Utah's Barrett Hayton Ends Home Losing Streak With Late Goal Against San Jose Sharks

Entering this game, Utah Hockey Club (18-16-7) had lost its last four home games and only had one win in its last eight games.

So with a 2-1 win against the Sharks (13-25-6), Utah can take a deep breath as it begins to move in the right direction.

It wasn't the prettiest game, especially after a last-minute high-sticking penalty by Utah's Kevin Stenlund, which caused Sharks forward William Eklund to bleed onto the ice. Still, Utah will take the win nonetheless.

On the night, Utah had far more shot attempts and a 25-19 shot on goal advantage over the San Jose Sharks, but the game was still close as the game was tied 1-1 heading into the final minutes.

That all changed for Utah as it finally managed to get a shot attempt to turn into a goal.

After having 5 shots on goal in the span of ten seconds of game time, Utah's Barrett Hayton finally was able to take a 2-1 lead for Utah with his next shot.

“It was just kind of climbing up the wall, a little lane to the middle, and kind of sift one through there. Had some traffic around the net and found a way in," said Hayton.

Before his shot, Hayton actually had two shots right in front of the goal, but with Sharks goalie Alexandar Georgieov staying in front of the puck and saving both shots, Hayton came away without a goal.

But Hayton stayed with the play as he recovered the puck and started skating away from the goal. With Utah's Lawson Crouse setting a screen on the Sharks player trailing him, Hayton found himself turning into open space and elected to take the shot there.

With only a 1:32 of game time remaining, the Sharks would need to work fast in order for it to tie the game and go to overtime.

Even with the penalty from Stenlund giving the Sharks a power play in the final minute, Utah would stay strong on defense even with San Jose opting to take out its goalie to give itself a 6-on-4 advantage.

Related: Utah's Dylan Guenther Out Against The San Jose Sharks

Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka would fend off two last shots on goal before Utah would find away to clear the puck and drain the remaining seconds on the clock.

After allowing a quick San Jose goal in the opening minute of the first period, Vejmelka would play an excellent game as he would have 18 saves on the night and keep Utah in the game as it slowly chipped away at the San Jose defense.

Going into the night without forward Dylan Guenther, Utah was put in an unfamiliar position as it had to rely on other players to help create on offense, with Nick DeSimone surprisingly providing some offensive spark in his first game for Utah HC.

In his first game in Utah Hockey Club gear, DeSimone recorded an assist on a goal scored by the other Nick on Utah's roster: Nick Schmaltz.

Throughout the game, DeSimone wasn't scared when opportunities for shots were presented and on this goal, it was no different. When given the space to shoot, DeSimone didn't hesitate to take the shot.

While it didn't go in, it was his shot that collapsed the San Jose defense. After Utah's Clayton Keller recovered the shot and passed it off to Schmaltz, DeSimone found himself all alone behind Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini. With Schmaltz circling to where DeSimone was, Celebrini was stuck guarding both of them. As Celebrini elected to cover DeSimone, Schmaltz was given the opportunity to score Utah's first goal.

"Honestly, I think he moved well. He didn’t complicate his game, made good passes and he skated well. I’m happy about the first impression,” said Utah head coach André Tourigny when asked about DeSimone's performance.

Related: Can Utah HC Take Advantage Of Its Upcoming 7 Game Home Stand?

Along with DeSimone, Utah's Jack Doan, recalled from the Tucson Roadrunners hours earlier, got to play in his first game for Utah since Oct. 26. While Doan didn't have any flashy moments that showed up on the stat sheet, he still provided quality minutes for Utah.

“I think obviously it sucks losing (Dylan Guenther), he’s a huge part of our team. He's one of the best young guys in the league," Doan said. "So when you see something like that, you're not too happy about it, but when he's back, we'll be ready to go."

Earlier in the third, before Hayton scored the game winning goal for Utah, it looked as though Utah would go up 2-1 after a shot from Keller went into the goal.

However, a challenge by the Sharks would prove to be successful as it was deemed that Schmaltz's contact with goalie Georgieov prevented him from being able to properly get back to the puck in time.

It was certainly a close call as one Georgieov's own teammates impeded his movement right after Schmaltz's contact, but the referee's still deemed that goalie interference happened on the play.

Now with a win its first home win of the new year, Utah is 1-1 in its seven game home stand. With this game against the Sharks being the first of a back-to-back series, Utah will need to get ready fast to face the New York Islanders on Jan. 10.