The Utah Hockey Club continued to struggle in closing out tight games, falling to the St. Louis Blues 2-1 at Delta Center on Sunday, marking their fifth consecutive loss.
Despite staying competitive in recent games, Utah has now lost eight straight, with all of those losses occurring after either leading or being tied entering the third period. This latest defeat was no exception, with the Blues’ Jordan Kyrou breaking a tie in the third period to secure the win for St. Louis.
“I thought we played a great game tonight,” Kyrou said after the win. “We were aggressive, fast, and kept control of the puck instead of just giving it away. We played with purpose from start to finish.”
Alexandre Texier opened the scoring for the Blues (24-25-4), who had been on a four-game losing streak prior to Sunday’s victory. Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, who is slated to represent Canada in the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20, made 24 saves to secure the win.
Blues coach Jim Montgomery praised his team’s aggressive play. “We were aggressive from the beginning, playing all 60 minutes with intensity,” he said. “It was great to see the guys compete like that and get rewarded for it.”
For Utah (21-22-9), Michael Kesselring scored the team’s lone goal, and Connor Ingram stopped 27 shots. Despite the strong efforts, the team remains in the midst of a five-game losing streak.
Utah coach Andre Tourigny was disappointed with his team’s performance. “I didn’t like our energy or our urgency. St. Louis played a much more disciplined and aggressive game compared to the last couple of matchups,” Tourigny said. “It took too long for us to adjust and start playing the way we need to.”
The Blues took the lead at 17:41 of the first period when Texier beat Ingram with a shot above the shoulder on the blocker side. The Blues held the 1-0 lead into the second period.
Kesselring tied it up early in the third at 3:27 with a slap shot from the point that found the back of the net after beating Binnington through traffic and off the far post.
“We’re a resilient group, and we battled hard tonight,” Kesselring said. “These are playoff-like games for us, and we need to win. No excuses, even with the injuries.”
However, just a few minutes later, Kyrou regained the lead for St. Louis at 7:13, one-timing a pass from Robert Thomas through Ingram’s pads. The goal proved to be the game-winner, and the Blues held on to secure the 2-1 victory.
“We stayed positive, and the next shift was even better. We just kept building on our play,” Kyrou said.
Blues coach Montgomery acknowledged the need to build on this victory. “We’ve had some tough games recently, but now we’ve got to keep that momentum and get another win with the same effort.”
Utah will look to snap its five-game losing streak in their next matchup at home against Philadelphia on Tuesday night.
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