“My mom probably could have hit that”: Dylan Guenther scores twice, Utah HC gets revenge on Avalanche

When the Colorado Avalanche visited Salt Lake City on October 24, they beat the Utah Hockey Club 5-1 – and it would have been a shutout if Lawson Crouse hadn’t scored late.

However, when Utah HC visited Denver on Thursday, they did the exact same thing, except the final score was 4-1. They even allowed a crucial goal in the final minutes thanks to Nathan MacKinnon.

Here is the story.

Utah Hockey for Dummies

Utah now has a five-game winning streak on the road and a five-game losing streak at home. The NHL offers advantages to the home team in the form of positioning in the faceoff circle and the ability to match lines, so one would think their series would be the other way around.

The team sees no reason for this.

“I think it’s just a coincidence,” forward Dylan Guenther said after Thursday’s game. “I feel like we’ve been playing pretty well over the last month.”

Head coach André Tourigny agrees.

“If you look at the results, it’s one thing – but the performance has been there for some time,” he said.

In any case, Utah has scored points in six of its last seven games and hasn’t lost by more than a goal in almost a month. They are now just two points away from a playoff spot.

Utah Hockey for the casual fan

Don’t look now, but Guenther is on a four-game points streak. During that span, he scored two goals and five assists for seven points. Three of those points came against the Avalanche on Thursday: two goals and one assist.

His second goal of the game, a one-timer on the power play, was particularly nice. But he wasn’t willing to take much credit.

“Yeah, I mean, my mom probably could have scored that,” he said after the game.

His mother Nadine was present as part of the mentorship trip.

Guenther wasn’t the only Utah HC player who stayed hot. Kevin Stenlund, who scored just one goal in the first 25 games of the season, now has five goals in 29 games.

Utah hockey for nerds

Vladislav Kolyachonok had not played a game since November 24th. He is the first one on the ice every day at practice and usually the last one off the ice. Even Tourigny agrees that he is one of the hardest-working players on the team, but Tourigny said Thursday morning that quality is more important than quantity, which is why he hasn’t played in almost three weeks.

Kolyachonok brought the “quality” against the Avalanche in the form of his second goal of the season.

“It’s cool to get back in the game and just try to do the right things and get rewarded for it,” Kolyachonok said.

The offensive side of his game wasn’t the only positive. He also looked confident and was positionally solid throughout the game.

“He made good plays, he was solid without the puck, he made good breakout passes, he was predictable,” Tourigny said after the game. “Pretty good for him.”

Tourigny says he earned a spot in the lineup Saturday in San Jose.

What’s next?

The road trip continues with a stop in San Jose on Saturday, where they take on the suddenly entertaining Sharks. After finishing in last place a year ago, taking Macklin Celebrini with the first overall pick and drafting Will Smith out of school, the Sharks are now playing entertaining hockey.

The fact that they’re fun to watch doesn’t necessarily make them an overly successful team. They have moved up a few places in the league standings, but still have a good chance of winning the lottery.

After avenging a loss they would like to get back against the Avalanche, they will look to do the same against the Sharks. The Sharks handed them their toughest defeat of the season after rallying from a 4-1 deficit to secure their first win of the season.

The game begins at 8:00 PM MDT and will be available on Utah HC+ and Utah 16.