Cooley was benched late as Utah HC jumped out to a three-goal lead in a shootout loss to Anaheim

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Hockey Club coach Andre Tourigny’s frustration was palpable.

His team had just built a three-goal lead in the second half and was losing 5-4 to the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday at the Delta Center.

What went wrong?

“I will miss the game tomorrow (having mentioned everything),” Tourigny said. “We didn’t do anything well.”

That was probably a bit exaggerated – at least without it you wouldn’t have a 4-1 lead in the second third some Everything went well – but there was also the truth to it.

The club never outscored the Ducks, collecting six penalties and allowing the puck to pass 17 times. But because of Clayton Keller’s brilliance – two goals and two assists – Utah was clearly poised for a win.

Keller scored a goal in the second minute of the game when he broke through the net and received enough of the puck that it trickled over the goal line. That began a career night for the Utah captain, who tied his career high with 4 points.

Keller later assisted on a goal by Barrett Hayton in the first period (his first since October 30) and set up a power play to Logan Cooley for a game-high goal in the second. Then, at 5:57 of the second, he brought Utah within three goals with a mid-range sniper shot.

In 26 minutes of action, Keller scored 4 points, which meant he had plenty of time to score more points. It also meant the Ducks had plenty of time to salvage the game.

It turned out to be the latter.

So has Utah let the three-goal lead slip?

“I don’t think so,” said Tourigny, “because I don’t think we were good from the start. I don’t think anything changed when we took the lead.”

For him, the 4-1 lead was no indication of how the game was going. Exhibit A: Anaheim’s first goal of the first period. The Ducks managed a 2-on-1 breakaway after a poor turnover by Utah in the offensive zone. Substitute goalkeeper Jaxson Stauber hardly had a chance.

“I think it happened a little bit early in the game and then it crept back in,” Hayton said of the Ducks’ comeback. “I think just getting too relaxed and giving up too much. When you give a team that many power plays, it’s tough. Many things happened throughout the game. Obviously we made a mistake in the third game and that wasn’t the case. “It’s not good enough.”

One of these power games was emerging. Late in the third period, Cooley was given a slashing penalty after getting into a scuffle during the game. It was an ill-advised penalty by a young player that cost Utah as the Ducks scored the game-winning goal on the ensuing power play.

Cooley, however, did not see the ice again – not in the last five minutes of regulation time, not in the five minutes of overtime, not in the shootout. That was a huge decision. The 20-year-old forward has scored a point in 12 of the last 14 games (including Sunday’s contest), and half of those were multi-point attempts.

Tourigny apparently thought that late penalty was so bad – and to be fair, it was pretty bad – that he benched one of his most productive players for the most critical parts of the contest.

Asked what it took not to get him out after the sharp call, Touringy said: “I’ll let you think about it.”

So let’s think about it:

The coach viewed it as a teaching moment for a player who is expected to be one of the faces of the franchise for a long time (“He’s a special player … and he’s just getting started,” Keller said after the game via Cooley). That’s all well and good, but reasonable minds can disagree with the timing because there’s no doubt Cooley’s absence late made a difference.

His game is tailor-made for three-on-three hockey, and just last week he delivered the game-winning assist in the final minutes of overtime. When Utah struggled to create dangerous chances in overtime, it was easy to wonder , what influence Cooley might have had.

Perhaps the move was necessary for future growth, but on Sunday it appeared to diminish the chances of Utah skating off the Delta Center ice with a win.

As for the shootout, well, Utah is still waiting for its first shootout goal. The club took a 3-0 lead for the second time this season after Nick Schmaltz, Keller and Nick Bjugsted all missed. Stauber stopped the first two Anaheim shots, but the third overwhelmed him and gave the Ducks the win.

“It doesn’t feel like we missed the point with the way we finished the second half and gave up the lead,” Hayton said. “Yes, that can’t happen; it’s disappointing.”