Kevin Stenlund<\/a> was dealt a double-minor penalty for high-sticking with 56 seconds remaining in regulation which put Utah on a four-minute kill to close out the game.<\/p>\nThe team \u2014 boosted by Alex Kerfoot\u2019s gritty play \u2014 did not allow the Sharks to score on the last-second advantage, avoided overtime and banked the much-needed full two points.<\/p>\n
It also helped relieve some of the pressure Utah has felt with its recent losing record in Salt Lake City. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe put a tremendous amount of pressure on ourselves and that showed a lot. We were gripping. Wanting to be too good,\u201d head coach Andr\u00e9 Tourigny said. \u201cWe want to win, we want to get in the race, we want to climb in the standings and all those things. That comes with a ton of pressure \u2014 internally and externally.\u201d <\/p>\n
Giving up an early goal did not help those mental matters, but Utah was able to refocus and shut it down defensively after that. <\/p>\n
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club celebrates their goal in the final minutes of the game, in NHL action between the Utah Hockey Club and the San Jose Sharks, at the Delta Center, on Friday, Jan 10, 2025.
<\/p>\n
The Sharks wasted no time in the first period and got on the board 58 seconds into the game. Utah lost a defensive-zone faceoff which led to Fabian Zetterlund\u2019s rebound shot from the slot to make it 1-0. <\/p>\n
Nick Schmaltz knotted things 1-1 for Utah in the middle frame. The forward circled the puck around the zone before choosing his spot and sniping it from the right circle past Sharks\u2019 goaltender Alexander Georgiev at 5:57. It was Schmaltz\u2019s seventh goal and 30th point of the season. <\/p>\n
Nick DeSimone logged his first point with Utah Hockey Club after getting claimed off waivers by the team last week. The defenseman had the secondary assist on Schmaltz\u2019s goal while skating on the third pair with Juuso V\u00e4lim\u00e4ki. <\/p>\n
\u201cReally good,\u201d Tourigny said of DeSimone\u2019s debut. \u201cHonestly I think he moved well. Didn\u2019t complicate his game, made good passes, he skated well. Happy about the first impression.\u201d <\/p>\n
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) San Jose Sharks goaltender Alexandar Georgiev (40) and Utah Hockey Club defenseman Nick DeSimone (57), in NHL action between the Utah Hockey Club and the San Jose Sharks, at the Delta Center, on Friday, Jan 10, 2025.
<\/p>\n
Utah held San Jose to three shots on goal through the entire second period and continued to limit high-quality chances from its opponent until the final buzzer. <\/p>\n
It looked like Clayton Keller gave his team a 2-1 lead with a wrister from the point at 3:22 of the third period, but the tally was overturned for goaltender interference after the Sharks used their coach\u2019s challenge on the play. <\/p>\n
That is the seventh time this season a Utah goal has been overturned \u2014 the team has only had two goals upheld after a challenge. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard when you\u2019re battling with guys \u2014 it\u2019s such a fine line where you want to be around the net, around the goalie and stuff,\u201d Hayton said. \u201cI think you see in that one, it\u2019s so close. Schmaltz is just trying to get around and bumps him. At the end of the day, that\u2019s what the call is.\u201d <\/p>\n
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The referee’s break up a scuffle, in NHL action between the Utah Hockey Club and the San Jose Sharks, at the Delta Center, on Friday, Jan 10, 2025.
<\/p>\n
Hayton\u2019s goal that came 15 minutes later counted, though, and sealed the win for Utah. <\/p>\n
Josh Doan also played his first game with The Club since Oct. 26 following his call-up from the AHL\u2019s Tucson Roadrunners in the wake of Dylan Guenther being sidelined \u2018indefinitely\u2019 with a lower-body injury. <\/p>\n
The 22-year-old forward skated on the second line with Hayton and Matias Maccelli and had three shots on goal through 14:18 of total ice time. <\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time you get a chance you can\u2019t take it for granted,\u201d Doan said. \u201cI think early on it\u2019s a little bit of an adjustment period. \u2026I think right away I got a chance to get in on the forecheck and get back to the part of my game that I\u2019m comfortable in. I think that let me settle in a bit.\u201d <\/p>\n
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club center Clayton Keller (9) in NHL action between the Utah Hockey Club and the San Jose Sharks, at the Delta Center, on Friday, Jan 10, 2025.
<\/p>\n
Utah now has a quick turnaround. The team takes on the New York Islanders Saturday night at Delta Center in the second game of a back-to-back as it tries to extend its winning ways on home ice. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t our best hockey tonight. We know that, we have to be better,\u201d Hayton said. \u201cAt the end of the day it\u2019s a big win, though.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Utah Hockey Club beat the San Jose Sharks 2-1. (Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5127],"tags":[25840,25839,5,17624,25836,25837,4,519,168,5306,5305,1780,25838],"class_list":{"0":"post-147598","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose-sharks","8":"tag-budgeting","9":"tag-financial-habits","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-jp-morgan-chase","12":"tag-jpmc","13":"tag-money-habits","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-san-jose","16":"tag-san-jose-sharks","17":"tag-sanjose","18":"tag-sanjosesharks","19":"tag-sharks","20":"tag-teach-kids-money-habits"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/114967778686028755","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}