Tag: NHL

Sharks Fall 3-2 to Flames, Losing Streak at five

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San Jose Sharks Henry Thrun (3) tries to stop the Calgary Flames Jonathan Huberdeau (left) from attacking Sharks goaltender Alexander Georgiev (40) and the net in the second period at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Sun Feb 23, 2025 (News photo by Canadian Press via AP)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 3-2 to the Calgary Flames Sunday. Nazem Kadri, Kevin Rooney and Joel Hanley scored for the Flames. Dustin Wolf made 27 saves for the win. Macklin Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli scored for the Sharks. Alexandar Georgiev made 33 saves in the loss.

After the game, Toffoli said: “It just sucks. I thought we had a pretty good game, better than the one we played going into the break.” Asked if this five-game losing streak is frustrating, he said “If anyone says they’re having a good time losing games, I don’t want them on my team, to be honest.”

The Sharks scored first, at 3:41 of the first period. Toffoli centered the puck from below the goal line, just as Celebrini closed on the crease. Celebrini scored his 18th of the season with a wrist shot. Assists went to Toffoli and Jake Walman.

The Flames tied it on a power play at 7:27. Nazem Kadri scored with a wrist shot from just above the left face-off circle. Assists went to Morgan Frost and MacKenzie Weegar.

Calgary outshot the Sharks 14-8 in the first period. The Sharks took two penalties and the Flames took on in the first.

Kevin Rooney gave Calgary the 2-1 lead at 3:35 of the second period. Rooney caught a rebound from a shot by Ryan Lomberg. Assists went to Lomberg and Martin Pospisil.

The teams were tied with 13 shots apiece in the second period. They also had one penalty apiece.

Toffoli tied it back up at 1:54 of the third period. Wolf stopped Toffoli’s first shot but left a rebound. Toffoli caught that and scored his 21st of the season. Assists went to William Eklund and Shakir Mukhamadullin.

Joel Hanley gave Calgary the 3-2 lead at 13:28 of the third. Hanley shot the puck to the net from the blue line, then skated in. Jonathan Huberdeau caught the puck just outside the blue paint and passed it back up to Hanley for the shot. Assists went to Huberdeau and Kadri.

The officials were very busy in the third period. The Sharks were given two minor penalties, one matched penalty and a double minor. Calgary had one minor penalty and the matched penalty. The teams were very close again in shots, 9-8 Calgary.

The Sharks next play on Monday in Winnipeg against the Jets at 4:30 PM PT.

Cooley and Guenther Lead Utah HC to 2-1 Victory Over Vancouver

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Vancouver Canucks left winger Kiefer Sherwood (44) moves the puck against the Utah Hockey Club right winger Dylan Guenther (11) in the second period at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sun Feb 23, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther each found the back of the net, and Karel Vejmelka stopped 15 of 16 shots, as Utah wins first game back at Delta Center following the 4 Nations Face-Off.

It had been 17 days since Utah Hockey Club last played on home ice in a 3-2 overtime victory against the Philadelphia Flyers. Since then they have split four games on the road, going 2-1 prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off and then losing Saturday’s matchup against the Kings in Los Angeles wherein Barrett Hayton recorded the first hat trick in Utah HC history, the first of Hayton’s career.

With two power play goals in the game, Utah had converted four straight times with the man advantage. Defenseman Sean Durzi returned in that game from a 52-game absence and assisted on one of Hayton’s goals. Upon returning to Salt Lake City, Durzi suited up for his first game at Delta Center since opening night on October 8 against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Out of the lineup on Sunday night was defenseman Juuso Välimäki who was waived earlier in the day due to the returns of John Marino and Sean Durzi from long-term injuries. If Välimäki clears waivers, he will likely be assigned to Utah’s AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. Though named to Finland’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off, he was a healthy scratch for all three of their games in the tournament.

Following a scoreless first period, Vancouver went on the power play early in the second when Logan Cooley went to the sin bin for hooking against Jake DeBrusk. DeBrusk cashed it in at 1:43 of the frame for his 21st of the season, assisted by Elias Pettersson and Pius Suter. Cooley redeemed himself just two minutes later with his 16th of the season, tipping in a shot from John Marino with an additional assist to Clayton Keller.

At 13:01 of the third period, Vancouver’s Derek Forbort went to the penalty box for holding against Michael Corcone. On the ensuing power play, Dylan Guenther tipped in a perfect pass from Nick Schmaltz for his 21st goal of the season, with Keller picking up his 43rd assist.

In net, Karel Vejmelka turned away 15 of 16 Canuck shots to earn his 13th victory of the season.

After the game, Dylan Guenther addressed the importance of beginning the four-game homestand with a win. “Yeah, it’s huge. I mean, everyone was kind of on a back to back, so we’re all a little tired, but just finding ways to win games I think builds our confidence in those tight ones and just use that moving forward.” Speaking of the team’s power play, Guenther continued, “I thought … we did a pretty good job on all three in the first, just couldn’t score. And then, I mean, just a really nice play by Schmaltzy. I didn’t even really see it, to be honest, but I was just kind of posted up there and he gave me a nice pass.”

Utah has struggled to maintain leads in the third period, and head coach André Tourigny talked about the final five minutes of tonight’s game. “I think we did a good job. I think there’s always things you can do a little bit better. But I like our mindset, I like our composure, our compete level, our urgency. So I like a lot of stuff. I’m happy.” Addressing the stingy defense, Tourigny said, “It’s (the) effort of everybody. Normally, when you have that kind of a defensive performance, it’s because you (also) play really good offensively. Possess the puck, you put it on their heels. I cannot say that about the way we played offensively today. I think we didn’t have our execution. We didn’t generate as much speed as we do lately. But I like the point of how we played defensively. We blocked shots, we were stingy in our neutral zone, stingy in our (defensive) zone. So there’s a lot of positive (in) the way we played without the puck today.”

Utah has three more games on this homestand beginning with the return of the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, Utah’s inaugural season opening night opponent whom they defeated 5-2 in October.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks try to rebound after rough first half against Flames Sunday

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San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) makes a save against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Mon Jan 27, 2025. Askarov is out for three weeks due to a lower body injury (AP News photo)

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 Maybe the Four Nation Face Off came at a right time for the San Jose Sharks the Sharks were in the middle of a four game funk that saw them in their last game get absolutely hammered in San Jose on Sat Feb 8 to the Dallas Stars 8-3.

#2 One of the things the Sharks have had problems with is allowing their opponents to get the early lead and the game against the Stars was not an exception allowing three goals in the first period.

#3 Their third periods have been troublesome too in that same game against the Stars the Sharks allowed three goals against and were whipped by the Stars in a five goal advantage.

#4 Goaltending is a concern for San Jose as top goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov is out three weeks with a lower body injury while playing for the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday. He faced 14 shots in the first period of the game but had to come out and did not return. How critical is Askarov’s loss going to be with two months left of the season?

#5 The Sharks return to action opening up a seven game road trip starting this Sunday in Calgary at the Scotiabank Saddledome against a Flames team that is fifth in the Pacific Division having lost five of their last ten games and lost three in a row. The Sharks need to snap their four game skid and will have a real test starting this seven game road trip.

Join Mary Lisa for the San Jose Sharks podcasts each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL Four Nations podcast with Len Shapiro: RIP Mike Lange he was my good friend; McDavid scores game winner Canada wins it in OT 3-2

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Pittsburgh Penguins long time broadcaster Mike Lange addresses the crowd before the unveiling of a statue depicting Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame center Mario Lemieux outside the NHL hockey team’s arena March 7, 2012, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Len what can you say about your good late friend Pittsburgh Penguins play by play announcer the great Mike Lange who you roomed with during your college days.

#2 Len, talk about those catch phrases that he used after a goal was scored he was well known for.

#3 Penguins star Syd Crosby said he was proud that Lange called almost all his goals of his career that’s saying a mouthful right there.

#4 Turning to the Four Nations Tournament Team USA and Team Canada battle at TD Garden in Boston on Thursday night Team Canada wins it in overtime 3-2 on Conner McDavid’s goal at 8:18.

#5 No doubt about it there were some gritty hockey played in this tournament no one caved in and all teams played like everything was on the line. It was not like an East vs. West All Star game where they run up the score.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcast each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa: Sharks take on Stars tonight in effort to end three game skid

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San Jose Sharks goaltender Vitek Vanecek (41) puts a stop on the Vancouver Canucks left wing Drew O’Connor (left) in the second period at SAP Center in San Jose on Thu Feb 6, 2025 (AP News photo)

San Jose podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Vancouver Canucks Drew O’Connor scored on a penalty shot 33 seconds into the overtime stanza as the Canucks got by the San Jose Sharks 2-1 on Thursday night. O’Connor got to make the penalty shot after the Sharks Macklin Celebrini got called for a hooking penalty.

#2 The Canucks Dakota Joshua scored at 8:04 on a power play to get the Canucks on the scoreboard with the lead 1-0.

#3 The Sharks were behind 1-0 in the third period when Tyler Toffoli tied up the game at 1-1 with his 20th goal of the season at 18:32.

#4 Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko was looking for his second shutout in a row but will settle for the win and 33 saves. The Sharks Vitek Vanecek stopped 22 Vancouver shots.

#5 Dallas Stars are second in the central division this is a team that is on a roll with a 38-18-1 with 69 points only behind the mighty Winnipeg Jets. They’re in San Jose tonight how do you see the Sharks chances?

Join Mary Lisa for Sharks podcasts each Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Knights stay perfect in New Jersey with 3-1 win; Lightning open up some offense on Ottawa in 5-1 win; plus more NHL news

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Vegas Golden Knights Tomas Hertl (right) brings the puck up ice against the New Jersey Devils Jack Hughes (left) in the first period at the Prudential Center in Newark on Thu Feb 6, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Vegas Golden Knights had goals scored from three different players in their 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Thursday night. Jack Eichel, Nicolas Roy, and Shea Theordore scored a goal each. Adin Hill will be representing Canada in goal during the 4 Nations Face off on Feb 12-20. Hill stopped 14 shots for the Knights. The Knights have not lost a game in New Jersey in their seven games there since coming into the NHL.

#2 Brayden Point scored a goal and had two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-1 at Amalie Arena on Thursday night. The Bolts Jake Guentzel and Brandon Hagel scored a goal apiece. Nikita Kucherov had two assists and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots. It was Tampa Bay’s second win over three days against Ottawa.

#3 Alexander Ovechkin scored his 879th goal on a on timer just inside of the right face off circle at 19:07 in the first period and is now 16 goals shy of passing Wayne Gretzky for the NHL record of 894 goals. Ovechkin has a hot hand right now he has scored in four straight games with 26 goals on the season. The Washington Capitals get a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

#4 Dylan Guenther scored an overtime goal for the second straight game and the Utah Hockey Club edged the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Guenther scored at 4:27 getting a pass from goaltender Connor Ingram and got a breakaway scoring on his own rebound for the win.

#5 Filip Gustavsson saved 38 shots for the Minnesota Wild as they win in a one goal difference over the Carolina Hurricanes at the Xcel Energy Center in St.Paul on Thursday night 2-1. Gustavsson made quite a recovery in net after allowing six Ottawa Senators goals in his last start.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Fell Short Again in OT Loss Against the Canucks

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Drew O’Connor shot on goal on Vitek Vanecek during overtime at SAP Center in San Jose on Feb 6 (Vancouver Canucks Archive.)

After a painful loss against the Habs, the Sharks have to find a way to get back on track… It did not come Thursday night against the Vancouver Canucks.

By: Fernando Abarca

SAN JOSE –– Thursday night action at the tank and once again the Sharks hosted a Canadian neighbor, the Vancouver Canucks the Sharks wound up losing by another one goal game this time 2-1. Last time at the Tank, the Sharks lost against the Montreal Canadiens with a 4-3 score, with the Habs scoring the goal that gave them the victory in the final minutes of the third, leaving no time for the Sharks to recover last Tuesday night.

The Canucks won their last game against the Avalanche going through a long stretch of winless games since Jan 18, when the Canucks played the Edmonton Oilers. The Sharks added another loss and have gone winless since Jan 14, when the Teal played Detroit.

During the first two periods of the game, the game remained scoreless. Worth mentioning that the first 40 minutes of the game were full of penalties

Both teams were very balanced and even throughout the match. It is worth noting that San Jose was more aggressive during the second period, showing heart and attitude.
Vancouver was under pressure, but Vitek Vanecek had a great performance after being absent from the team since Dec 14.

The action began to be seen in the third period with a goal at 14:40 with a goal by the visitors at 14:40 when Dakota Joshua, with a tip-in shot on a PowerPlay, took the lead 1-0 assisted by Pius Suter and Tyler Myers.

The game looked like it wasn’t going to end 1-0, and just as it looked, it ended up being that way, with Tyler Toffoli scoring with 1.28 left in regulation to give San Jose some life and a chance.

The chance for the long-awaited victory fell short, and this time, the star, Macklin Celebrini, was marked with a penalty for hooking against Drew O’Connor. O’Connor scored an unassisted scored his second goal for Vancouver, and the game winner to call it a night.

With this loss, San Jose is on the verge of going a full month with no victories. The Sharks will host a final game at home against Dallas, with the possible homecoming of former Sharks of Cody Ceci and Mikael Grandlund before the 4 Nations break.

Guenther Lights The Lamp At Overtime Buzzer For Utah HC 3-2 Home Victory Against Philadelphia

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Dylan Guenther scored a overtime game winner for the Utah Hockey Club against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tue Feb 4, 2025 (Utah Hockley Club X photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Dylan Guenther made an immediate impact in his return to the lineup from injury with 2 goals and an assist including the overtime game winner with less than a second remaining on the clock.

Home ice has not been Utah Hockey Club’s friend for much of their inaugural season in Salt Lake City.  Coming into Tuesday night’s matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers, Utah’s home record was 8-12-6, so they hoped that the return of Dylan Guenther from injury would inject some energy into the team’s offense.  Entering the game, Guenther was tied for first in goals among NHL players 21 years old and under.

The Flyers quickly took the lead just two minutes into the first on a snap shot by Rodrigo Abols, his first NHL goal, assisted by Travis Sanheim.  Utah would put 13 shots on net in the frame, but Philadelphia goaltender Samuel Ersson stopped them all. 

Mikhail Sergachev evened the score at 3:32 of the 2nd period with his 10th goal, assisted by Guenther and Barrett Hayton.  Sergachev matched his career high for goals in a season, while Guenther registered his first point since January 2 at Calgary.  Less than a minute later, Tyson Foerster would tip in a shot by Sean Couturier to regain the lead for the Flyers.  Philadelphia seemed to make it 3-1 at 8:44 of the frame, but Utah successfully challenged for off sides, their third successful coaches challenge out of four attempts on the season.

At 8:40 of the 3rd period, Dylan Guenther scored his 17th goal, assisted by Barrett Hayton and Mikhail Sergachev, to even the score at 2 apiece.  At the end of 60 minutes, the score remained knotted up at 2.

With time expiring in overtime, Sergachev fed the puck to Guenther who drove to the net and fired the puck past Ersson with less than a second remaining on the clock to give Utah the home win as the fans erupted in cheers.  Both players factored into all 3 Utah goals on the night.  The Flyers challenged the game winner, hoping to negate it with an off side call, but Toronto confirmed a good goal and the locker room celebration was on. Utah registered 42 shots on goal, the most in the new franchise’s history.

First star of the game, Dylan Guenther, talked about his overtime goal.  “Just not a lot of time left. I was waiting for (Clayton Keller) to get off, and saw it go in and then I saw the clock was at zero, so it was just hoping that it got off in time and it did.” When asked about returning to the ice, the young forward said, “It feels good. I mean, it’s tough getting injured, and I’ve never really gone through that before, so it’s nice that the work that you put in paid off. Just have to keep it rolling here and try to get some more wins.” On the crowd reaction to the goal, Guenther beamed, “It was buzzing. The crowd was buzzing the whole game, even when they announced my name in the starting lineup. I think that feels really good as a player, and that makes you excited to play. It makes you excited to be here in Utah. The support of the crowd helps us win games. So it’s huge.”

Fan favorite Liam O’Brien, who dropped the gloves with Nicolas Deslauriers in the first for his 4th fighting major of the season, also addressed the media.  “I think there’s just so many different plays in a game that creates momentum, whether it’s a defensive play, drawing a penalty, big hit. Those are important plays. So I think we had a lot of those tonight throughout our whole team.” Asked about the fight, he said, “I try to fight at the right time. I felt like tonight was the right time. Sometimes you just want to get the energy going, and that’s what I tried to do tonight.”

Head coach André Tourigny was asked about the impact of Guenther’s return, but he was quick to credit the entire team.  “I think it was a team effort. We were happy about a lot of our games even if we didn’t get the result. We were not happy about our game against St. Louis. I loved the answer (tonight). Not just the score; obviously the score is huge (and) that’s what we’re playing for. But the intensity, the battle level, the number of battles we won, the way we reload, the way we went at the net, the drives to the net we had, I think everybody did their part.”  Talking about what the win does for momentum on the coming road trip heading into Four Nations, Tourigny said, “(Tonight’s win) was absolutely huge. We still very much believe. We don’t look at scores elsewhere, but we know Calgary lost. We know Vancouver is up by one after two. The point is…we know at this point we’ll need a bit of help (to make the playoffs). We didn’t take the straight line. But we can make it and we’ll fight for it. Now we’ll need to go on the road and have a helluva road trip.” Asked about what he told the team during the 30-second timeout near the end of overtime, Bear commented, “They were tired…That’s the only thing I wanted; I wanted to calm the pace a little bit and get a chance for (Mikhail Sergachev, Michael Kesselring and Dylan Guenther) to be at their best. There was 46 seconds left; there was no need to save the timeout for nothing. They were at the end of their gas tank. Just talking for 30 seconds was a welcome addition. Then (Kevin Stenlund) won the draw. That’s another thing; we had a really good overtime. We had a lot of possession, a lot of chances. It started with (Stenlund). He won every draw. You start with the puck 3-on-3, that helps a lot.”

Utah now hits the road for games against Columbus, Carolina, and Washington prior to the 4 Nations Faceoff break. Utah defensemen Olli Määttä and Juuso Välimäki will represent their native Finland in the tournament. The next game at Delta Center will take place January 23 against the Vancouver Canucks.

Sharks Let Another One Go Against the Habs 4-3

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Sharks players celebrate the tying goal over Montreal on Tuesday Feb 4 at SAP Center in San Jose (AP Photo)

As the rain pours heavily in the Bay, so does it for the Sharks in another Tuesday night action

A new month at the tank, and the San Jose Sharks could not get it done losing by a goal to the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 at SAP Center in San Jose on Tuesday night. The Sharks hosted the Montreal Canadiens, trying to start off the new month with a victory after a rather grey week for the team in teal following the horrible defeat in Seattle last week. The Sharks have been having recent activity with the departure of Grandlund and Ceci for Dallas, and now trying to find a win.

The Sharks started the game with a goal by Macklin Celebrini on a powerplay assisted by Tyler Toffoli, who would later also have his moment of glory, and William Eklund.

During the first 20 minutes it seemed that the path to a good night would be on the Sharks’ side.

In the second period, Montreal regained strength and its key character, Nick Suzuki, on a powerplay scored the first goal for the Habs who are also coming off a season full of setbacks in the Atlantic division.

That still wasn’t enough, Montreal made it 2-1 with a goal scored by Alex Newhook assisted by Dach and Carrier.

With that 2-1, the Sharks looked to recover before going to the second intermission, and that’s how they managed to tie it with a goal by Colin Graf to give some breath and life with a tie approaching the last 20 minutes of hockey.

For the third period, Montreal, like in the second period, was a different team and had a different dynamic and took the lead with a 3-2 goal scored by Brendan Gallagher.

Desperately, the Sharks team looked for ways to solve the problem. Tyler Toffoli solved it by tying the match again ten minutes before the end of the match.
Everything seemed to indicate that the match would go to overtime but things decided to take a different turn.

Joel Armia put the Canadiens ahead 4-3 on a powerplay and the night would end with that score, giving the Sharks another loss and again in a one-goal tie.

This Thursday, the Sharks will be hosting the Vancouver Canucks who are coming off a 3-0 win against Colorado.

Utah HC Sings The Blues in 2-1 Loss To St. Louis

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St Louis Blues center Dylan Holloway (81) and Blues center Brayden Schenn (10) with Utah Hockey Club left win Matias Maccelli (63) battle for the puck at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sun Feb 2, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah had defeated St. Louis in each of the two previous matchups, but the Blues take Game 3 of the season series.

The St. Louis returned to the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday night for their third encounter with the Utah Hockey Club this season. Utah prevailed 4-2 in each of the previous two games both at home and on the road.

Alexandre Texier got things going for the Blues at 17:41 of the first period with a wrist shot for his 4th goal of the season, assisted by Radek Faksa and Alexey Toropchenko.

Goaltenders Jordan Binnington and Connor Ingram both defended their nets in the second period to prevent further scoring.

At 3:27 of the third, Utah defenseman Michael Kesselring tied things up with his 6th goal of the season, assisted by Nick Bjugstand and Kevin Stenlund. Unfortunately for the home squad, Blues forward Jordan Kyrou regained the St. Louis lead at 7:13 of the frame with his 22nd goal of the season, assisted by Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich. The 2-1 lead would hold up as the Blues broke out of a four-game losing streak while Utah went down to defeat for the fifth consecutive game, and 15 of the last 20.

After the game, Utah’s lone goal-scorer Michael Kesselring talked about his squad’s struggles. “It’s tough, we just got to get more pucks than that, and bodies and bang away. It’s a tough situation. We got to get out of those situations. … Obviously the break is coming up, but these are playoff games for us. We need to win, we need to push. I know we have some injuries, but there’s no excuses. Like I said, it’s the NHL, so we have to find a way here.” Talking about whether the team is getting frustrated, Kesselring responded, “Honestly, the mood is pretty good. Maybe tonight was (not) our best game, but I thought we were playing really well before this. So you have to get over it quick. Watch some video, make some adjustments, but we have to be ready to go next game.”

Defenseman Ian Cole talked about the problem with shot lanes. “They (St. Louis) did a good job. You know, they were coming back to the middle and, off their forecheck through the neutral zone, into their D zone. And then, you get the puck, look up all you really see are white jerseys. So they did a good job with it, so kudos to them. But that being said, we did get good chances when we got pucks down there, so we need to do that.” Cole agreed with Kesselring’s comments about every game at this stage being a playoff game for the team. “I think that’s an accurate assessment in terms of they are playoff games. We’re playing for our playoff lives right now. And (I) didn’t love our first, thought we responded better as the game went on, but again, kind of lost it. Lost it in the third a little bit.”

Head coach André Tourigny addressed his team’s difficulties at producing when pulling the goaltender for an extra attacker. “I think we’ve gotten better lately. I think early on, on 6-on-5, we gave up a lot of goals. We could not sustain a lot of possessions…I think we need to simplify at 6-on-5. … I think (sometimes) we were trying to make too good of a play. The middle was clogged; it’s really tough. Like I said, the last two or three (extra-attacker opportunities) we had shots, we had opportunities. We hit the crossbar today. We’re almost there.” The coach was asked about the importance of finishing strong in the final games leading up to the break for the 4 Nations Faceoff. “It’s super important. For us, we’re in a sprint. I talked before, it’s a race. Every step is important. It’s an extremely huge game for us (Tuesday) against Philly. We need the two points; we need to finish the homestand at least at .500, hit the road and have a helluva road trip before the break. There’s no doubt about it.”

Utah wraps up the four-game homestand on Tuesday with a 7:00pm tilt against the Philadelphia Flyers, after which they will hit the road for games against Columbus, Carolina, and Washington prior to the 4 Nations Faceoff break.