Utah ready for Oregon

Utah Ready For Oregon

After playing six of their first seven games at the comforts of their own rink, the Utah Skatin’ Utes now hit the road to take on the PAC-8’s elite this weekend in the Pacific Northwest.

The four game road trip is Utah’s first road test of the season as the Utes will play four games in as many days against Washington, who beat Utah in the PAC-8 Championship two years ago, and Oregon, who went up against the Utes in last year’s conference title game.

The trip begins Wednesday and Thursday night in Eugene, OR as the Utes and Ducks will meet for the first time since both teams met in Anaheim last February for the PAC-8 Championship game. The Utes were able to beat the Ducks 4-2 and claim their first conference championship. The two teams met three times total last year, with the Utes winning two of the three contests. The Utes lead the all-time series 5-1 and are 2-0 all-time in Eugene.

While the Utes have over a month of games under their belt, the Ducks’ season is just getting underway. Oregon opened up their season last week with a pair of wins over D3 Portland State. The Ducks welcome back 14 players from last year, including senior Connor McBride, who was second on the team last year in points, and junior goaltender Danny Cockriel, who finished last year with 2nd team All-PAC-8 honors.

On the Utah side, the team is off to its best start in club history with a 7-0 record and are looking to break the club record for longest winning streak with their eighth win in a row on Wednesday. The Utes’ first line is getting a rhythm as Josh Dangel, Chase McDonald, and Shaymus Bertagnolli are all in the top five on the team in scoring.

But the big story of the year has been between the pipes for the Utes. Goaltenders Devan Betts and Chris Komma are both undefeated this year and both are getting national attention for their play so far this year. Betts is third in the nation in goals allowed average with a 1.33 and Komma is third in the nation in save percentage with .950.

Wednesday and Thursday’s games start at 8pm PT at the Lane Events Center in Eugene, OR. You can follow live updates on twitter or watch the broadcast here.