3 Takeaways From Utah’s 3-2 OT Loss to Stars – The Hockey Writers Latest News, Analysis & More

The Utah Hockey Club took the Dallas Stars to overtime, but couldn’t get the job done as Thomas Harley scored the overtime winner to end Utah’s road trip. The team, however, kept the game close just like they did with their prior meeting with the Stars, showing some potential confidence and energy going into a long stretch of home games. Here are three takeaways from Saturday night’s game.

Matias Maccelli Magic

Matias Maccelli has struggled during his time with Utah. Coming off of a 57-point season with the Arizona Coyotes, the Finn had only 10 points in his first 37 games in the season. Maccelli and his line with Nick Bjugstad and Lawson Crouse hadn’t been connecting and something desperately needed to change. 

Unfortunately for Maccelli, it came at the expense of his absence from the lineup. An illness that had been going around the locker room struck and kept him from playing on Thursday against the Calgary Flames. Liam O’Brien came in and impressed as the third line took over and helped Utah get a 5-3 win.

Recovering in time for their game against the Stars, a difficult decision would have to be made on where to place Maccelli in the lineup. Head coach André Tourigny made the decision to healthy scratch Michael Carcone and insert Maccelli on the fourth line. 

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The decision turned out to be a good one, as Maccelli scored his first two goals since Nov. 7. His first came off of a rush where Crouse slid a nice pass over to him for Utah’s first goal of the game. Maccelli’s second was scored after Alex Kerfoot tried wrapping the puck around the net. The forward was able to retrieve the puck and score off a spin-o-rama.

Maccelli now has 12 points in the season. In the past, he’s been a very streaky player. When Maccelli has his confidence, he’s usually scoring. Tourigny liked what he saw from him on Saturday night including his intensity and hockey IQ.

“He had energy, he moved the puck quick, he made good decisions with the puck,” Tourigny said. “He was intense with his battle, recovered loose puck. Did a lot of good stuff on the ice other than his two goals…he played a really solid game.”

Maccelli couldn’t lie that it felt good to get his first goal in almost two months. However, he admitted it would’ve felt better if Utah had gotten the win.

“It felt good,” Maccelli said. “Obviously, it would’ve been much better if we got the win there, too. We still got one point. I think we played a solid road game tonight.”

Hopefully, Maccelli’s two goals can spark something in the forward. It’s been a disappointing season for him after having a career-high in points last season. While it’s still early to tell, placing Maccelli on the fourth line could re-energize the forward.

Utah Plays Well-Fought Game

Every game that Utah and the Stars have played against each other has been very close. Each of the three matchups has been decided by a goal. That narrative didn’t change on Saturday. Unfortunately for Utah, they were once again on the wrong side of the score as Matt Duchene was able to get the puck behind him and pass to Harley who scored the overtime winner. This marks the third straight loss for Utah to the Stars.

However, it’s clear that every time the two have met up, Utah continues to give the Stars a tougher battle. They forced Saturday’s game into overtime, getting a point out of their matchup. Doing that against the Stars is no laughing matter. They’ve been one of the best teams in the NHL in the past couple of seasons, reaching the Western Conference Final three times in the past five seasons including making it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020.

It shows Utah can compete with the juggernauts in the league. Tourigny knows this and is proud that his team was able to stick with them on Saturday and give them a run for their money.

“I thought we played a really good game,” Tourigny said. “Really proud of the way the guys played. They closed the gap again…they’re one of the toughest teams to play against in the league. This year, every time we played them, we got closer and closer.”

It was a very good game for Utah. Arguably, they were the better team for most of the game and Jake Oettinger’s impressive play in the net was the only reason why Utah had just two goals. 

Utah completed their four-game road trip with a 1-2-1 record and got three of the available eight points. While getting less than half of the available points isn’t ideal, their final two games on the road trip were well-played and hard-fought. Both the Flames and the Stars are actively competing for a playoff spot and Utah was able to keep up with both of them. It shows that the team is getting to the point where they can keep up in the standings and maybe steal a playoff spot.

A 7-Game Challenge Coming up for Utah

With the road trip now behind them, Utah’s next seven games will be a challenge. It’s not because of their opponents. Sure, they’ll play some tough opponents like the Florida Panthers and the Winnipeg Jets. However, they’ll also play a bunch of games against teams who have struggled this season like the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, and San Jose Sharks.

The main challenge for Utah is that the next seven games will be at home at the Delta Center. It is their longest stretch of home games this season. The problem is Utah hasn’t been playing well at all at home. They are currently 5-7-4 at home this season, which isn’t good, especially when you compare it to their 12-8-3 road record.

It gets even worse when you dive into recent home games. Utah picked up an overtime win against the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 18. Before that, their most recent win at home was Nov. 13 against the Carolina Hurricanes, which was also their last regulation win at home. 

It’s still unclear why Utah has struggled back home in their new arena. The lack of home wins has been acknowledged by the team before but the results have remained the same. However, this upcoming stretch is different. If Utah can grab some wins, they could put themselves back on the doorstep of the second wildcard spot out west. In order to do that, they must figure out how to win at home.

It’ll certainly be a challenge for Utah as they find themselves with a 17-15-7 record. Their next game could potentially be their toughest one in the next set of games. Utah will host the defending Stanley Cup champions: the Panthers. The Panthers are 24-14-2 this season and are coming off a 3-2 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. They’ll play the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday before heading to Salt Lake City.