Clayton Keller's 18th goal of the season not enough as Utah falls, 3-1, in Ottawa

The Utah Hockey Club has played better games than the one it had on Sunday. Here's what went wrong, in addition to some things it did well.

Keller scored a goal on five shots in Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Senators.

OTTAWA -- Leevi Merilainen made 34 saves, and the Ottawa Senators won 3-1 against the Utah Hockey Club at Canadian Tire Centre on Sunday.

Utah captain Clayton Keller went to the locker room a minute into the second period against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night after a puck struck him the face. A shot from teammate Michael Kesselring got deflected high and the puck struck Keller.

Clayton Keller has been reliable on offense for the Utah Hockey Club this season. Keller has scored 9 points in the last four games, including a four-point night against the St. Louis Blues. He contributed 30 points in Utah's wins and has a +13 rating. Even in losses, Keller has managed to score 18 points.

The Utah Hockey Club captain took Michael Kesselring’s point shot to the face early in the second period and ran straight for the locker room. “I got lucky, it didn’t catch my eye,” Keller said. “When it happened,

Playing in front of USA's Four Nation Face-off general manager Bill Guerin (whose day job is being the GM of the Wild), Keller delivered a beauty of a goal, skating across the offense zone before whipping a shot short side to beat Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson in the first period.

The Utah Hockey Club’s tiring three-game road trip is over. Unfortunately for them, it concludes with a 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. There were some positives from the loss, including the fact that Utah will travel back home and have a break between games.

After receiving an inadvertent puck to the face from teammate Michael Kesselring, Clayton Keller immediately went to the locker room. When he checked back in at 4:40 in the second period, Utah's offense would come to life and score four goals in a row on route to its 5-2 victory.

Utah's lone goal came on a flukey bounce in the second period. Clayton Keller sent a pass into the slot that was intended for Logan Cooley, but it hit off Ottawa's Ridly Greig and into the back of the net. It was Keller's 18th goal of the season and extended his point streak to seven games.

The NHL announced Monday morning that it has named Utah Hockey Club forward Barrett Hayton the third star of the week from Jan. 20-26.