Utah HC loses at home for first time

Though members of the Utah Hockey Club would never admit it, their game against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night was over in the first period.
The Senators scored four goals on eight shots in the opening frame. Utah HC goaltender Connor Ingram would weather the storm until the end of the period, but Karel Vejmelka got the nod to start the second.
“Everybody has a bad day at the office sometimes,” said Utah HC head coach André Tourigny, referring to Ingram’s play. “When you’re a goaltender, you’re exposed more than anybody else.”
It was Utah HC’s second time getting shut out by a backup goalie this season. The first was on Oct. 14 against the New Jersey Devils — a game they lost 3-0.
When Tourigny and his team realized that Anton Forsberg was starting in net for the Senators, they must have jumped for joy. Forsberg, the Senators’ backup goalie, is statistically nowhere near the level of their starting goalie, Linus Ullmark, who is reportedly on the verge of a comeback from a minor injury.
Every NHL goalie has the skill to shut a team down. The good goalies are just the ones that do it the most consistently. Although he doesn’t play like this every night, Forsberg single-handedly shut Utah HC down.
Utah HC out-shot the Senators 31-23. In fact, the Senators didn’t even get their first shot until more than halfway through the first period. They breakaways, crossbars, solid one-timers and every other scoring chance you could imagine, but they just couldn’t beat Forsberg.
“It’s gonna happen,” said Utah HC captain Clayton Keller after the game. “It’s a long season. You can’t get frustrated. You’ve gotta stay patient and get better every day.”
As disappointing of a night as it must have been for Connor Ingram, Karel Vejmelka definitely rose to the challenge when called upon. He stopped all 14 shots he faced, fending off a Senators team that had been on pace for 12 goals.
“I just tried to enjoy the game,” Vejmelka said after the game. “It was my first one in front of the home crowd, so it was a great feeling. I’m just sad we didn’t get any points.”
Vejmelka has only started one game this season, but his performance on Tuesday might incline the coaching staff to turn to him again soon.
“He was good,” Tourigny said of Vejmelka after the game. “I don’t think we gave up a lot, but he made the saves he had to make.”
The Calgary Flames expected Juuso Välimäki to be a high-scoring defenseman when they drafted him 16th overall in 2017. He hasn’t achieved that in the NHL yet, but he looked like he wanted to on Tuesday.
As he did a few times in the season opener, Välimäki got so involved in the offense that you may have mistaken him for a forward. He was constantly at the front of the Senators’ net looking for tips and rebounds, though he wasn’t able to capitalize.
He had perhaps Utah HC’s closest chance of the game midway through the third period when he hit the crossbar with a wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle. But Tourigny wasn’t a fan — probably because Välimäki was on the ice for two of the Senators’ goals.
“He had moments offensively, but I think, as well, he had — a little bit like everybody — moments where he got ahead of himself,” Tourigny said.
Utah HC gets a day to rest before taking on the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.
The Avalanche, which has been a powerhouse team for the better part of the last decade, has struggled to start the year. Several of their top forwards are on injured reserve, but because they’re all expected to return this season, they don’t want to use that cap space to acquire replacements.
Their goaltending has also been atrocious. They picked up Kaapo Kähkönen off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets in hopes of solving that issue, but he has yet to play a game this season.
Utah HC closes out the week with a quick trip to California. They play the Los Angeles Kings in an afternoon matchup. It’s not the Kings’ home opener, but it’s close: They host the Sharks on Thursday in their first game at Crypto.com Arena.
Anze Kopitar, the ageless wonder, leads the Kings with eight points. Despite his sustained offensive success, Kopitar is best known for his defensive play, which has won him the Selke Trophy twice.
Thursday’s game starts at 7 p.m. MDT, while Saturday’s game is at 2. Both games will be available on Utah HC+ and Utah 16. At the time of writing, tickets to Thursday’s game are available on Ticketmaster, starting at $65.