Home-ice dominance is all the more important for Utah Hockey Club after a 1-2 road trip through the Pacific Northwest and Alberta, Canada. Zach Hyman had a pair of goals, and Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid and Mattias Ekholm all had three points as the Edmonton Oilers rode a three-goal first period to a 7-1 win on Tuesday at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
The seven Edmonton goals matched a season high by a Utah opponent this season (Feb. 8 at Carolina). The loss dropped Utah four points off the pace — and behind three teams — in the race for the Western Conference's final wild card spot.
“That performance is not up to our standard. Everybody in here knows that. I don't think there's a guy in here who's happy or can find something that they want to take away from that," said defenseman Sean Durzi, who scored his second goal of the season.
"There's really no excuses at this time of year. We've got to be upset about it, but we've got to find a way to turn the corner, turn the page. [If] we dwell on this and we've got guys who are sulking for the rest of the year, you can't afford it. It's got to be [a] next-game mentality.”
Making his 11th straight start, Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka allowed three goals on 14 shots in one period of play. Utah dropped all three games (0-2-1) against Edmonton this season, getting outscored 15-5.
Eight of Utah's final 14 games are at Delta Center, starting with the first game of a three-game homestand on Thursday.
Playoff picture: The Calgary Flames beat the Rangers in New York to climb in the standings, and the St. Louis Blues won in Nashville to take over the final wild card spot in the West. St. Louis has 75 points. Calgary and Vancouver have 73 and Utah has 71. St. Louis has played 69 games, Utah has played 68, and Calgary and Vancouver have played 67.
Stauber time: Backup goalie Jaxson Stauber saw his first NHL action since Dec. 31 when he came on in relief of Vejmelka to start the second period after a three-goal Edmonton first period. Utah recalled Stauber from the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL on March 9 after Connor Ingram entered the joint NHL-NHLPA player assistance program. Stauber allowed four goals on 28 Edmonton shots.
Forgettable first: Utah allowed three goals in the first period for the third time this season. The team is 0-13-1 when trailing by at least three goals. Edmonton started the onslaught when Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev lost an edge at the offensive blue line on a power play, allowing Nugent-Hopkins a breakaway and a backhand goal to the short side. The Oilers finished the period with a McDavid goal with 3.3 seconds left on which Utah gave him the middle of the ice to skate in largely uncontested.
Quotable: "I don't think we had the right mindset, the right prep before the game. I think it's everybody. There's not one guy more than the other. At the end of the day, it's on me, so it's my job to make sure we're better than that."
— Coach André Tourigny on the six-goal margin of defeat, which was Utah's largest of the season
Up next: Utah hosts the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday at Delta Center. The teams have not played this season. The Sabres' 10 road wins are the fewest in the Eastern Conference. Their 13-season playoff drought is the longest in the NHL.
