Perhaps a game against the reeling Nashville Predators will help the Utah Hockey Club win back-to-back games for the first time in nearly a month.
Aiming to end a four-game trip on a high note, Utah tries to hand the host Predators a fourth consecutive loss on Saturday night.
Utah was the early surprise of the season, winning the first three games of the team’s inaugural campaign from Oct. 8-12. However, Utah followed that run by going 2-5-3 before pulling out a 4-2 victory in St. Louis on Thursday to improve to 1-1-1 on its current trip.
“It’s just continually about getting better,” Utah veteran defenseman Robert Bortuzzo told The Salt Lake Tribune.
On Thursday, Dylan Guenther scored the tiebreaking goal with 3:21 left in regulation after he assisted on Matias Maccelli’s second-period score. Jack McBain’s empty-netter with four seconds left sealed the win.
“We had a few good games in the past few, but we didn’t get the points,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “It was important (Thursday) to find a way to get the two points.”
Now, Utah hopes to win consecutive contests for the first time since that opening streak and add to Nashville’s overall rough start to the season. The Predators have just four wins through 14 contests and have been outscored 12-4 during their current three-game skid.
“It’s not fun at all right now,” captain Roman Josi said. “We’ve got to figure it out really quickly, and we’ve got to get consistency in our game and do it every night.”
In its 6-2 loss at Florida on Thursday, Nashville fell behind 2-0 just over five minutes into the game, marking the eighth time it opened the game under a multi-goal deficit.
Steven Stamkos scored in his second straight game, but the Predators managed just 18 shots on goal, went 1-for-5 on the power play and committed 22 minutes worth of penalties.
“Obviously, you’re concerned about the record, but it’s more how we’re playing every night,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “We can’t seem to grab any momentum. … We’re just not grasping the connection here with this group, and that’s the frustrating part.”
Stamkos has just four goals to open his Nashville tenure, but might have found his form of late, scoring in three of his past four games. Meanwhile, teammate Filip Forsberg has not scored any of his team-leading six goals in the past three contests and owns just one multi-point game this season.
Veteran netminder Juuse Saros has done his best to keep the Predators in games, posting a 2.86 goals-against average in 11 starts. However, backup Scott Wedgewood allowed all six goals on 34 shots faced Thursday, and has a 4.37 goals-against average in his three starts.
Utah’s Connor Ingram allowed two goals while facing just 15 shots Thursday. He has a 2.30 goals-against average during his current 2-0-1 starting stretch. Backup Karel Vejmelka (2.75 GAA) made 25 saves during a 3-0 loss at Winnipeg on Tuesday.
Guenther has two goals and four assists in the past six games for Utah. He tallied one goal with three assists in three games versus Nashville last season. Teammate Clayton Keller, the club leader with 13 points, has four goals and 12 assists during his current seven-game point streak against the Predators.
