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Nick Schmaltz, Utah Hockey Club (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

3 Takeaways From Utah’s 5-3 Win Over Stars

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Chase Beardsley | Last updated Apr 13, 2025 10:05 AM ET

The Utah Hockey Club started its final road trip of the 2024-25 season off with a bang, taking down the Dallas Stars 5-3, who are one of the best teams in the Western Conference. An elite power play helped Utah overcome the Stars, but does an asterisk need to be placed on the win? Here are some takeaways from Saturday’s game.

Barrett Hayton Hits 20 Goals

Ever since being drafted fifth overall in 2018, Barrett Hayton hasn’t been the offensive player most are expected to be when they’re drafted that high. In his first full NHL season, 2021-22, he only scored 24 points in a season where he sustained a wrist injury. The next season, he nearly doubled that number by scoring 43 points, 19 of which were goals.

It seemed like Hayton’s career was finally trending in the right direction. Unfortunately, the 2023-24 season was a shortened one for him. He only appeared in 33 games due to injury, scoring only 10 points. Despite that, Hayton got a two-year extension from the team. However, it was clear that he needed to perform better in those two seasons, especially with prospects like Tij Iginla and Daniil But entering the organization in the coming years.

Hayton took the challenge and ran with it. Entering Saturday’s game against the Stars, he was sitting at the same stat line he had in the 2022-23 season. With three games remaining, Hayton was just one goal away from his first-ever 20-goal season.

After Wyatt Johnston made it 1-0 Stars early in the first, Utah was desperate to tie the game up. On the power play, Mikhail Sergachev took a shot from near the blueline that Hayton was able to tip in for Utah’s first goal of the game. It was also Hayton’s 20th goal of the season, which officially sets a new career high for him in points and goals.

Hayton didn’t have much to say about setting a new career best, nor did he really have any comments about reaching the 20-goal mark. He was proud of himself, though, for rebounding after a challenging 2023-24 season.

“Being able to play a full season is huge,” Hayton said. “I talked about how tough last year was for me. It’s just awesome to be out there competing with the guys every night. It’s a world of a difference.”

At only 24 years old, he’s made himself into a top-six forward on this Utah team. He’s shown up every day and has worked hard despite his injury history. Though he’s a younger player, he’s turned into a role model for the rookies to look up to.

“I think…the way he competes…and his professionalism and his urgency every day, it’s contagious,” said head coach André Tourigny. “The way he prepares himself and the way he competes, I think he makes others better.”

Hayton has become a valuable member of this Utah team. While his contract does end after next season, if he follows this season up with an even better one, it’s going to be hard for Utah not to re-sign him.

Utah’s Power Play Was Elite

Utah’s power play was the other main story of the game. Going around 50% on most nights is great, and it’s what Utah has been doing as of late. However, the team took it to a whole new level on Saturday, going 4-for-4 on the power play.

Outside of Hayton’s aforementioned power-play goal, Sean Durzi, Josh Doan, and Nick Schmaltz all scored on the power play. It was the first time this season that Utah had scored four power-play goals in a single game.

“Both units have been pretty good,” Schmaltz said. “It’s hard to be good consistently the whole entire year. You’re gonna have your ups and downs, and right now, they’re going in for us.”

The second unit was definitely the most impressive of the two. All five of the players on the second unit had numerous chances all night. Every time they were on the ice, they were constantly pressuring Casey DeSmith and giving him a run for his money. Tourigny took note of the chances they had.

“It was the best PK in the league on the other side,” Tourigny said. “I think it was a great decision from Sergey on the first goal. I think the second unit played well for a couple of games. They didn’t have a lot of looks, but tonight, they had the opportunity and they came up big. It’s good to see some traction on our second unit and then come up with the big goal, the killer goal at the end. Great job by that department.”

The penalty kill wasn’t too shabby, either. Johnston scored the first goal on the power play, but after that, Utah’s PK shut the Stars down. Something that was concerning was Ian Cole taking two straight penalties. If it wasn’t for Jack McBain’s multiple majors, Cole would be leading the team in penalties. The penalties weren’t good to take, either. It’s something he needs to figure out how to limit.

All in all, it was a great game for Utah’s special teams. However, there might be an asterisk placed on this game thanks to a couple of absences.

Utah Takes Down a Stanley Cup Contender

All season long, the Stars have had Utah’s number. All three times the two teams played before Saturday, the Stars beat Utah by a single goal. That includes Thomas Harley’s overtime winner the last time these two played in January. That narrative changed on Saturday.

The 5-3 win marks the first time Utah has won in the American Airlines Center. Of course, Utah has only been around for a season, but if you want to include the history of the Arizona Coyotes, you’ll have to go all the way back to Feb. 7, 2012, for the last time this team won in regulation in Texas. Fun fact: At that point in time, they were actually named the Phoenix Coyotes. However, they did beat the Stars in overtime in 2021-22.

This was a game Utah had circled on their calendar ever since losing to the Stars by a goal three straight times this season. Despite being a new franchise and the Coyotes’ records technically not belonging to Utah, the losing streak in Texas weighed on their minds.

“This was a huge game for us,” Hayton said. “We’ve competed with this team all year…they were all close games. We felt like we could have won all those games. This was one we had marked off…It definitely feels good to get a win here. It’s been too long.”

However, there is a huge asterisk on this win. Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell, Mason Marchment, Tyler Seguin, and Harley did not play on Saturday. Jake Oettinger also didn’t start in net. That left the Stars without their three top defensemen and their starting goaltender. No offense to Brendan Smith, who scored his first goal as a Star on Saturday, but he’s not someone who should be playing consistently in the NHL.

If you want to keep positive (which is what Utah probably wants to do), the Stars still had a roster consisting of Mikko Rantanen, Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston, and Jamie Benn. Those are household names who definitely challenged Utah.

“This team never quits,” Tourigny said. “Sometimes people were asking me if I thought they would. They don’t know it’s not in our DNA. The boys are fighters, and they’re competitors. I knew they wouldn’t be perfect, but they will compete and they will be ready. They were ready today. So two more to go, and I expect the same kind of effort.”

Despite it being Utah’s 37th win this season and the franchise’s first win in Dallas, it’s hard to really judge their performance since big chunks of the Stars were out. Utah doesn’t care, but it’s something to think about when reviewing this game.

As Tourigny mentioned, only two games remain this season. It does bring up some questions. Does Matt Villalta get a start in the final two games? He hasn’t gotten an NHL start this season, and the final two games are back-to-back. Will Utah call anyone else up? The Tucson Roadrunners have two final games this season, and they both come after the final two Utah games. Those will be answered in the next three days, but there is still a reason to keep rooting for this team as the season draws to a close.

Utah will continue its road trip in Nashville on Monday against the Predators. These two teams last met on Thursday, where Nashville beat Utah 4-3 in a shootout.