LAS VEGAS — Utah had UNLV chasing the puck through much of the first period Friday. The Utes got into passing lanes, forced hurried decisions and put 14 shots on Liam Choquette. The Rebels managed six at the other end.
UNLV led anyway.
Ryder McIntosh refused to give up on a puck behind Utah’s net. When the Utes tried to move it out, he kept skating, got his stick on the play and left Oliver Band with possession. Band drew the goaltender toward him before sending a backhand pass across the crease. Luke Baker scored at 13:07.
That was enough for Choquette, who stopped all 28 shots he faced in a 4-0 win at City National Arena. UNLV completed the two-game sweep, improved to 10-0 and sent Utah home with one goal in two games. Shaun Rios and Luke Backel scored on the power play, and Hayden Siegel added a late goal.
Utah had lost Thursday’s game 3-1 while being outshot 40-18. On Friday, the Utes changed the terms early. They closed on Deven Nagra when the defenseman tried to organize breakouts, intercepted passes through the middle and made UNLV work to establish possession. Choquette had to stop a chance in front and another coming off a rush before the Rebels settled.
Utah’s pressure did not always produce a shot. Sometimes it forced a UNLV receiver to stop for a pass, giving the next forechecker time to close. Other passes through the middle found a Utah stick. The Rebels had a lead, but they were making the route out of their own end unnecessarily difficult.
McIntosh was back from an illness, and his work behind Utah’s net had given UNLV something its passing had not: a way to get the Utes chasing. His forecheck created Baker’s goal in a period the Rebels otherwise spent trying to settle.
Baker acknowledged at the first intermission that UNLV had been forcing passes. He wanted the Rebels to simplify. The team had a lead, but the execution was still catching up.
The penalties made it harder. Dylan Jensen was called for cross-checking at 14:37, and Mario DiMaggio took another cross-checking minor six seconds after Jensen’s penalty expired. Utah could have erased the lead before the first break. Hayden Siegel intercepted a pass, Dillon Kuntz fought for a puck along the boards and Choquette survived a scramble around his crease. UNLV killed both penalties.
Utah then gave the Rebels a chance of their own. Eli Fletcher went off for interference with 1:50 left in the period. Nikolas Schwab took a high-sticking penalty with eight seconds remaining, sending UNLV into the second with a two-man advantage.
Nine seconds after play resumed, Rios scored.
Nagra sent the puck to Rios and got it back before returning it to the shooter. Rios finished the exchange with Charles Masek also credited for an assist. What had been a difficult first period for UNLV was suddenly a 2-0 game, and Utah had to find two goals against a goalie who was already making the night difficult.
The shot balance changed dramatically in the second. UNLV outshot the Utes 21-6. Bryce Johnson attacked the crease, Easton Edwards won contested pucks and DiMaggio kept possessions going from the blue line. Garrett Fuller, who had kept Utah competitive Thursday, continued making saves even as the traffic around him increased.
Utah also struggled to get fresh skaters on the ice once UNLV began extending its shifts. On one possession, the Rebels kept the puck alive at the point until the Utes managed a clearance that went for icing. That brought the next faceoff back into Utah’s end and prevented a line change. UNLV could send another group out against defenders who had already been chasing the puck. Fuller dealt with the next chances, but he was facing the kind of repeated pressure Choquette had handled during the first period.
There was one moment when Utah had every reason to think the game could turn back. Edwards was assessed a four-minute penalty at 10:06. With UNLV leading by two, an extended power play offered the Utes time to build pressure and get within one.
Mason Kelly spoiled the plan 37 seconds into the double minor. After a clearance, he carried the puck back toward the Utah net, beat a defender down low and drew a holding penalty on Andrew Feldman. The play cut into the Utes’ advantage and gave UNLV a stretch of four-on-four hockey instead.
Utah still threatened when its power play resumed. Thomas Manzella III blocked a Fletcher one-timer, Choquette caught another attempt and Nagra helped get the puck out. Dylan Gordon broke up a separate rush with his stick. The Utes had been given four minutes with an extra skater and came away scoreless.
That failure left Fuller little room for error. Fletcher took a high-sticking penalty at 16:42, and the Rebels moved the puck through Kuntz and DiMaggio before sending it into traffic. Fuller made the first stop. Backel was there for the rebound at 17:50.
“Our game plan is to get in front of them,” Backel said at the second intermission. “They’ve got a good goalie, but he leaves a bunch of rebounds out there.”
Fuller finished with 35 saves on 39 shots after making 37 saves Thursday. That was 72 saves in two nights, and UNLV still had players waiting for the ones he could not hold.
The Rebels carried a 3-0 lead into the third, and Backel’s next message was about staying out of the penalty box. “Just stick to our game,” he said. “Don’t be stupid. No penalties, and we’ll be all right.”
Neither team took a penalty in the final period. Choquette stopped eight shots, while Nagra and Manzella helped shut down chances around the crease. Fuller denied Rios close to goal and watched Jensen shoot high on another opening. Utah could not break through, and the minutes disappeared.
Siegel finished the scoring at 18:17 after Kelly lost the puck behind Fuller’s net, recovered it and passed to the front. Jensen also had an assist. McIntosh later hit the crossbar, coming close to a goal of his own after creating the one that opened the game.
Choquette stopped 46 of 47 shots over the series. UNLV went 5-for-10 on the power play and killed all 10 Utah opportunities. The Utes had made Friday’s first period uncomfortable. They never made the scoreboard reflect it.
