Missed chances haunt Utah Hockey Club in frustrating loss to Dallas

SALT LAKE CITY — André Tourigny thought he knew what to expect on Monday against Dallas.

"Every time we play against those guys, it's inch by inch," the Utah Hockey Club head coach said after morning skate.

It was mere inches — or maybe even a singular inch — that was the difference for his team against the Stars Monday.

In the second period, Dallas forward Evgenii Dadonov beat Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka nearside through the smallest of gaps. That goal opened the scoring and helped lift the Stars to a 2-1 win over the Hockey Club at the Delta Center.

It was Utah's fourth single-goal loss in its last seven games — all to teams expected to be in the postseason picture. All those losses have been sandwiched by solid wins, too. There was the five-goal route over Pittsburgh, then the overtime victory in Montreal, and then Saturday's 6-0 shutout win against Las Vegas.

"It feels like we take a step forward and then two steps back," forward Michael Carcone said. "We just have to review this game and find ways to beat teams that are in the top 10 and keep rolling from there. … I think we played a great game. We just can't get the results."

That's been the recurring theme for Utah over the last two weeks: Strong play against some of the league's best teams, but not strong results.

On Monday, it was more of the same. Utah outshot Dallas 35-21 and generated quality chances again and again. Those chances, though, rarely got by Dallas goaltender Casey DeSmith.

"If you look at the three games we played against Dallas last year (as the Arizona Coyotes), and you put all the scoring chance we had together, I think that's about the number we had tonight," Tourigny said. "We had a lot of sustained offense, a lot of shot from the slot, a lot of passes to the slot, a lot of opportunity to break the game down. Unfortunately, we didn't finish."

Which made it all more frustrating when Dallas scored on a bad-angle chance.

"That will go in once every 100 or so, it is what it is," Tourigny said. "We had our share of those shots as well. That's a hockey game. They didn't go in for us."

Dadonov's power-play strike in the second gave the Stars a 1-0 lead and Dallas doubled it with a late-period rush where Utah was caught slightly out of position.

Nick Schmaltz gave the Club some life in the third period. The veteran forward skated off the bench on a change and was immediately gifted a pass in the slot by Nick Bjugstad. His shot finally beat DeSmith.

It was Schmaltz's third goal in the last two games after being held goalless for the first 23 games of the season.

"I thought we were all over them," Schmaltz said. "I think they were kind of just hanging on, chipping pucks out, and we were kind of controlling the play for the most part. That goal late in the second kind of hurt us, gave them a two-goal lead, but fought back in the third, and just couldn't find a way to get the next one."

So what's the secret to finding the equalizing goal that has eluded the team?

"If I had the magic pill, I would surely use it," Tourigny joked. "We are really proud about the way we play. I'm really frustrated about the result."

That sums up Monday's game and the few losses before it, too. Tourigny said, though, that he doesn't want to focus too much on the final scores. He said that's when players start trying to do too much.

If that happens, the losses really can pile up.

"There's no moral victory in that league," he said. "You want to win. We want to win. But it's important when we talk to the players to focus on the process and keep focusing on the process. Because if you focus on the result, you grip your stick and you're trying to do things you should not and that just becomes a worst part of your game."

Right now, Utah Hockey Club's process sure looks to be good. Now, they are searching for more consistent results.

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