Category: Utah Hockey Club

Utah HC Bedeviled As Swiss Snipers Snap Streak In 3-1 Loss

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Utah Hockey Club’s defenseman Mikhail Segachev scored Utah’s only goal against the New Jersey Devils at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sat Mar 1, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Swiss Forwards Nico Hischier and Timo Meier solve Karel Vejmelka in 3-1 New Jersey Devils win over Utah HC, snapping Utah’s four-game home win streak.

The Utah Hockey Club looked to extend their 4-game home winning streak on Saturday against the visiting Devils who in October gave Utah their first road loss of the season in a 3-0 shutout in New Jersey.

Nico Hischier was first to strike in the game, putting New Jersey up 1-0 in the first with his 25th goal of the season, assisted by Luke Hughes and Tomas Tatar. The Devils edged Utah 9-7 in shots on goal for the period, a deceptive statistic considering how much time New Jersey spent in their offensive zone. Utah netminder Karel Vejmelka, who entered the matchup on a personal four-game winning streak, turned away two Grade A breakaways in the frame to limit the Devils to a single goal.

At 10:03 of the second period, Mikhail Sergachev tied things up with his 11th goal of the season, a new career season high for the Russian defenseman, assisted by Liam O’Brien and Kevin Stenlund. When the PA announcer called out the players who scored, the loudest shouts came for fan-favorite O’Brien who recorded just his 2nd point of the season in his 22nd game. Earlier in the first he fired up the crowd fighting New Jersey’s Brenden Dillon.

Just 14 seconds into the third period, Devils forward Timo Meier found the back of the net for his 16th goal of the season, assisted by Dawson Mercer and Johnathan Kovacevic. New Jersey’s offense continued to be relentless throughout the period, further padding their lead at 12:44 of the third on the second goal of the season by Curtis Lazar, assisted by Jack Hughes and Nathan Bastian. Devils goalie Nico Daws was brilliant in net, saving 24 of 25 shots for the win which ended streaks for Utah at home and Vejmelka overall.

After the game, Liam O’Brien spoke with the media about his assist on Sergachev’s goal. “Yeah, I mean, just Sergy getting into a good spot, and he’s got such a dangerous shot, so when you get him the puck, it’s gonna go in the net.” Talking about any adjustments the squad might make heading into the road trip, O’Brien said, “I think the biggest thing is just rest. I think it’s been kind of a grind since break. I think just doing the right things away from the rink, and taking care of our bodies and getting ready to roll on the road.” With regard to his fight, O’Brien added, “Just wanting to get the momentum, that’s it.”

Mikhail Sergachev commented on O’Brien’s assist. “Well, hell of a pass by Tuna. I was in the slot, so I had to shoot it. It was a knuckleball. Nothing special.” With regard to his new career high in goals, Sergachev added, “Obviously I want to score as many as possible, but it’s all about winning for me. If I can contribute scoring goals, great. If not, I’ll play defense. I’m not chasing goals.” Speaking of Vejmelka’s performance in goal, Sergachev said, “He’s been unreal all season long. He’s been a rock back there for us and an unbelievable goalie. Obviously it gives you confidence to play when you have a great goalie back there. He makes timeless saves for us.”

Head coach André Tourigny offered his takeaways from the game. “The first takeaway is that’s a really good team on the other side, and they played a really good game. They played with a really high pace and credit to them. Having that said, I think when you are in those kinds of games, you need to rise to the occasion. I think our level of focus and detail on what we knew they would do was not high enough. I think we went into that game wanting to play our game, which is fine, but you need to also know exactly the details of how you need to play against each opponent. I didn’t like our level of focus on those.” Tourigny also had praise for his netminder. “At key moments, he was great. In the first period, I think we were in deep water and he made key saves. He kept us there and allowed us to come back and tie the game. It’s a really good team. It’s a tight game. I’m not forgetting the fact we’re five games in eight days, and we’re at the end of it. It’ll be a welcome break for us to regroup, recover. But at the same time, in life you win or you learn, and it’s important. We had a few learning lessons in that game, and we cannot pass by.”

Utah now hits the road for a pair of games in Detroit and Chicago before returning March 10 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Utah HC Runs Wild Over Minnesota In 6-1 Outburst

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Utah Hockey Club center Jack McBain (22) mixes it up with Minnesota Wild defenseman Jack Middleton (5) in the first period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thu Feb 27, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Clayton Keller registers Utah franchise record 5 points and nine different players made the score sheet in commanding victory over Minnesota Wild for fourth straight home win.

The Utah Hockey Club concluded their February home schedule with a bang on Thursday night, exploding with 6 goals in regulation for the first time this season against Marc-Andre Fleury and the Wild, winning the season series against Minnesota with a 3-0-1 record.  The victory gave Utah a 4-1 home record for the month during which they outscored their opponents 14-7.

Just over 3 minutes into the first period, Wild defenseman Declan Chisholm went to the penalty box for holding against Clayton Keller.  Utah forward Barrett Hayton promptly cashed it in for his 16th goal of the season, assisted by Keller and Mikhail Sergachev.  Shortly after dropping the puck, Jack McBain and Jake Middleton dropped their gloves for a spirited bout which brought the Delta Center faithful to their feet roaring with approval.  With less than a minute remaining in the period, Minnesota defenseman Jonas Brodin went to the sin bin for hooking against Nick Schmaltz, and Marcus Foligno joined him 3 seconds later with a double minor penalty for high-sticking against Nick Schmaltz who left behind a pool of blood on the ice.  The Wild didn’t have a chance against Utah’s 5-on-3 power play as Dylan Guenther scored his 22nd goal of the season on a slap shot, assisted by Keller and Hayton, giving the home squad a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room.

At 16:02 of the second period, Minnesota forward Frederick Gaudreau cut the lead in half with a snap shot for his 12th goal of the season, assisted by Matt Boldy, but Utah defenseman Sean Durzi, who returned to the ice last Sunday after a 52-game absence, restored Utah’s lead with his first goal of the season, assisted by Josh Doan and Olli Määttä.

In the third period, Utah turned on the afterburners to deny the Wild any chance at a comeback while making Marc-Andre Fleury’s life miserable.  At 3:47 of the period, forward Nick Schmaltz put Utah up 4-1 with his 12th goal of the season, assisted by Logan Cooley and Keller.  At 9:30, Keller netted his 22nd of the season, assisted by Schmaltz and Sergachev.  Finally, putting an exclamation point on Utah’s dominant performance, Cooley scored his 17th of the season, assisted by Keller – his 47th helper overall and 4th on the night – and Schmaltz.

Earning the victory, Karel Vejmelka stopped 15 of 16 shots for his 4th consecutive win, allowing just 5 goals over that span.

In the locker room, Sean Durzi talked about the team’s defense finally being healthy again.  “It’s a lot of good depth. We got six guys going right now, we got guys who aren’t playing who can do just as good. It’s so important to have that, but it’s our energy we’re bringing. Guys are rooting for each other, breakouts are huge. Just small plays that take a little bit of poise. We’re making that extra play that is allowing our forwards to get speed, and then guys like (Clayton Keller) and (Logan Cooley) to show their skill, and it shows. We do our best we can, but to have six defensemen going with good energy, shift after shift, is so important.”

Captain Clayton Keller spoke of his team’s effort on a night where he set a franchise record with 5 points.  “I think ever since the break, even the game against (Los Angeles), we’ve just had a different feel in our game. We’ve had more confidence, we’re playing for each other, we’re playing the right way, and this is the time of year that you want to do that. So we’ll enjoy this for a couple minutes and turn the page and be ready for the next one here. … Like I said, I think we’re playing with a lot of confidence, even the games where they were tight, and 2-1 we still liked our looks. Like you said, we just had some poise, some confidence with the puck and (we) got to keep it going.” When asked about the team’s recent success at home, Keller commented, “It’s great. We struggled there for a little bit at home. I liked how we bounced back. And, like I said, we’re playing with a lot of confidence right now. Just got to keep it going. Every game is so important. It’s an exciting time of year. This is when you want to play your best, and this is what you put all the extra work in for.”

Head coach André Tourigny addressed his team’s depth, with six different players finding the back of the net on Thursday night.  “It’s really important. The way we played that game was shift after shift. Everybody was connected; everybody was engaged. They were resilient. When (Minnesota) pushed, I never felt we were shaky in any shape or form.” When asked about playing with a multi-goal lead in the final period, Tourigny said, “It’s weird. I think we were consistent in the way we played. When we went up 3-1, 4-1, we did not change. We did not start to play differently or start to peel back. We stayed engaged and we stayed in the moment. We just kept going.”

Utah, which finds itself just 2 points out of a Wild Card spot, has a chance to complete a perfect homestand on Saturday night when they host the New Jersey Devils. 

Utah HC Posts Third Consecutive Home Win With 2-1 Victory Over Chicago

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Utah Hockey Club left wing Lawson Crouse (67) takes the puck up ice against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tue Feb 25, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Clayton Keller and Lawson Crouse each found the back of the net, and Karel Vejmelka stopped 21 of 22 shots, as Utah nails down third consecutive home win.

Coming off of a 2-1 home victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday, Utah HC returned to the ice on Tuesday to square off against the Chicago Blackhawks, whom they defeated 5-2 on opening night in October.

Prior to the puck drop, local recording artist Yahosh Bonner, fresh off of starring in the lead role of Coalhouse Walker Jr. in the musical “Ragtime!,” the inaugural production at The Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater in Pleasant Grove, set the tone for the game with his powerful performance of the national anthem.

At 12:47 of the first period, Utah forward Kevin Stenlund went to the penalty box for holding against Connor Bedard to give Chicago its first power play of the evening. Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones converted the man advantage on a snap shot for his 7th goal of the season, assisted by Ryan Donato and Teuvo Teravainen, as Chicago took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.

Chicago goaltender Arvid Soderblom was stingy in net for the first two periods, but with 44 seconds remaining in the second, Utah captain Clayton Keller found the back of the net to tie things up with his 21st goal of the season, assisted by Michael Kesselring and Logan Cooley.

Kesselring’s assist was his 17th of the season establishing his new single-season high. Last season he registered 16 assists in 65 games for the Phoenix Coyotes. Cooley’s assist gave him at least one point in each of Utah’s last 8 home games.

Utah forward Lawson Crouse gave his squad the lead at 12:12 of the third period with a backhand shot, his 9th goal of the season, assisted by Josh Doan and Olli Määttä. The goal turned out to be the game-winner, Crouse’s second of the season, matching his 2023-2024 total. Crouse also scored against the Blackhawks on opening night.

Chicago put heavy pressure on Utah in the closing minutes of the game with their goaltender pulled, but Karel Vejmelka stood tall to protect the victory. Vejmelka has now won 3 games in a row, allowing just 4 goals during that span for a 1.40 GAA and .942 save percentage.

In the locker room, Lawson Crouse talked about how his team has been handling pressure recently. “As our identity progresses forward, we keep taking steps in the right direction. It’s a lot of fun when we play this way. Everyone is on board.

Everyone that’s contributing and creating team success pushes everyone to be the best they can possibly be.” Describing his game-winning goal, Lawson added, “We attacked as a unit, and Doaner made a great play to find me in the middle. There was a lot of open ice, and I think the key player on that play was McBain just being at the net, and that allowed me to have that extra second to get the shot off.”

Captain Clayton Keller, Tuesday night’s other scorer, talked about his squad’s perseverance. “It’s huge. We didn’t have our best stuff to start the game, but we stuck with it. They played hard. They made us work for everything. It’s good to get the win there.

It was a tight game all the way through, so a huge win for us.” Talking about Crouse’s goal, Keller said, “It’s huge. He’s such a great teammate. He’s scoring, not scoring, and has been through the ups and downs. He’s a guy that you love being around at the rink.

Just a great teammate. Anytime another guy has success, it’s awesome.” When asked about holding onto the lead for the final eight minutes, Keller added, “Just keep playing our game. Keep going. I think we’ve taken strides in learning from previous mistakes when we’ve had the lead. Playing a little bit more loose. That’s part of the way that we kind of stuck with it. We had a lot of possession and chances in the third there.”

Head coach André Tourigny was happy with his team’s consecutive home win and offered particular praise for the play of Crouse. “He’s playing with more conviction. He has less doubt in his head, he plays a little bit more free-minded. He shoots quickly and you can see he doesn’t overthink the game. So, I like the way he played, the pace he played with, and I think that line was excellent again tonight. Obviously, they got the big goal as well, but the pace and the key moments were really good.” With regard to the whole team, he said, “They want it. There’s a good feel on the bench right now. There’s a feel of competitiveness, there’s a feel of care, and there’s a feel of passion. I like the way it feels and the guys are all in on winning. They don’t give a damn about who, but us.”

Speaking about Vejmelka, who also won Sunday’s 2-1 contest against the Canucks, Bear noted, “He stopped the puck and that’s a good quality for a goalie. He did a really good job in both games and found a way to make the last stop. Even during 6-on-5, they had two good looks, and [Vejmelka] came up big. I like the way he plays…He was really solid [against Vancouver] and looking at this body of work since he got hurt, I think he really stepped up and has allowed us to be in the hunt.”

Summarizing the game, he concluded, “It was huge. I think we’re at the point as a team where we’re in the zone and it’s like next man up. We need to find a way to win games and I think tonight, we did a lot of good stuff, offensively and defensively. The puck was not going in and we had a little bit of a tough time to make the next play offensively in terms of execution, but we stayed with it, and I think the guys were focused. Even if the execution was not at our best, we stayed with it, and we played with confidence. We had confidence in our play without the puck and confidence if we kept pegging away and putting the puck behind and putting pucks at the net. Something will go in and it did.”

Utah will go for its fourth consecutive home win on Thursday against the Minnesota Wild. They have won five of their past seven games and trail the Calgary Flames by three points in the Western Conference Wild Card chase.

Cooley and Guenther Lead Utah HC to 2-1 Victory Over Vancouver

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Vancouver Canucks left winger Kiefer Sherwood (44) moves the puck against the Utah Hockey Club right winger Dylan Guenther (11) in the second period at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sun Feb 23, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther each found the back of the net, and Karel Vejmelka stopped 15 of 16 shots, as Utah wins first game back at Delta Center following the 4 Nations Face-Off.

It had been 17 days since Utah Hockey Club last played on home ice in a 3-2 overtime victory against the Philadelphia Flyers. Since then they have split four games on the road, going 2-1 prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off and then losing Saturday’s matchup against the Kings in Los Angeles wherein Barrett Hayton recorded the first hat trick in Utah HC history, the first of Hayton’s career.

With two power play goals in the game, Utah had converted four straight times with the man advantage. Defenseman Sean Durzi returned in that game from a 52-game absence and assisted on one of Hayton’s goals. Upon returning to Salt Lake City, Durzi suited up for his first game at Delta Center since opening night on October 8 against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Out of the lineup on Sunday night was defenseman Juuso Välimäki who was waived earlier in the day due to the returns of John Marino and Sean Durzi from long-term injuries. If Välimäki clears waivers, he will likely be assigned to Utah’s AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. Though named to Finland’s roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off, he was a healthy scratch for all three of their games in the tournament.

Following a scoreless first period, Vancouver went on the power play early in the second when Logan Cooley went to the sin bin for hooking against Jake DeBrusk. DeBrusk cashed it in at 1:43 of the frame for his 21st of the season, assisted by Elias Pettersson and Pius Suter. Cooley redeemed himself just two minutes later with his 16th of the season, tipping in a shot from John Marino with an additional assist to Clayton Keller.

At 13:01 of the third period, Vancouver’s Derek Forbort went to the penalty box for holding against Michael Corcone. On the ensuing power play, Dylan Guenther tipped in a perfect pass from Nick Schmaltz for his 21st goal of the season, with Keller picking up his 43rd assist.

In net, Karel Vejmelka turned away 15 of 16 Canuck shots to earn his 13th victory of the season.

After the game, Dylan Guenther addressed the importance of beginning the four-game homestand with a win. “Yeah, it’s huge. I mean, everyone was kind of on a back to back, so we’re all a little tired, but just finding ways to win games I think builds our confidence in those tight ones and just use that moving forward.” Speaking of the team’s power play, Guenther continued, “I thought … we did a pretty good job on all three in the first, just couldn’t score. And then, I mean, just a really nice play by Schmaltzy. I didn’t even really see it, to be honest, but I was just kind of posted up there and he gave me a nice pass.”

Utah has struggled to maintain leads in the third period, and head coach André Tourigny talked about the final five minutes of tonight’s game. “I think we did a good job. I think there’s always things you can do a little bit better. But I like our mindset, I like our composure, our compete level, our urgency. So I like a lot of stuff. I’m happy.” Addressing the stingy defense, Tourigny said, “It’s (the) effort of everybody. Normally, when you have that kind of a defensive performance, it’s because you (also) play really good offensively. Possess the puck, you put it on their heels. I cannot say that about the way we played offensively today. I think we didn’t have our execution. We didn’t generate as much speed as we do lately. But I like the point of how we played defensively. We blocked shots, we were stingy in our neutral zone, stingy in our (defensive) zone. So there’s a lot of positive (in) the way we played without the puck today.”

Utah has three more games on this homestand beginning with the return of the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, Utah’s inaugural season opening night opponent whom they defeated 5-2 in October.

Guenther Lights The Lamp At Overtime Buzzer For Utah HC 3-2 Home Victory Against Philadelphia

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Dylan Guenther scored a overtime game winner for the Utah Hockey Club against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tue Feb 4, 2025 (Utah Hockley Club X photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Dylan Guenther made an immediate impact in his return to the lineup from injury with 2 goals and an assist including the overtime game winner with less than a second remaining on the clock.

Home ice has not been Utah Hockey Club’s friend for much of their inaugural season in Salt Lake City.  Coming into Tuesday night’s matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers, Utah’s home record was 8-12-6, so they hoped that the return of Dylan Guenther from injury would inject some energy into the team’s offense.  Entering the game, Guenther was tied for first in goals among NHL players 21 years old and under.

The Flyers quickly took the lead just two minutes into the first on a snap shot by Rodrigo Abols, his first NHL goal, assisted by Travis Sanheim.  Utah would put 13 shots on net in the frame, but Philadelphia goaltender Samuel Ersson stopped them all. 

Mikhail Sergachev evened the score at 3:32 of the 2nd period with his 10th goal, assisted by Guenther and Barrett Hayton.  Sergachev matched his career high for goals in a season, while Guenther registered his first point since January 2 at Calgary.  Less than a minute later, Tyson Foerster would tip in a shot by Sean Couturier to regain the lead for the Flyers.  Philadelphia seemed to make it 3-1 at 8:44 of the frame, but Utah successfully challenged for off sides, their third successful coaches challenge out of four attempts on the season.

At 8:40 of the 3rd period, Dylan Guenther scored his 17th goal, assisted by Barrett Hayton and Mikhail Sergachev, to even the score at 2 apiece.  At the end of 60 minutes, the score remained knotted up at 2.

With time expiring in overtime, Sergachev fed the puck to Guenther who drove to the net and fired the puck past Ersson with less than a second remaining on the clock to give Utah the home win as the fans erupted in cheers.  Both players factored into all 3 Utah goals on the night.  The Flyers challenged the game winner, hoping to negate it with an off side call, but Toronto confirmed a good goal and the locker room celebration was on. Utah registered 42 shots on goal, the most in the new franchise’s history.

First star of the game, Dylan Guenther, talked about his overtime goal.  “Just not a lot of time left. I was waiting for (Clayton Keller) to get off, and saw it go in and then I saw the clock was at zero, so it was just hoping that it got off in time and it did.” When asked about returning to the ice, the young forward said, “It feels good. I mean, it’s tough getting injured, and I’ve never really gone through that before, so it’s nice that the work that you put in paid off. Just have to keep it rolling here and try to get some more wins.” On the crowd reaction to the goal, Guenther beamed, “It was buzzing. The crowd was buzzing the whole game, even when they announced my name in the starting lineup. I think that feels really good as a player, and that makes you excited to play. It makes you excited to be here in Utah. The support of the crowd helps us win games. So it’s huge.”

Fan favorite Liam O’Brien, who dropped the gloves with Nicolas Deslauriers in the first for his 4th fighting major of the season, also addressed the media.  “I think there’s just so many different plays in a game that creates momentum, whether it’s a defensive play, drawing a penalty, big hit. Those are important plays. So I think we had a lot of those tonight throughout our whole team.” Asked about the fight, he said, “I try to fight at the right time. I felt like tonight was the right time. Sometimes you just want to get the energy going, and that’s what I tried to do tonight.”

Head coach André Tourigny was asked about the impact of Guenther’s return, but he was quick to credit the entire team.  “I think it was a team effort. We were happy about a lot of our games even if we didn’t get the result. We were not happy about our game against St. Louis. I loved the answer (tonight). Not just the score; obviously the score is huge (and) that’s what we’re playing for. But the intensity, the battle level, the number of battles we won, the way we reload, the way we went at the net, the drives to the net we had, I think everybody did their part.”  Talking about what the win does for momentum on the coming road trip heading into Four Nations, Tourigny said, “(Tonight’s win) was absolutely huge. We still very much believe. We don’t look at scores elsewhere, but we know Calgary lost. We know Vancouver is up by one after two. The point is…we know at this point we’ll need a bit of help (to make the playoffs). We didn’t take the straight line. But we can make it and we’ll fight for it. Now we’ll need to go on the road and have a helluva road trip.” Asked about what he told the team during the 30-second timeout near the end of overtime, Bear commented, “They were tired…That’s the only thing I wanted; I wanted to calm the pace a little bit and get a chance for (Mikhail Sergachev, Michael Kesselring and Dylan Guenther) to be at their best. There was 46 seconds left; there was no need to save the timeout for nothing. They were at the end of their gas tank. Just talking for 30 seconds was a welcome addition. Then (Kevin Stenlund) won the draw. That’s another thing; we had a really good overtime. We had a lot of possession, a lot of chances. It started with (Stenlund). He won every draw. You start with the puck 3-on-3, that helps a lot.”

Utah now hits the road for games against Columbus, Carolina, and Washington prior to the 4 Nations Faceoff break. Utah defensemen Olli Määttä and Juuso Välimäki will represent their native Finland in the tournament. The next game at Delta Center will take place January 23 against the Vancouver Canucks.

Utah HC Sings The Blues in 2-1 Loss To St. Louis

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St Louis Blues center Dylan Holloway (81) and Blues center Brayden Schenn (10) with Utah Hockey Club left win Matias Maccelli (63) battle for the puck at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sun Feb 2, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah had defeated St. Louis in each of the two previous matchups, but the Blues take Game 3 of the season series.

The St. Louis returned to the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday night for their third encounter with the Utah Hockey Club this season. Utah prevailed 4-2 in each of the previous two games both at home and on the road.

Alexandre Texier got things going for the Blues at 17:41 of the first period with a wrist shot for his 4th goal of the season, assisted by Radek Faksa and Alexey Toropchenko.

Goaltenders Jordan Binnington and Connor Ingram both defended their nets in the second period to prevent further scoring.

At 3:27 of the third, Utah defenseman Michael Kesselring tied things up with his 6th goal of the season, assisted by Nick Bjugstand and Kevin Stenlund. Unfortunately for the home squad, Blues forward Jordan Kyrou regained the St. Louis lead at 7:13 of the frame with his 22nd goal of the season, assisted by Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich. The 2-1 lead would hold up as the Blues broke out of a four-game losing streak while Utah went down to defeat for the fifth consecutive game, and 15 of the last 20.

After the game, Utah’s lone goal-scorer Michael Kesselring talked about his squad’s struggles. “It’s tough, we just got to get more pucks than that, and bodies and bang away. It’s a tough situation. We got to get out of those situations. … Obviously the break is coming up, but these are playoff games for us. We need to win, we need to push. I know we have some injuries, but there’s no excuses. Like I said, it’s the NHL, so we have to find a way here.” Talking about whether the team is getting frustrated, Kesselring responded, “Honestly, the mood is pretty good. Maybe tonight was (not) our best game, but I thought we were playing really well before this. So you have to get over it quick. Watch some video, make some adjustments, but we have to be ready to go next game.”

Defenseman Ian Cole talked about the problem with shot lanes. “They (St. Louis) did a good job. You know, they were coming back to the middle and, off their forecheck through the neutral zone, into their D zone. And then, you get the puck, look up all you really see are white jerseys. So they did a good job with it, so kudos to them. But that being said, we did get good chances when we got pucks down there, so we need to do that.” Cole agreed with Kesselring’s comments about every game at this stage being a playoff game for the team. “I think that’s an accurate assessment in terms of they are playoff games. We’re playing for our playoff lives right now. And (I) didn’t love our first, thought we responded better as the game went on, but again, kind of lost it. Lost it in the third a little bit.”

Head coach André Tourigny addressed his team’s difficulties at producing when pulling the goaltender for an extra attacker. “I think we’ve gotten better lately. I think early on, on 6-on-5, we gave up a lot of goals. We could not sustain a lot of possessions…I think we need to simplify at 6-on-5. … I think (sometimes) we were trying to make too good of a play. The middle was clogged; it’s really tough. Like I said, the last two or three (extra-attacker opportunities) we had shots, we had opportunities. We hit the crossbar today. We’re almost there.” The coach was asked about the importance of finishing strong in the final games leading up to the break for the 4 Nations Faceoff. “It’s super important. For us, we’re in a sprint. I talked before, it’s a race. Every step is important. It’s an extremely huge game for us (Tuesday) against Philly. We need the two points; we need to finish the homestand at least at .500, hit the road and have a helluva road trip before the break. There’s no doubt about it.”

Utah wraps up the four-game homestand on Tuesday with a 7:00pm tilt against the Philadelphia Flyers, after which they will hit the road for games against Columbus, Carolina, and Washington prior to the 4 Nations Faceoff break.

Utah HC Surrenders 2-0 Third Period Lead As Columbus Comes From Behind For 3-2 Overtime Victory

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It’s the thrill of victory for the Columbus Blue Jackets as they celebrate Zach Werenski’s overtime goal to defeat the Utah Hockey Club at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Fri Jan 31, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah goes 5-6-3 for January and closes out month on four game losing streak with overtime loss to the Blue Jackets.

The Utah Hockey Club welcomed the Columbus Blue Jackets to Delta Center on Friday night for the first of their two matchups this season.

Utah spent much of the opening frame putting maximum pressure on goaltender Danil Tarasov to no avail as he turned away all 13 shots. For his part, Karel Vejmelka stopped all 9 attempts from the Blue Jackets.

The second period began with Utah having just under a minute remaining of a power play resulting from Kent Johnson tripping Michael Carcone near the end of the first. Forward Nick Schmaltz was able to convert it 41 seconds into the period for his 11th goal of the season, assisted by Barrett Hayton and Clayton Keller. Vejmelka turned away another 6 shots during the frame, while Tarasov stopped 9 of 10.

A half minute into the third, Alexander Kerfoot put Utah up 2-0 with his 7th goal of the season, assisted by John Marino and Clayton Keller. Unfortunately for Utah, two goals is never a sufficient third period lead and Columbus would find the back of the net with goals by Kirill Marchenko and Kent Johnson to square things up and send the contest to overtime.

Barely a minute into the overtime period, Utah fans felt that sinking feeling once again as Zach Werenski completed the Blue Jackets comeback victory with his 17th of the season, assisted by Cole Sillinger, to send everyone scrambling to the exits.

Captain Clayton Keller was asked in the locker room about the pattern of third period letdowns. “I don’t know. I get some different bounces there on the one and kind of let them back in the game. 60 minutes, they’re going to have a push. I thought they pushed hard in the third and they made it harder on us. It’s frustrating, for sure. I think we’ve talked about it, we’ve had the right mindset. Just got to keep going, learn from it, having confidence, believe you can make the play in the third. So I think that’s next up. … [We]had a discussion just about our third period, and our mindset, and how we have to play for a full 60. I think it has been better, our attitude on the bench, just our third period in general. I think we’re definitely making strides and it’s hard to win in this league, and it’s hard to do it every night and that’s something we’re still figuring out.”

When asked if the team believes it can still make the playoffs, Keller responded, “Yeah, for sure. There’s never any doubt in this room. There’s a lot of games left in the season. We’ve gotten hot this year before and it takes a game or two and your confidence is at an all time high…you squeeze out some wins that maybe you shouldn’t. We just got to stay confident and keep going. Like I said, there’s a lot of games left and that’s when we have to play our best, is these last games.”

Head coach André Tourigny spoke about his team’s opportunities during the game. “I think it was 15 grade-A chances and 11 B. We had the puck a whole lot. There were really unfortunate stakes in the third period there, out of three scoring chances they scored twice. So it’s the second time in two games, a little bit of the same story. We played much better in the third, we had seven scoring chances against three. It’s tough to swallow.”

Next up on the homestand is a Sunday tilt against the St. Louis Blues at 5:00pm.

Utah HC Naming Notes: Immediately following Wednesday night’s first round of fan voting for the new team name, the Utah Hockey Club announced that it was withdrawing the proposed “Utah Wasatch” option and replacing it with Utah Outlaws. The team posted the announcement to their social media on Thursday: “Hey Utah hockey fans! We listened to your feedback and dug into all the Qualtrics data from last night’s survey. For the team name, it’s clear Outlaws should be in the mix instead of Wasatch, so we’re swapping it out. Surveys will continue at the arena Friday, Sunday and Tuesday for you to vote for the options Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club and Utah Outlaws. Excited to see the votes roll in.”

At the arena, fans at the voting areas are required to hand over their mobile phones before receiving a tablet device to cast their votes in order to ensure that no one captures images from the voting. The opening display provides a brief background of each name and then fans are asked their initial preference. They are then shown the logo options and indicate their preference. The logos are then shown on various merchandise items, and the fans are asked on a scale of 1-10 if they would be inclined to purchase the merch. At the conclusion, having now seen all of the options, they are asked again which name with logo they prefer, after which they return the tablet device and retrieve their personal phones. Utah HC will know the outcome following next Tuesday night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, but the club is not expected to make any announcements in the near future.

Utah HC Takes Mammoth Step Toward Team Name But Falls to Penguins 3-2 In Overtime

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Pittsburgh Penguins center Syd Crosby (87) and Utah Hockey Club’s left wing Michael Carcone (53) battle for the puck in second period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wed Jan 29, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah inched closer to a new team name on Wednesday, but Sid Crosby’s overtime goal delivers another home ice loss.

The Utah Hockey Club announced on Wednesday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had rejected various proposed names and logos that the team had sought as possibilities for the 2025-2026 season and beyond, including what had been the odds-on fan favorite “Yetis,” which turns out to be heavily trademark protected by Yeti Coolers LLC. As a result, the team announced that fan voting would take place at Delta Center during the next four home games where attendees would be able to choose between the current Utah Hockey Club name, the Utah Mammoth, or the Utah Wasatch, which is the name of the mountain range flanking Salt Lake City and the surrounding region.

The announcement was enthusiastically received by two particular fans, Richard Latimer and Nick Finlayson, who have actively campaigned for the Mammoth name from the beginning and who have been seen at many games and on television news programs sporting their now familiar Mammoth attire. Though not technically permitted to advocate at the arena’s polling booths where fans lined up for the opportunity to weigh in on the new name, Latimer and Finlayson nevertheless hung out near one of the voting sites prior to Wednesday night’s tilt against the Pittsburgh Penguins to draw attention and occasionally break into a “Let’s Go Mammoths” chant. Finlayson said, “When they announced the names that you could vote for, Mammoth stuck out immediately.” Latimer added, “We knew it was Mammoth from the beginning. As soon as it was announced we got a hockey club we knew we had to be the Mammoth. … We came to game one, opening night, dressed as mammoths.” The two friends have even taken their costumes on the road to a game against the Vegas Golden Knights. Spencer Joseph of the local Fox 13 affiliate surveyed a number of fans about their preferences, and Utah Mammoth was the clear fan favorite thus far.

Out on the ice, Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev returned to the lineup from injury after a five-game absence and gave his squad a 1-0 lead at 14:51 of the first with his 9th goal of the season, a snap shot on the power play, assisted Nick Schmaltz and Logan Cooley. Utah goaltender Connor Ingram turned away all four Pittsburgh shots in the period, while Penguins netminder Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 11 of 12.

Pittsburgh defenseman Marcus Pettersson evened things up at 6:40 of the second period with his 3rd goal of the season, assisted by Sidney Crosby and Matt Grzelcyk. Utah would respond two minutes later and regain the lead as Michael Carcone netted his 4th of the season, assisted by John Marino and Nick Bjugstad.

At 6:17 of the third period, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson took advantage of a misdirected pass in the Utah defensive zone and blasted a shot past Ingram to ties things up again with his 5th goal of the season, unassisted, and the two teams ended regulation play knotted up 2-2.

With a little more than a minute remaining in the overtime period, Penguins star Sid Crosby gave Utah fans a glimpse of his Hall of Fame credentials with the game winner for Pittsburgh, his 16th of the season, assisted by Cody Glass and Rickard Rakell. Crosby commented after the game about playing for the first time in Salt Lake City. “It was great. The atmosphere was great, it was a lot of fun to play here. I can tell that the people are excited here to have a team and can support them.”

In the Utah locker room, Mikhail Sergachev was asked what it will take to learn from the losses. “Time. Tough loss, tougher than the ones that we had before. Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t know what it’s going to take. I think the leadership group and the coaches are doing everything we can to try to turn it around. And we can’t be too negative about it, but we can’t be just ‘whatever next one.’ Can’t be like that. So we’re going to talk about it tomorrow, for sure.”

Head coach André Tourigny praised Sergachev’s growth as a leader. “He has a lot of character. He takes ownership, and he doesn’t shy away from responsibility. He’s a winner, he won before so he knows what it takes, and he believes in (the) group and he wants to win.”

Utah HC returns to home ice on Friday when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7:00pm.

Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting As Utah HC Battles Blues For 4-2 Victory

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The Utah Hockey Club’s center Clayton Keller (9) takes a shot on net against the St Louis Blues left winger Pavel Buchnevich (89) in the first period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sat Jan 18, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Liam O’Brien’s bloody fight sparks Utah’s 3-goal outburst in the first as teammates go on to win 4-2.

The Utah Hockey Club welcomed the St. Louis Blues to Delta Center on Saturday night for the sixth of seven games in the longest homestand of the season. Utah previously defeated their division rival 4-2 in St. Louis in November and entered the game trailing the Blues by five points in the Central Division standings.

Two minutes into the first period, Blues defenseman Tyler Tucker ripped a snap shot from near the faceoff circle for his second goal of the season, assisted by Oskar Sundqvist, to give St. Louis an early 1-0 lead. On the ensuing draw, Tucker dropped the gloves with Utah’s Liam O’Brien in a brutal exchange of fisticuffs which ultimately sent O’Brien to the locker room with blood streaming down his face as fans roared their approval.

At 5:15 of the frame, Zack Bolduc went to the sin bin for tripping against John Marino, giving Utah its first power play of the evening. Less than a minute later, defenseman Michael Kesselring netted his 5th of the season, assisted by Logan Cooley and Clayton Keller.

At 8:25, Utah grabbed the lead on Nick Schmaltz’s 9th goal of the season, assisted by Clayton and Marino. Just past the halfway point of the period, St. Louis was whistled for tripping Cooley at the net, but captain Clayton Keller lunged for a rebound and found the back of the net for his 15th of the season to nullify the penalty and give Utah a 3-1 lead heading into the locker room.

St. Louis opened the second period on the power play due to a holding penalty against Barrett Hayton near the end of the first. At 1:32 forward Jake Neighbours made it 3-2 with a power play goal, his 12th of the season, assisted by Dylan Holloway and Brayden Schenn. At 10:42, Logan Cooley recaptured the 2-goal lead with his 14th of the season and Keller picking up his third assist and fourth point of the night.

In the third, Utah exorcized the demons of previous late period collapses and goaltender Connor Ingram turned away the final nine shots from the Blues as Utah gained a rare home victory 4-2.

After the game, Utah captain Clayton Keller talked about his chemistry with Logan Cooley with whom he combined for seven points on the night. “I think we’re playing with a lot of speed. We’re starting to read off each other. I’ve said before, chemistry takes time and to get to know one another’s tendencies. We like to hang out. We’re chatting a lot. I’m doing everything I can to help him with how I like to play the game and how he likes to play the game. You know Schmaltzy [Nick Schmaltz] as well, I played with him for a long time as well. So it’s been good. We’ve had some success lately.” Asked about the team’s response to the early St. Louis goal, Keller said, “I think just our mindset. We’re positive. We have better body language from everyone. Coaches and all the way down. We had confidence and Ingy (Connor Ingram) made some unbelievable saves. OB (Liam O’Brien) had a great fight there. Kind of pumps us up after this and they score one. A lot of credit goes to him.”

Logan Cooley talked about how great it was to get the win. “Yeah, it’s awesome. There’s no better feeling than winning, and especially on home ice. These fans deserve it, and obviously it’s felt like it’s been a year since we had a win at home so it’s nice. I thought it was a great effort by everyone in here, a full 60 minutes. That’s how we need to play, especially against a team like that. It’s an important game. It’s basically a playoff game. So it’s unbelievable to get those two points.” With regard to Utah’s 3 goals in a 4:25 span in the first, Cooley said, “Yeah, it’s big. It allows you to feel good early on in the game. I feel like us as a line, we had a lot of touches early and that allows you to feel the puck more, and it kind of gives you more confidence to make plays. I thought our line was extremely good on both sides of the puck. We didn’t give them anything defensively, and I thought we were pretty good offensively, too, and generated a lot.”

Head coach André Tourigny was asked about the impact of O’Brien’s fight. “Every time he’s in the lineup, his energy, drive, physicality, predictability, and how he played makes me like his presence.” Tourigny also addressed the competitiveness of Cooley and Clayton Keller. “I said it many times about how competitive those two guys are. They’re never satisfied.” The coach continued, “Tonight, I liked a lot of guys on our team. I liked the fight. I liked Bjugy’s (Nick Bjugstad) line. I think they played big-boy hockey tonight. They were physical, and they had pace. They were the other huge presences in the game. I think our kill in the third period was elite as well. There’s a lot of guys who contributed to that game. I think Kesselring had a really good game. Johnny was maybe a little bit tired at the end of the game, but he was really good for us and made key plays at the end of the game. If you look throughout the lineup, there are a lot of positives. Ingy (Connor Ingram) making big saves was a key moment as well.”

Utah has a chance to earn a third victory on the homestand on Monday against the Winnipeg Jets, after which they will hit the road for a trio of games against Minnesota, Winnipeg, and Ottawa.

Utah HC Surrenders 3 Goals In The Third In 5-3 Loss To Rangers

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New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck (16) takes the puck against the Utah Hockey Club’s center Clayton Keller (9) in the first period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thu Jan 18, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah loses 5-3 in back-to-back games as home struggles persist.

The Utah Hockey Club welcomed the New York Rangers to Delta Center on Thursday night for their second matchup of the season. Utah previously defeated the Rangers in New York 6-5 in overtime last October.

Mattias Maccelli lit the lamp just 61 seconds into the game for his 6th of the season, assisted by Barrett Hayton and Ian Cole, to give Utah the early lead. Artemi Panarin netted his 18th of the season just a couple of minutes later to tie things up for the Rangers, assisted by Alexis Lafreniere. At 8:12 of the first it was Maccelli again, crashing the net to knock in a rebound for his 7th goal, assisted by Barrett Hayton and Mikhail Sergachev, to put Utah up 2-1. With just a few minutes remaining in the opening frame, New York forward Arthur Kaliyev evened things up again at 2-2 with his first goal in a Rangers uniform since coming to the Empire State from the Kings.

Utah opened the second period on the power play, courtesy of a high-sticking penalty to Arthur Kaliyev late in the first. Less than a minute into the period, Logan Cooley one-timed a perfect pass from captain Clayton Keller for his 13th goal of the season with the additional assist going to Nick Schmaltz, giving Utah its third one-goal lead of the game. New York threatened to even things up once again during a 74-second 5-on-3 power play, but goatender Karel Vejmelka and his defense held the Rangers off and finished the period holding on to a 3-2 edge.

A cross-checking penalty to Alexis Lafrenière at the end of the second period gave Utah another opportunity to begin a new period on the power play. This time, however, it was New York converting a short-handed goal by Reilly Smith to tie things up once again at 3-3. Midway through the frame, the Rangers gave Utah fans another case of déjà vu all over again when Chris Kreider put New York up 4-3 with his 14th goal of the season, assisted by Sam Carrick. With Vejmelka pulled for an extra attacker, Artemi Panarin scored his 19th of the season into an empty net to put the game away 5-3.

The loss is Utah’s 7th of their last 8 at home where they have won just 6 out of 21 games this season.

After the game, Utah Hockey Club head coach André Tourigny said, “I think that we did a lot of good things, to be honest. I’m disappointed; it’s another loss by one shot. I think that we played really good again in the first half of the game. I didn’t mind the way we played in the second half–don’t get me wrong. Against Montreal, I didn’t like some stuff…Same thing against the Islanders. Not tonight. I think we played hard. The way they scored their two goals in the third period–those things will happen, but I think we deserved better tonight.” When asked about not letting frustration boil over, Tourigny responded, “It does boil. That’s why I’m proud of the guys today–because we approached that game with an unbelievable mindset. They were tuned in, their body language was good, they were positive, they were picking up each other, we worked hard. I said before (that) the other team is a factor in the game. That’s a good team. At some point, whatever or how good you play, they will make good plays. The puck will bounce over your stick…something will happen. They will have good times on the other side. Even in those moments, we battled hard (and) we played well. A broken stick in our zone; there was no panic, we defended well, we kept them on the outside (and) they could not get anything going. I loved the approach. I loved the resilience of the guys. I loved the fight. I’m so disappointed for the players first, for everybody, for the team. But it’s frustrating to see not getting (rewarded) for playing well.”

Utah returns to the ice for their sixth game of the homestand on Saturday at 7:00pm against the St. Louis Blues. Utah won their previous matchup 4-2 in St. Louis in November.