Yahoo Sports Utah HC Gameday: What Are Utah's Keys To Victory?
The Utah Hockey Club is just completing their morning skate at T-Mobile Arena as puck drop looms this evening on The Strip, looking to carry over the momentum of their 5-1 pounding of the Calgary Flames Wednesday evening.
Read some gameday notes here, courtesy of the club:
As they do so, here's two things to watch for in tonight's game:
First, defence. Yes, I know, everyone has been harping on the team's defence the last few games, especially after losing Sean Durzi and John Marino, which is why Olli Maatta was acquired to help shore up the blue line.
Related: Utah HC Acquires Olli Maatta To Boost Blue Line
They are slated to roll those same seven defencemen again tonight, after using it to great success in Wednesday's game against Calgary. This is a totally different scheme, however; Vegas uses a bruising forecheck to wear you down and then counter-attack off that.
Mikhail Sergachev said in the off-season players have to know when to pinch and when to fall back, and against a team like Vegas, it is absolutely critical.
How critical is it?
Los Angeles turned the puck over against the Golden Knights' fourth line in the neutral zone, and less than five seconds later, Vegas generated a 3-on-2 and got a quality shot on net.
That all happened less than 15 seconds into the game.
Utah did an excellent job of limiting those chances off the rush against the Flames, but they'll need to turn up the intensity a notch if they want to have that same success tonight.
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The second is to shoot first. Head coach Andre Tourigny has been adamant about his players becoming more selfish with the puck, and they heeded the call Wednesday against Calgary.
I especially highlight Maveric Lamoureux's first NHL goal, where he simply released a bomb from the point, and Clayton Keller's power-play goal that came without hesitation.
That selfishness is what will get Utah chances to get Vegas out of system defensively and cause a scramble, and that's where big bodies like Lawson Crouse, Kevin Stenlund, and Jack McBain can take over.
Utah will likely be undersized at the net front, but there's no shame in putting pucks on net since you never know what the outcome will be.
But the real reason to shoot first and be selfish is because of quality chances.
Too many times in the first month of the year, Utah forwards have passed up on great shooting opportunities to set up teammates, and it often leads to turnovers and counter-attacks.
Against a team like Vegas, Utah will have to take advantage of what the defence gives them and put pucks to the net.
Do that, and they'll have a chance to show the Golden Knights they aren't willing to back down from a fight.
