Oct 10, 2024; Elmont, New York, USA; Utah Hockey Membership heart Clayton Keller (9) skates in opposition to the New York Islanders through the second interval at UBS Area. Obligatory Credit score: Brad Penner-Imagn Photographs The San Jose Sharks and Utah Hockey Membership meet on Monday evening in Salt Lake Metropolis, trying to snap their respective dropping streaks.
Utah returns house to open a short two-game homestand, attempting to keep away from a fourth straight loss.
On Saturday afternoon, the Utah Hockey Membership dropped a 3-2 choice to the Kings in Los Angeles. Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley scored for Utah, which has misplaced 5 of its final six video games.
“I believed we had some good spurts,” mentioned Utah heart Nick Bjugstad, who returned to the lineup after lacking eight video games with an upper-body harm. “It is a one-goal recreation, we received to search out methods to win that, particularly the final couple video games we had. The nice groups discover methods to win in sure conditions like that.”
Keller leads Utah with 5 targets and 9 factors by 9 video games, whereas Dylan Guenther has 5 targets and two assists this season.
Goaltender Connor Ingram is 4-2-1 in seven begins this season with a 3.71 goals-against common and an .862 save proportion. In two profession appearances in opposition to the Sharks, Ingram is 2-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .958 save proportion.
“Not very best, going three in a row right here, however cannot hit the panic button,” Bjugstad mentioned. “We received the instruments, we received the blokes in there, and it is simply going to return right down to sort of having that killer intuition.”
The Arizona Coyotes swept all three conferences between the 2 groups final season, outscoring the Sharks 11-4, earlier than relocating to Utah within the offseason.
The Sharks now journey to Utah, the place they’re nonetheless searching for their first win of the season. San Jose stays the lone membership within the NHL with out a win and has gone six straight with out a level.
San Jose fell 7-3 in Vegas to the Golden Knights on Saturday and conclude a four-game highway journey in Salt Lake Metropolis on Monday.
“We received to discover a method to climate the storm in energetic buildings,” mentioned Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro. “We’re chasing the sport far an excessive amount of proper now. There are much more causes that we’re not ok. That is undoubtedly one thing that is not serving to our trigger.”
Mikael Granlund, Nico Sturm and Luke Kunin scored for the Sharks within the loss to Vegas.
“I do not assume anybody’s joyful by any means. There are quite a lot of feelings in that locker room,” mentioned Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky. “Frustration, anger. It is powerful.”
Granlund has a team-leading 10 factors (4 targets, six assists) by 9 video games this season. Middle Tyler Toffoli has 4 targets and 7 factors this season.
Goaltender Vitek Vanecek is 0-4-0 in 4 begins this season with a 4.00 GAA and an .869 save proportion. Vanecek is 2-0-0 with a .917 save proportion and a 1.99 GAA in two profession appearances in opposition to the Arizona Coyotes franchise.
Monday is the primary of three conferences between the Sharks and Utah Hockey Membership this season. The 2 groups meet Dec. 14 in San Jose earlier than concluding the season collection on Jan. 10 in Salt Lake Metropolis.
–Area Degree Media
