Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped 49 of 50 shots and teammates rain down three goals in the third period to win first game of homestand 4-1 against the Carolina Hurricanes at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wed Nov 13, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–The Utah Hockey Club returned home to Delta Center on Wednesday night having completed a two-week, four-game road trip against Las Vegas, Winnipeg, St. Louis, and Nashville in which they finished with a 1-2-1 record. The visiting Carolina Hurricanes entered the night’s play having won 9 of their last 10 games with an 11-3 record overall on the season.

The two teams played physically throughout a first period which seemed like it would end in a scoreless draw until Utah forward Nick Bjugstad found the back of the Carolina net for his first goal of the season, unassisted, with a little more than two minutes remaining in the frame to give Utah HC the first lead of the game.

The Hurricanes came back in a fury in the second period, peppering goaltender Karel Vejmelka with 17 shots. With defenseman Ian Cole in the penalty box for holding against Jordan Staal, Carolina forward Martin Necas capitalized on the ensuing power play with his ninth goal of the season at 10:04 to even things up, assisted by Shayne Gostisbehere and Sebastian Aho.

At the end of two, Carolina held a whopping edge in shots on goal, 32-13. If not for a defense which was both stingy and lucky, Carolina could have easily taken a commanding lead in the period.

Utah forward Jack McBain gave his squad a 2-1 lead at 5:09 of the third period, assisted by defenseman Michael Kesselring. Before anyone could blink, Utah thought it had its third goal of the game, but upon further review it was ruled that the puck did not cross the goal line.

Two minutes later, however, defenseman Mikhail Sergachev lit the lamp for his third goal of the season, assisted by Dylan Guenther and Matias Maccelli, chasing Carolina netminder Pyotr Kochetkov in the process. Just 17 seconds later, Nick Bjugstad welcomed Spencer Martin to the game, scoring his second goal of the game and the season to make it 4-1, assisted by Michael Kesselring and Nick Schmaltz.

It was just a couple of weeks ago that Utah had a 4-1 lead in the third at home against the Sharks, only to stumble and lose to San Jose in overtime, so when forward Michael Carcone took two minute instigator, five minute fighting, and ten minute game misconduct penalties at 8:03, Utah needed to hunker down to preserve their lead.

Six minutes and 26 seconds into the penalty kill, Maveric Lamoureux was called for hooking, giving the Hurricanes a two man advantage for nearly a minute and a half. Karel Vejmelka stood on his head and his teammates sacrificed their bodies over and over again to keep Carolina off the boards throughout.

In total, the penalty kill lasted eight minutes and 26 seconds. When Lamoureux was sprung from the box, the sellout crowd roared louder than for any of the previous four goals. At 17:09 of the third, Nick Bjugstad was assessed a delay of game penalty which gave Carolina one last chance to come back, but Utah’s defense slammed the door shut and shut the Hurricanes down the rest of the way.

Karel Vejmelka stopped a career high 49 of 50 shots for his first win of the season. His teammates chipped in 26 blocked shot attempts in the winning effort.

In the locker room, Nick Bjugstad spoke of the team’s grit on the third period penalty kill. “Starting with (Karel Vejmelka), all night, unbelievable. We’re thankful for him. He had an amazing night. The PK came up big.

I think (Mikhail Sergachev) took one to the head. He had a few big blocked shots. Unbelievable. We were really feeling the crowd. Everyone was pumped up. (Michael Carcone) had a big fight. Everyone was kind of going.

It was a fun game.” When asked about the third period goals, Bjugstad commented, “It was getting in their zone. We were rolling the lines. Everyone was kind of making plays. We didn’t play the best in the second, I thought. We found a way in the third. It was good. Guys really stepped up tonight, most importantly (Vejmelka). I don’t know that I’ve seen many 50-shot games. We appreciate him.”

Karel Vejmelka was asked about his mindset facing the extended penalty kill in the third. “It didn’t change much. I just tried to focus for another shot and help my team…It was the same mindset all night long.” His reaction to fans shouting his name late in the game, “It was surreal. This is a moment to remember for sure, a night to remember for me and for everybody. This is a huge game for us and a big two points.”

Head Coach André Tourigny was also asked about his team’s penalty kill. “It was amazing. Goaltending for sure is your best (penalty) killer. The blocked shots and the determination in that situation was great. There was adversity in that game for us, and mentally we’re not the most confident team at this point offensively. In the second period, they had a push and we held on. (To) come back in the third the way we came back, we had a lot of confidence with the puck and made big plays. Even when we scored our second goal, we didn’t sit back; we went right back at them right away. We scored two more goals and (Lawson Crouse) could have scored another one, almost…I think we had a good first period, second period was too many bad plays with the puck. (Carolina’s) a good team, they’re tough to contain when you make mistakes–they capitalize. But the way we came back in the third and the confidence we displayed in our game, that was great.”

Tourigny had high praise for his goaltender. “He was extremely good. Everything’s a chain-connector. (Vejmelka) was good, the guys were blocking shots, we defended the slot pretty good in our zone. We’re not as good (lately) as we’ve been on the rush against…We gave up too much of the rush. But in our zone, we’re pretty stingy. I’m really proud of the way the boys fought.”

On shuffling his defensive lines, Tourigny added, “I think Olli (Määttä) and (Mikhail Sergachev) played well together. I was pleased with them playing together. I thought there was some chemistry there…(Juuso Välimäki) and (Michael Kesselring) had ups and downs in the game…I don’t think they were terrible, I’m just saying they had ups and downs. An example, I thought (Kesselring) made a hell of a play on our second goal. That’s a key play in the game. It’s important to be able to make plays, but the timing and making key plays is great. The shift before was not as elegant. I think that showed character; he came back on the next shift and made a big play. It was a key play for us.”

The Utah Hockey Club will play host to the Pacific Division leading Vegas Golden Knights on Friday at 7:00pm (MST). Earlier in the day the first batch of official Utah Hockey Club team jerseys with Inaugural Season shoulder patches will go on sale at the team store.