’s under control more than it was a few days ago. I won’t jinx it. We are better today, let’s put it that way,” Tourigny said.

The team isn’t using illness as an excuse to not play its best hockey, though.

“We’ve got a couple guys sick right now – you’re on the road, you’re together, you’re eating meals together – so it’s kind of inevitable,” Bjugstad said. “I think that’s everybody. A lot of teams are banged up or sick. So you find ways to get around it and hopefully it strengthens our immune systems going forward.”

Connor Ingram on conditioning loan in AHL

Connor Ingram’s day-to-day, upper-body injury in November turned into months. But, it looks like the goaltender is in a new stage of his recovery process.

Utah assigned Ingram to the Tucson Roadrunners on Tuesday on a conditioning loan which allows NHL players to play for their team’s AHL affiliate without having to pass through waivers. Ingram’s salary and cap hit are the same as if he were on the NHL roster and his loan is limited to a maximum of 14 days.

The purpose of the conditioning loan is to allow Ingram to get back into playing shape without the demanding schedule and pressure of the NHL. Ingram can get more ice time, reps and even game action in the AHL since it is more of a developmental league with fewer games scheduled per week.

“It’s important for him. He missed quite a bit of time — not just missing time in terms of his injury but practice time, conditioning time and stuff like that,” Tourigny said. “At our level, practice is very limited. So over there he has more practice time. More shots, longer practice.”

Ingram has yet to play in a game for Tucson since his loan started. The 27-year-old played 13 games and had a 3.61 goals against average and a .871 save percentage before getting injured. In his absence, Karel Vejmelka has taken over the No. 1 role and has done it with dominance.

Vejmelka has a 2.45 GAA and .914 SV% through 24 games. Jaxson Stauber — who was recalled from Tucson when Ingram got hurt — has been the team’s backup. Ingram’s return will pose a difficult decision for Utah in terms of how it handles its goalie rotation. It’s one Tourigny is not worried about figuring out quite yet.

“You want to have two good goalies who can play every night. Stauber has been good for us, but obviously two veterans will be a different discussion,” Tourigny said. “How exactly that will shape up, I don’t know.”

Note to readers • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.