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SALT LAKE CITY — Goals have been hard to come by recently for the Utah Hockey Club.
Unfortunately for Utah, the same can't be said about its opponents.
The Hockey Club lost 5-1 to the Colorado Avalanche Thursday in the first meeting between the recently minted Rocky Mountain rivals to close out a three-game home stand.
It marked the second consecutive four-goal loss for Utah, with the Hockey Club being outscored 9-1 over the last two games after an explosive start to the season where it scored 22 goals in its first six games.
"We've got to keep them out of our net, and that's the biggest thing right now," associate captain Lawson Crouse said. "Can't win hockey games when we keep going down three, four (to) nothing.
"It's a tough league to come back in; and when that happens, you feel like you have to make up for a play, and it goes sideways quick, so, obviously, we've got to stop it here. Stop tonight. Learn from it. Move on and get back to winning."
Lone goal scorer Lawson Crouse on the 5-1 @utahhockeyclub loss and where they go from here pic.twitter.com/zDNbbtpjhy
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) October 25, 2024
The deficit was somewhat expected early against the Avalanche, with a five-on-three power play, giving way to the opening goal by Colorado's Ross Colton midway through the opening period.
The Avalanche outshot Utah 12-5 in the first period for a 2-0 lead after one, but the home team was also held scoreless in an improved second period where it tied the visitors with 10 shots on goal.
It was a rough defensive outing on the night of an NHL debut for one of Utah's most promising young defensemen, Maveric Lamoureux, as the Hockey Club gave up another two goals in the second period.
Crouse got one back for Utah late in the final period, but it was followed almost immediately by the fifth and final Colorado goal from Joel Kiviranta.
Lawson Crouse scores his 3️⃣rd goal of the season.#UtahHCpic.twitter.com/QcHWDNASM2
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) October 25, 2024
The 2022 Stanley Cup champion Avalanche proved to be the big brother in the rivalry for now, with the final two meetings of the regular season series coming in December.
Utah heads west next for a road one-off against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday before returning to Salt Lake for a pair of home games next week against the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames.
