Utah Hockey Club Offensive Analysis – Deseret News

Hockey nerds, this one's for you.

I rewatched all 20 Utah Hockey Club goals this season and looked for trends. Here's what I found.

If you happen to be a video coach for one of Utah HC's upcoming opponents, you're welcome to make your job a little easier.

Aside from Utah HC's 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Monday, they averaged five goals per game. Dylan Guenther leads the league in goals and is tied with Clayton Keller and Barrett Hayton in the league's top 10 scorers. There are also four players in the top 25 in points.

That's pretty good. Let's see why they score so many points.

Sideways passing

In 65% of Utah HC's goals to date, the primary assist has been a lateral pass.

Based on that stat alone, those who watched the Arizona Coyotes last year might assume that Matias Maccelli is in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, but that's not the case. The recognition is split evenly between the top six forwards and a few defenders.

Whether rushing or establishing zone time, Utah's players are constantly playing heads-up to find the open man, either through a short, easy pass, a long saucer pass, or anything in between. Nobody seems to care who gets the credit for the goal as long as it ends up in the net.

This is a sign of the new generation of NHL talent. Everyone is skilled enough to make smart, skillful plays. As the fifth youngest team in the league, Utah HC is a good example for the next generation.

Spatial consciousness

The Utah HC players have consistently gone against the status quo and created their own lanes. It hasn't always resulted in goals, but here are two instances where it did.

The first was Keller's overtime goal on Saturday that helped Utah HC beat the New York Rangers.

As he pushed the puck behind the Rangers' goal, Mika Zibanejad and K'Andre Miller both went to cover the two passing options. Keller saw his chance, circled to the front of the net, made a nice move and covered it with the backhand past Igor Shesterkin.

Nick Schmaltz made a similar play in Utah's overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. He saw that Brian Dumoulin was cheating to intercept a pass to the point, so instead he cut to the front of the net and eventually created a rebound that Hayton hammered into the goal.

Network presence

It's no secret that placing bodies in front of the goalie increases the likelihood of shots going in. Utah HC is far from the only team to do this, but they have done it with such an incredible success rate that it bears pointing out.

Two of Hayton's four goals were deflected. Jack McBain scored a nice tip-in against the Ducks. Lawson Crouse brought home a couple by picking up trash at the front of the net.

The only aspect of the net-front game that hasn't yet worked to Utah HC's advantage is the screens. It can be quite difficult to move McBain, Crouse and some other forwards from the front of the net, which could give defenders more goals – something that has only happened to them once this year.