Utah sits on top, with a leaky save percentage
Utah is leading the Central Division, and nobody in the building will pretend the numbers underneath are tidy. The Mammoth are tied with Minnesota at 14 points after 11 games, and they host Tampa Bay on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
Thursday’s 5-3 loss to Seattle showed both sides of that coin. Logan Cooley scored twice and Vincent Trocheck once, all on the power play, as Utah went 2-for-3 with the man advantage. They were still outshot 36-23. In goal, Karel Vejmelka is 5-3-0 with a 3.04 goals-against average and a .874 save percentage, while Sebastian Cossa is 2-1-0 at 3.33 and .820.
Trocheck, 33, arrived from the Rangers over the summer in a deal that sent Sean Durzi, Cole Beaudoin and a 2027 third-round pick the other way. He has three goals, two assists and wins 61.4 percent of his faceoffs. He says the group is more comfortable with every game.
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Tampa Bay’s road trip and a franchise mark
The Lightning sit tied for second in the Atlantic. This trip has swung hard: a 6-2 win in Vegas, with Nikita Kucherov collecting three points, followed by a 6-3 loss at Colorado that ended a three-game winning streak. Jake Guentzel scored twice, but Nathan MacKinnon had four points for the Avalanche.
Kucherov has 1,137 career points, tied with Steven Stamkos for the most in Lightning history. Coach Jon Cooper summed up what that playmaker gives him in one word. “Experience. Because I’ve got to experience Kuch,” he said.
After Utah, Tampa Bay returns home Thursday to face Winnipeg. The pregame notes mention no injuries for either side.
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