Another lull in the second period gave Utah HC a loss against Dallas

SALT LAKE CITY – Clayton Keller’s tip attempt went just wide and Dylan Guenther’s shot on the move hit Dallas goalkeeper Casey DeSmith’s ball hard. Monday’s final minutes at the Delta Center were hectic as the Utah Hockey Club desperately tried to salvage a result.

However, the home team came away empty-handed as Dallas defeated Utah 3-2, ending the club’s eight-game point streak.

But it wasn’t the third period – in which Utah scored a goal from Barrett Hayton to provide some hope heading into the home stretch – that was on the team’s mind after the loss. No, it was the middle stanza when Dallas scored two goals to take control of the game.

“I think we had, I don’t know, 12, 15, eight minutes where we weren’t aggressive enough defensively, which led to them having a lot of puck possession, and from there we couldn’t change anything,” head coach said Andre Tourigny.

These minutes led to the loss. Dallas outscored Utah 16-6 in the second period, with similar goals from Roope Hintz and Jamie Benn giving the Stars a 3-1 lead.

It wasn’t the first time that a poor second period hurt the hockey club this season – especially at home.

The Minnesota Wild defeated Utah 2-0 in the second game, leading to a shootout win earlier this month. The same Stars team earned a 2-1 victory over Utah on December 2nd, with both goals coming midway through the game. The Edmonton Oilers scored three goals in the second period, leading to an overtime win at the Delta Center.

This is a worrying trend.

“We had a great first third, the second wasn’t so great, we tried to fight back in the third, but a good team can’t let a quarter take a break,” said Nick Bjugsted. “That’s pretty much what we did in the second game, so in the third game you can come back from a few goals behind and hope for the best. But to win these games against such teams you have to play a full 60.”

Dallas and Utah entered the game tied at 38 points. With the win, Dallas is now in the final playoff spot and has played one game less than Utah; That made the loss all the more painful.

“We knew going into this game that it was a four-point game, a divisional game. Obviously these matchups are huge,” said Hayton, who scored for the second straight game. “I thought we did a great job in the first half. We were pushing, we were intense, we were on the ball, we played the right way, and against good teams you simply can’t afford such lapses. That was our second period.”

For him, enough is enough.

“It will be something we have to use as a learning experience now,” Hayton said. “We’re all angry about it and disappointed and frustrated with ourselves; and yes, this is a big game and it’s a shame that it’s going this way.”

The team was playing for the second night in a row and third game in four nights. However, Tourigny was hesitant to attribute the weakness to fatigue. For one thing, there will be more difficult sections and he doesn’t want a built-in excuse; Secondly, there was the energy to start and finish the game.

“We were all talking about the same period, which is completely unfair, but we had a huge setback in the third period,” he said.

The team would rather not need this type of response.

Hayton blocked a shot from Ian Cole with 8:21 left to cut Dallas’ lead to a single goal, setting the stage for a chaotic finish. Utah outscored Dallas 9-4 in the third period trying to get a score.

Now Utah heads into its three-day Christmas break and is wondering what’s causing the lull.

“I don’t know,” Hayton said. “We need to sit down and talk about this. I think we need to find out what’s causing this. Obviously at the end of the day everything is like a mental thing. It’s not like there’s anything crazy, but I think we have to look at the mentality of the whole game against Anaheim and the second period tonight. We have a few days off to think about it, figure it out and talk together.