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John Marino, Utah Hockey Club (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images)

3 Takeaways From Utah’s 5-2 Loss to Jets

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Chase Beardsley | Last updated Jan 25, 2025 2:11 PM ET

The Winnipeg Jets exacted their revenge on the Utah Hockey Club on Friday, beating them 5-2. Utah might’ve played well against their Central Division opponents, but a hat trick and some sloppy plays cost them the chance to extend their winning streak, snapping it at three. Here are some takeaways from Friday night’s game.

Barrett Hayton Continues Goal Streak

In the past couple of games, some might be surprised who Utah’s best player has been. While the usuals like Clayton Keller (who did tally two assists on Friday) and Logan Cooley have been good, it has been Barrett Hayton putting up points as of late.

At this point, most people know Hayton has been a streaky player. At the beginning of the season, he looked like an even better version of the player from the 2022-23 season who put up 43 points. Then, he went on a cold streak and ever since then, he’s been very inconsistent. However, as of late, Hayton has been one of the best players for Utah with eight points in the past five games.

Not only does Hayton have a good amount of points in his past couple of games but he’s been producing quite a bit of goals as well. He now has four of them in the past three games. A lot of his goals have come from in front of the net, which is what Utah needs. Net front presence allows players to either redirect a shot or potentially bang in a rebound. Hayton has done well off of shots from defensemen like Michael Kesselring and Nick DeSimone.

Don’t look now, but around the midway point through the season, Hayton has 26 points in 48 games. If he continues his torrid play, he could break his career high of 43, which is pretty good considering that he’s had some points in the season where he’s struggled to produce. After signing a two-year deal in the offseason with Utah, Hayton knew he had to step it up this season and he has, becoming a big part of Utah’s center depth.

John Marino Stepping Up

It’s been well-documented that John Marino has been pretty good for Utah ever since returning from injury. However, without Mikhail Sergachev in the lineup, Marino has slotted in as the number-one defenseman on the team. It showed against the Jets, where he clocked 22:56 of ice time, which was by far the most on the team.

“He could barely talk on the bench at some points,” head coach André Tourigny said.

Marino managed to get an assist on Hayton’s goal, bringing his point totals up to two points in six games. However, it’s been his impressive defensive play that has cemented him as one of Utah’s best defensemen. The pairing of him and Olli Määttä has been quite impressive. Määttä’s defensive play has been stellar as well. The two have blocked shots and made some smart plays in their own zone, which has helped their goaltenders out.

For Marino, it’s been great being back with the team. While he’s been on a road trip or two with the team during his recovery, it’s nothing like playing on a road trip. Sitting back and watching his teammates give it their all on the ice is something Marino doesn’t like doing. He’d much rather be on the ice with them doing whatever it takes to will Utah to a win like he did on Friday.

“The worst thing you can do is just sit at home and watch everyone play,” Marino said. “You feel like you’re not in the battle with them…To be out there competing with them, being on the road trips and everything, it takes it to another level.”

With Sergachev out for the entire road trip, Utah will rely on Marino to step up big for at least one more game as they wait for their number-one defenseman to recover. However, Marino might be proving that he is another number-one defenseman on Utah’s roster. If he keeps playing as well as he has, the trade that brought him to Salt Lake City in the offseason might be one of general manager Bill Armstrong’s most underrated moves in his career.

The Jets Get Revenge

There’s a reason why the Jets are the best team in the Western Conference. While Utah might’ve beaten them pretty convincingly a couple of days ago, that was certainly one of the worst games of the season for the Jets. On Friday, everything clicked for them. They scored on their lone power-play opportunity, they pressured Utah, forcing a decent amount of giveaways, and they outshot their opponent.

Not to mention, their depth really showed up. Cole Perfetti, who hasn’t had the greatest season with the Jets, had a big game, scoring his first hat trick including the game-winner. David Gustafsson also scored his first goal of the season. On top of that, the Jets’ top talent also chipped in with Nikolaj Ehlers’ goal providing some reassurance for their win.

While some blame can be directed towards the ever-ongoing conversation of what goaltender interference is after Vladislav Namestnikov made contact with Connor Ingram on Perfetti’s second goal, Utah made a lot of little and sloppy mistakes after that goal, resulting in the Jets putting away the game before Utah could tie it up.

“I think when they scored their third goal, it was tough for us to generate and sustain offense,” Tourigny said. “I think we worked hard (and) we did the right thing, (but) we just maybe ran out of gas or played against a really good team that’s really good at defending.”

Utah certainly worked hard. If you take away Perfetti’s empty-net goal, it was a two-goal game between these two. It shows that Utah can compete with the best teams in their conference. On a stretch where Utah has played the Jets twice, the St. Louis Blues, and the Minnesota Wild, all of which are trying their best to make the playoffs in the West, they’ve competed hard and won some big games. However, we’re at a point in the season where every game is a big game for teams trying to make the playoffs, especially against division rivals.

“I think we’re all pretty pissed off about losing that game,” Hayton said. “That was a big one for us as a group…It was a four-game stretch against these teams we’re competing with. Those first three were great games, but right now it’s tough to look at it that way.”

Utah didn’t play a bad game at all on Friday. It just wasn’t good enough, and while they played against one of the best teams in the Western Conference, winning every game possible is a must for Utah if they want to keep up in the wild card race.

Utah will finish out their road trip on Sunday in Ottawa against the Senators. They are 24-20-4 and are coming off a 2-0 loss to the Boston Bruins. They will face the Toronto Maple Leafs before their game on Sunday. In their last meeting (Oct. 22), the Senators shut out Utah 4-0 in Salt Lake City.