Utah Hockey Club is eliminated by Ottawa Senators, 4-0

Andr Tourigny, head coach of the Utah Hockey Club, had a question Tuesday morning.

Could his group maintain consistency against the Ottawa Senators after Saturday's overtime win over the Boston Bruins?

We did very well against the Bruins. It doesn't mean anything anymore, Tourigny said. Can we continue as a young team now? Can we just stay in the present, stay humble and be as urgent as we were against the Bruins? That is the challenge for us.

That challenge proved too difficult to overcome as Utah lost to the Senators 4-0 on Tuesday night at Delta Center.

In the first period, in which the Senators scored four goals, the game eluded the Hockey Club in a span of eight minutes. While Utah pushed and produced high-risk chances in the second and third, mistakes in the opening frame buried the group, as did a shutdown 31-save performance from Ottawa goaltender Anton Forsberg.

I think that was a decline in our focus. We obviously came out strong and played well. But we didn't stay in the moment, Tourigny said. We got carried away a little soft defensively, forced a play, turnover. We led the way and we paid for it.

After outscoring the Senators 7-1 in the first 10 minutes of the game, Utah fell away and finished the first.

Drake Batherson got things going for Ottawa at 11:43 with a tactical goal off the rush. The attacker shot from the bottom left circle for a 1-0 lead.

The Senators doubled their lead after Utah turned the ball over at center ice while trying to break out. Nick Jensen carried the puck into the attacking zone before sliding it to Claude Giroux, who one-timed it past Connor Ingram at 13:06.

Robert Bortuzzo's penalty gave the Senators a power play, and they quickly capitalized. Ridly Greig rifled home from under the hashmarks at 6:05 p.m. to put Ottawa 3-0 just 15 seconds ahead.

It's tough. I liked our start tonight. A few mistakes cost us, but we never gave up, said Clayton Keller, who led Utah's lead in ice time and had three shots on goal. Those little mistakes can sometimes determine the game.

Brady Tkachuk capped the first period scoring frenzy for Ottawa with eight seconds left. The Senators captain stood in front of the net and tapped in the rebound of Thomas Chabot's shot to push Utah to a 4-0 deficit.

Ingram was pulled from the net after the first twenty minutes of play. Karel Vejmelka made his Delta-Center debut to start the second period.

Everyone in life has a bad day at the office sometimes. I think as a goalkeeper you are more exposed than anyone else. I think you have to make the right decision for the team, it is nothing personal, Tourigny said about the decision to make the move to Vejmelka.

Vejmelka made 14 saves and looked sharp and composed as he denied the Senators any more goals for the remainder of the match. The goaltender's first start of the season came on October 14 at Prudential Center against the New Jersey Devils, where Utah fell 3-0. Tuesday was his second competitive action.

Obviously it's not easy, but I'm trying to be prepared to play. Just like any other game, be ready at any time. Just try to focus on the first shot and get lost in it, Vejmelka said. I just tried to enjoy the game. It was my first performance in front of my own audience. It was a great feeling.

Utah outscored the Senators 14-5 in the second period. Josh Doan just missed the net on a breakaway and Dylan Guenther unleashed two shots from the circle on the power play, but nothing hit for the Hockey Club. In the last verse it was more of the same.

Utah's depleted backend and younger roster will have the expected setbacks, but it will come at a cost of wins. Giving up and losing consistency for just eight minutes of a 60-minute match apparently did just that.

Were still early in the season, were learning. “We're learning how to play as a team, we have a lot of new guys,” Keller said. It's a long season, I can't get frustrated. You have to stay patient and get better every day and good things happen.