{"id":461093,"date":"2025-01-19T17:20:17","date_gmt":"2025-01-19T22:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=461093"},"modified":"2025-01-19T21:05:03","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T02:05:03","slug":"current-slump-struggles-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/01\/19\/current-slump-struggles-continue\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah Hockey Club\u2019s Struggles Continue to Worsen In Current Slump"},"content":{"rendered":"

The <\/span>Utah Hockey Club<\/span><\/a> has been struggling since the end of December. It’s been a downward spiral for the team after Utah won six out of seven games and went 6-0-1 in that span. Utah was just a few points outside of a heavily contested wild card last month but now are six points behind the <\/span>Calgary Flames<\/span><\/a> for the final spot with a 19-19-7 record. Utah thought they had good news when defenceman John Marino<\/a> returned from a back injury that kept him out 42 games this season. However, losing forward Dylan Guenther<\/a> to a lower-body injury overshadowed Marino’s return. So why do the struggles continue for Utah?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Defensive Woes<\/span><\/h2>\n

One problem is that Utah has been the team’s defensive play, notably giving up too many goals. Over the past ten games, Utah has given up three or more goals eight times, which dates back to the end of December. The team also gave up five goals three times during the span in defeats to the <\/span>Seattle Kraken<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Montreal Canadiens<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>New York Rangers<\/span><\/a>. That’s in line with Utah’s 3.00 goals against average, ranked 15th in the league. Still, it’s become more frequent, putting Utah in deficits that the team can’t climb itself out of. Utah’s expected goals-against average this season currently sits at 3.12.<\/span><\/p>\n

Utah’s current problems are a mix of inconsistent defense and goaltending. The team’s average shot attempts against are 44.45, which is quite a substantial amount. Utah has allowed over 30 shots on goal in five of the last ten games. Utah is ranked 19th in the league in shots on goal allowed, with an average of 28.6.<\/span><\/p>\n

Too many shots just make the goaltender’s life <\/span>more difficult<\/span>, and it certainly hasn’t been easy for Utah’s goaltenders. However, Marino made the game’s defensive play in last night’s 4-2 victory over the <\/span>St. Louis Blues<\/span><\/a> when he made a goal-saving shot block. If Utah’s defense can play with that style, the shot and goal numbers will drop in the team’s favor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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MARINO. WHAT A BLOCK \ud83e\udd2f pic.twitter.com\/ciNneCjsMo<\/a><\/p>\n

— Utah Mammoth (@utahhockeyclub) January 19, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n