Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Utah Hockey Club secured a 5-1 victory against Calgary, rebounding from Monday's loss.
- Newly acquired veteran Olli Määttä bolstered Utah's defense, providing crucial support and stability.
- The team emphasized learning from past mistakes, enhancing performance with strategic reinforcements.
SALT LAKE CITY — As Utah Hockey Club general manager Bill Armstrong watched his team give up a three-goal lead in the final minutes on Monday, he couldn't help but think about his team's youth.
"I think we're the second youngest team in the league," he said. "You see games that we had the other night, we've got to calm that down and make sure that we have a good veteran presence that's going to allow us to walk out with the win."
Faced with a similar situation two nights later, the Hockey Club did just that. Utah led 4-1 entering the third period Wednesday against the Calgary Flames; this time, though, the team left with a 5-1 victory.
One difference: They had another veteran presence.
Defenseman Olli Määttä, who the team traded for with a third-round pick on Tuesday evening, made his Hockey Club debut in the win. In his first game with his new club, the 30-year-old defenseman, who has won two Stanley Cups, recorded the second-most ice time for Utah. Not exactly easing into things.
"I didn't know what to expect, to be honest," said Määttä, who mentioned he was going on about four hours of sleep. "I just wanted to go out there and play. It wasn't really a routine game day, but it was fun."
Määttä allowed the other members of Utah's D-corps to slot back into a more natural role. The blue line has been over-extended without both Sean Durzi and John Marino, who will both be out for at least four more months.
"The more depth you have, the more support you have for those guys," coach André Tourginy said. "When you don't have the depth and the guys have a bad night … everybody pays for it. With Olli, he will provide good support throughout our lineup."
To be fair, there weren't a lot of bad nights on Wednesday.
It didn't take long for Utah to shake off Monday's disappointment. Alex Kerfoot got his first goal of the season at 4:41 of the first period with a quick wrister from the slot. Utah went into the first intermission up 2-0 after Barrett Hayton scored a quick snapshot with just two seconds remaining on the clock.
Even when Utah conceded a goal in the second, it didn't linger. Just 17 seconds after Anthony Mantha brought the Flames to 2-1, Maveric Lamoureux scored his first goal of his NHL career.
The 20-year-old defenseman blasted a shot from the point that found its way through traffic and into the back of the net at 4:10 of the middle frame. Mikhail Sergachev made it 4-1 later in the period — the same score that proceeded Utah's collapse on Monday.
But there was no deja vu this time; in fact, Utah even extended its lead this time. Clayton Keller scored his sixth goal of the season with a power-play tally at 5:13 of the third period. And after what happened Monday, Keller was eager for another crack at things.
"It's just taking a look in the mirror," he said after Tuesday's practice. "It's a good lesson for us if you want to take the next step."
Wednesday, at least, was a step in the right direction.
That was due to a team-wide mindset to take lessons away from the "embarrassing" defeat on Monday.
But it certainly didn't hurt that the team got some reinforcements.
"It's quite the night and quite the morning," Määttä said. "But the moment I came in here, guys welcomed me. I can see this organization is a great, great one. I think there's a great, great thing going on here."
And he doesn't mind his new home, either.
"The rink's awesome. The city is awesome. When you land, you see the mountains and everything. It's so cool."
