CALGARY — Thanks to a big night for big man Lawson Crouse, a pair of droughts ended on Thursday.
Crouse snapped a 14-game goalless skid with two tallies and Utah ended a five-game winless streak with a 5-3 comeback victory over the Calgary Flames.
“It felt good, obviously,” said Crouse, who played his junior hockey for the Ontario Hockey League's Kingston Frontenacs and twice represented Canada at the world junior hockey championship. “Feels better to get a win. That's a big win, we needed that.”
After three straight 20-goal campaigns, Crouse entered Thursday's game with just four goals in 37 appearances this season. He'd scored just once in his last 29 games.
The 27-year-old from Mt. Brydges, Ont., ended that skid when he opened the scoring 8:51 into the first period, taking a cross-ice pass from Ian Cole and tucking a shot inside the near goalpost on Dan Vladar.
Crouse made it two on the night with the go-ahead goal early in the third as Utah (17-15-6) struck less than two minutes apart to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead.
After Clayton Keller tied the game 47 seconds into the frame, Crouse put the visitors ahead for good at 2:35 when he took a pass from Nick Bjugstad and sniped his second of the game.
“Big man came up with two big goals. Happy for him,” said Utah coach Andre Tourigny. “For the last five, six games, he's played solid, but he didn't get a reward.”
The 6-foot-4 right-winger brings many qualities to the table every night to make himself a valuable player, Tourigny said, even when the puck isn't going in.
“He's physical, he brings speed. He's good defensively. He kills penalties. He does a lot of good stuff other than shooting,” he said. “But obviously, when you have a guy who can produce and have all those tools, it's pretty cool.”
Tourigny liked the play of Crouse's entire line, which also includes Bjugstad and Liam O'Brien.
“They played with pace, they had no hesitation in their game, they were skating, they were hard on the forecheck,” the coach said.
Trailing heading into the third, Utah was in danger of falling seven points back of the Flames for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.
Adding to the challenge was Calgary had yet to lose a game in regulation when leading after two periods this season.
But Utah came out with the urgency that was needed, outshooting the home side 11-6 and eventually salting the game away on Kevin Stenlund's empty-net goal at 19:00.
They had a chance earlier in the third to take a two-goal lead, but Alexander Kerfoot was unable to score on a penalty shot.
“I said it in the room after the second, I thought that was the biggest period of our trip,” said Tourigny. “That was super important for us to have a push.”
With its five-games winless skid over, Tourigny hopes the team can get back to some positive results like the 6-0-2 streak they were on before the recent slump.
“A long season. Sometimes you have some nights or some stretches, some weeks, where the urgency drops,” he said. “For us, it's critical. When our urgency drops, we're not the same team. I really liked the urgency we had in the third.”
Crouse hopes Thursday's third period rally is momentum that will carry over into Saturday when Utah wraps up its four-game road trip in Dallas.
“That's part of our identity,” said Crouse. “I think all season, we've done a good job of not quitting. And, you know, tonight's another example. We've got a lot of character in our locker room. No quit and go right until the end of the game and tonight that paid off for us.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2025.
Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press
