Category: Utah Hockey Club

Utah HC Squanders Strong Start In 5-3 Loss To Canadiens 

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Utah Hockey Club center Alexander Kerfoot (15) takes a shot on net as Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeaut (35) and defenseman Arber Xhekaj (72) try to defend in the third period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tue Jan 14, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah’s home woes continue as 2-1 first period lead dissolves into 5-3 deficit against Montreal.

In the classic movie The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy clicks the heels of her ruby slippers three times while repeating the words, “There’s no place like home,” to be magically transported back to her family and loved ones in Kansas. For the Utah Hockey Club this season, they may prefer to click the heels of their skates while saying, “There’s no place like the road.”

For the first period of Tuesday night’s matchup against the Montreal Canadiens, Utah was clicking on all cylinders, taking an early lead on goals by recently recalled forward Josh Doan, a 5-on-3 power play goal, and center Nick Bjugstad. Utah overpowered the Canadiens on every front, outshooting Montreal 14-3 while finishing the opening frame with a 2-1 lead.

The second period was all Canadiens on the score sheet, as Patrick Laine and Kirby Dach each lit the lamp to give Montreal a 3-2 advantage heading into the final period of play.

Just three minutes into the third period, Utah center Logan Cooley energized the Delta Center with his 12th goal of the season, assisted by Nick Schmaltz and captain Clayton Keller to even things up at 3-3.

Canadiens winger Cole Caufield recaptured the lead for Montreal a few minutes later with his 24th goal of the season, but Utah continued to apply pressure to keep the game within reach.

Unfortunately for Utah, the struggles at home continued as Kirby Dach put the game away with his second goal of the night with just a few minutes remaining, for a final score of 5-3.

This was Utah’s 6th home loss over their past 7 games in Salt Lake City where they have won just 6 of 20 games so far this season as opposed to winning 12 of 23 on the road.

Defenseman John Marino, who was plus-one in the contest, made his Utah debut in his first game returning from injury. After the game, Marino talked about his first game in a Utah sweater. “Took a couple of shifts to get your legs under you and the rhythm and flow of the game with all the penalties and stuff, taking shifts off, but anything to step in the right direction.” Marino also addressed the challenge of finding chemistry with his new teammates. “It’s tough, missing out on training camp and everything. But you’re able to come in, have a couple of practices with everyone, be around the group as much as you can. (The) staff and organization, everyone in the room has been great helping me, so it’s just a learning process.”

Head coach André Tourigny gave his take on the game. “It’s frustrating. I think we played a really good first period, really good start. I liked our cohesion offensively in the first period. I didn’t like our second period, starting with getting in the box. When we came back from New Years, we talked about management of the second period, and we had, as a team, we struggled in the second period, and then the following three games we were excellent in the second period. We played our game the right way. We had the right mindset. When I say played our game the right way, we played more precise. We played really fast. And the opponent, we did not allow them to change. We were intense without the puck, so we didn’t have time and space, so we were able to get the energy on our side all the time, we had shot volume, and so on and so forth. Today we arrived in the second period, and we were so good in the first. I don’t know for which reason we thought the second period will not be a fight or whatever, I don’t know. Start getting the pucks right from the beginning, that confident rhythm. Even in the first, you know, they were going out there on the other side, there’s a few guys who had a tough time to get their rhythm, because it’s tough to get on the rhythm on your ice time and your next shift. So, long story short, it built up in the second period, and instead to recover, we got worse. And that was the game.”

Tourigny didn’t pull punches talking about the second period. “There’s no reason to have excuses. We had a great first period; you need to show up in the second. You know on the other side that they will push. They’re one of the best teams in the NHL in the last 12 games or so. They have two or three losses in their last 12 games. What do you expect? For 60 minutes, roll them over and they won’t push back? No, they will push back. You get three or four power plays in the first period, a 5-on-3. It’s time for all of us, coaches and players, to take our responsibility. We need to be better than that. That’s what I think.”

Utah hopes to reverse their home fortunes on Thursday at 7:00pm MST when they play host to the New York Rangers.

Islanders Sink Utah HC 2-1 On Late Third Period Goal

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New York Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech (3) and goalie Marcus Hoberg (50) blocks the goal against the Utah Hockey Club’s center Klayton Keller (9) in the second period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sat Jan 11, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah was unable to hold on to their 1-0 lead in the third period, losing 5 out of their past 6 home games.

The Utah Hockey Club welcomed the New York Islanders to Delta Center on Saturday night for the third game of a 7-game homestand. The last time the two squads faced off in New York, Utah bested the Islanders 5-4 in overtime. Utah split the previous two home matchups this week with a loss to the Florida Panthers and a victory over the San Jose Sharks.

Connor Ingram returned to the Utah net for the first time since November 18. The 2024 Masterton Trophy winner had been sidelined with an upper-body injury followed by a leave of absence while caring for his mother who passed away from cancer in December. Ingram stood tall in the opening frame, turning away 14 Islanders shots, while his counterpart Markus Hogberg stopped five.

Utah forward Nick Schmaltz put Utah on the board at 1:13 of the second period with his 8th goal of the season, assisted by Michael Kesselring and Logan Cooley, just 34 seconds after killing off the remainder of a first period penalty to Barrett Hayton for tripping. Ingram turned away New York’s five shots during the period which ended with a 1-0 home team lead.

At 3:36 of the third period, Islanders center Brock Nelson tied things up with his 12th goal of the season, assisted by linemates Anders Lee and Mathew Barzal. With time running out in the period, the Islanders swarmed the Utah net and Barzal put the puck past Ingram for his 4th of the season, assisted by Lee and Nelson, to give New York a 2-1 lead and the eventual victory.

After the game, Connor Ingram was asked how it felt to be back out on the ice. “It felt good. It was a long couple months off there. It felt good to be back out there. Lucky for me, I got a chance in Tucson during the week. So I got a little bit in game shape. It felt good.” Asked about the support of his team upon his return, Ingram said, “It’s been good. I can’t ask for anything else. The guys have been great, the team has been great, management has been great. I have no complaints.”

Head coach André Tourigny addressed Ingram’s performance in his first game back. “He was really, really, good. All game long, he was solid (and) made key saves. He was, for sure, one of the bright sides of the game. (Jack McBain) had big blocked shots a few times in the game; paid a price a few times on the PK. Those are the highlights for me.” Describing the goal which cost Utah the game, Tourigny said, “Turnover in the neutral zone to get into our zone. We’re gapped out because of our puck decision in the neutral zone. Then from there, it’s a broken play; dirty puck. That’s the way you score in a tight game. It was tough for us to create clean chances, it was tough for them to create clean chances. I think they scored on one clean chance and the other they went for the broken play. I think we had a few clean chances as well; we hit the post twice. We could not bury our chances.”

Next up for Utah is a Tuesday tilt against the Montreal Canadiens.

Panthers Pounce On Utah HC In 4-1 Home Loss 

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The Florida Panthers defenseman Nate Schmidt (88) takes the puck against the Utah Hockey Club’s center Nick Bjugstad (17) at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wed Jan 8, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Meet the new year, same as the old year. Utah’s home struggles continue in 2025 opener at Delta Center in a 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers.

The Utah Hockey Club returned to Salt Lake City on Wednesday night to kick off a season-high 7-game homestand against the visiting Florida Panthers. Utah went 1-2-1 on their recent road trip and hoped their home rink would be friendlier in 2025 than it was in 2024 when they won just 5 of 16 in the first three months of their inaugural season at Delta Center.

The two teams’ defenses held the line in the opening frame, with Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky turning away all five shots he faced, and Utah’s Karel Vejmelka turning away all six from the Panthers.

Just sixteen seconds into the second period, Utah forward Barrett Hayton went to the penalty box for high-sticking against Niko Mikkola, and Florida center Sam Reinhart cashed it in on the power play with his 23rd goal of the season, assisted by Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov.

Less than two minutes into the third period, Jesper Boqvist put the Panthers up 2-0 with his 8th goal of the season, assisted by Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell. At 12:56 of the third, Florida forward Sam Bennett went to the sin bin for slashing against Kevin Stenlund which opened the door for Logan Cooley to bring Utah back to within one on the power play with his 11th goal of the season, assisted by Clayton Keller and Mikhail Sergachev.

With Karel Vejmelka pulled from goal for an extra attacker in the waning minutes, the Panthers pounced twice with empty net strikes from Jesper Boqvist and Eetu Luostarinen to put the game away for good with a final score of 4-1.

After the game, Utah Hockey Club head coach André Tourigny weighed in with his assessment. “We can be better in certain areas offensively. But defensively, I think we were solid. (Florida is) a good team; Stanley Cup Champion. I think defensively, we did a lot of good things. I liked the effort of the guys, I liked the passion, all of it. Offensively, we need to be more connected…I feel that we were pretty good defensively. I think offensively, we did not have the same speed, the same rhythm, the same puck movement coming from our breakouts to the offensive zone. Give (Florida) credit; they check hard. They’re No. 1 in a lot of areas defensively and they didn’t give us time and space. That said…I like our team. Even if we didn’t have time and space, we went at the net, put pucks on the net, we got rebounds, we got chances. We created chances–not by pretty play all the time, but by playing the right way and grinding. When you play against those kinds of teams–Dallas and (Florida) and other teams–you need to generate those. Because if not, the pretty play never comes. I think we scored a good goal on the power play. But we had a lot of grind to lead to that. There’s a lot of positives, obviously one goal short.”

Next up for Utah are the Sharks at 7:00pm MST on Friday, followed by the Islanders, Canadiens, Rangers, Blues, and Jets over a 13-day stretch.

Utah HC Comes Up Empty Again At Home In 4-1 Loss To Colorado 

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Colorado Avalanche Artturi Lehkonen (62) gets the puck past Utah Hockey Club goaltender Karl Vejmelka (70) in third period action at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Fri Dec 27, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah would have liked to put their 2024 home record behind them after going 1-3-2 in December the pain continues as Utah took a three goal loss to Colorado 4-1 on Friday night at the Delta Center.

The Utah Hockey Club wrapped up their 2024 home schedule on Friday night against the visiting Colorado Avalanche. It was the third and final matchup of the season between the division rivals, with the two teams splitting their previous encounters.

The first period wound up scoreless, with Utah netminder Karel Vejmelka stopping 14 shots and his Colorado counterpart, Mackenzie Blackwood, stopping 11.

Nearly 12 minutes into the second period, Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen gave Colorado the first lead of the game with his 11th goal of the season, assisted by Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Malinski. Utah failed to respond in a period which concluded in a fight between MacKinnon and Barrett Hayton with eight seconds remaining.

At 2:36 of the third period, Avs forward Mikko Rantanen went to the penalty box for tripping against Olli Määttä. A little over a minute into the man-advantage, Utah evened the score when Logan Cooley fed the puck to Mikhail Sergachev who ripped a shot from deep in Utah’s offensive zone which was tipped in by Nick Schmaltz for his sixth goal of the season.

With a little more than five minutes remaining in the third, Artturi Kehkonen struck again with his 12th goal of the season, assisted by Valeri Nichushkin and Nathan MacKinnon. As the clock ticked down, Utah pulled Vejmelka for an extra attacker, but the strategy failed when Mikko Rantanen atoned for his penalty with an empty net goal, his 20th of the season, assisted by MacKinnon. As fans began to head to the exits, Artturi Kehkonen completed the hat trick into an empty net unassisted with 26 seconds remaining.

The loss gives Utah a 1-3-2 record at home in December with the regulation losses coming against their closest division rivals competing for the wild card positions. Asked in the locker room about the team’s challenges winning at home, defenseman Mikhail Sergachev commented, “I don’t know. Honestly, we’re coming in every game with the same approach to win and to play our best. At home, it doesn’t show. I don’t think we were changing anything. I don’t know. … Obviously, we want to win in front of our fans, and they get us going every game, but it sucks. We’re trying to win every game. It’s not like we’re not trying at home. I think fans see that we’re not giving up ever. We’re coming in. We’re hitting, going strong, skating well. It’s just unfortunate.”

Head coach André Tourigny, commenting on his team’s performance, “I think we played against a really good team who were ready to play. They played hard the first two periods. I will say, especially in the first period, I think we tried to do a little bit too much with the puck, and we could not get inside. They defended well. I think in the second period, we had a good forecheck and quite good offense from it. In the third period, I think we had a great push. Our goalie was really good. I think we played against a team who will raise their level and that was good hockey.”

Utah, which is 11-6-2 on the road this season, hopes to continue their road success during their next four games in Seattle, Edmonton, Calgary, and Dallas. They will return to Salt Lake City on January 8 to face the Florida Panthers for the first of seven consecutive games at home where they hope to turn the corner in 2025.

Stars Snap Utah HC Eight Game Points Streak In 3-2 Victory 

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Utah Hockey Club’s Ian Cole (28) take a shot at the net in the first period against the Dallas Stars at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Mon Dec 23, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah came within a goal late in the game, but could not overcome second period difficulties.

The Utah Hockey Club welcomed the Dallas Stars to Delta Center on Monday for their second faceoff in Salt Lake City this month, the first ending in Utah’s only regulation loss over the past 12 games during which they posted a record of 8-1-3, earning 19 points and re-emerging in the Wild Card hunt.

Dallas winger Colin Blackwell kicked off the scoring eleven minutes into the game with his 4th goal of the season, assisted by Oskar Back. Utah responded less than two minutes later as defenseman Ian Cole ripped a fierce shot from the blue line which was tipped in by Kevin Stenlund for his sixth of the season, with an additional assist given to Michael Carcone.

The Stars owned the second period as center Roope Hintz netted his 15th goal of the season followed by winger Jamie Benn with his 7th.

With just over eight minutes remaining in the third period, Utah center Barrett Hayton, while being pushed down to the ice by Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen, tipped in a shot by Nick Schmaltz to get Utah back to within one, but that’s where the game ended up 3-2.

After the game, Hayton, whose goals in back-to-back games have given him 100 career points, commented on the loss. “I think that second period is a learning lesson, obviously. We knew coming into this game, it’s a four point game, a division game. Obviously those matchups are huge. I thought we did a great job in the first period. We were urgent, we were intense, we were on the ball, playing the right way, and you just can’t afford those lapses against good teams. That was what our second period was. It’s gonna be something we have to take as a learning experience right now. We’re all pissed off about it and disappointed and frustrated in ourselves, and yeah, that’s a big game, and sucks for it to go that way.”

Utah Hockey Club head coach André Tourigny, when asked whether the second period decided the outcome, said, “I agree, I think we had 12, 15 or eight minutes where we were not aggressive enough defensively, which led to them possessing the puck a lot, and we could not change from there. But I think we were successful when we are aggressive defensively, when we play with pace and we cut possession, which leads to our own offense and being able to have good chances and having energy out there. So when we stopped doing that, the game turned around.”

Utah concludes its three-game homestand at 7:30pm MST on Friday against the Colorado Avalanche before embarking upon a four-game trip to Seattle, Edmonton, Calgary, and Dallas.

Ducks Overcome 4-1 Deficit To Defeat Utah HC In Shootout 

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Anaheim Ducks Troy Terry (19) shoots as defenseman Jackson LaCombe (2) assists while Utah’s goaltender Jaxson Stauber (33) defends with defenseman Ian Cole (28) and center Logan Cooley (92) at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sun Dec 22, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

Utah starts fast but fails to hold on in 5-4 shoutout loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah Hockey Club returned home on Sunday for the first of three games at Delta Center, a welcome respite from the previous four consecutive one-game visits to home ice. The road has been good to Utah where they have won their last seven including Friday’s 2-1 victory in Minnesota in which Dylan Guenther scored his 15th and 16th goals of the season. On Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks, Utah hoped to build upon last week’s overtime win versus Vancouver which snapped a five-game home losing streak.

Captain Clayton Keller struck quickly for Utah just 86 seconds into the game with his 12th goal of the season, assisted by Juuso Välimäki and Barrett Hayton. Anaheim wasted no time evening things up a few minutes later as Robby Fabbri netted his third goal of the season for the Ducks, assisted by Mason McTavish. Late in the first, Utah center Barrett Hayton put his squad up 2-1 with his sixth goal of the season, assisted by Olli Määttä and Keller.

In the second period, Utah padded its lead early with a power play goal by Logan Cooley, his eighth of the season, assisted by Keller and Mikhail Sergachev, followed a few minutes later as Keller recorded his second goal and fourth point of the game, assisted by Sergachev and Nick Schmaltz, giving the home team a 4-1 lead.

Unfortunately for Utah, that’s where the wheels fell off and Anaheim began to mount its comeback. The Ducks were able to trim their deficit to 4-2 midway through the second period as center Isac Lundestrom found the back of the net for his 4th of the season, assisted by Olen Zellweger and Jansen Harkins.

With less than eight minutes remaining in the third period there was a scrum at the Utah net where Robby Fabbri somehow managed to knock a puck through the pads of netminder Jaxson Stauber which appeared to travel in super slow motion behind Stauber and trickle just across the line to draw Anaheim back to within one. Fabbri’s second goal of the game was assisted by Cutter Gauthier and Pavel Mintyukov.

At 13:31 of the third period, Utah forward Logan Cooley was sent to the penalty box for slashing against Mason McTavish. With just 16 seconds remaining in the penalty kill, Ducks winger Brett Leason completed Anaheim’s comeback with his 4th goal of the season, assisted by Gauthier and Zellweger, making it 4-4.

Following a scoreless overtime period, the two squads sent their champions to center ice for the shootout. Utah elected to go first, and Anaheim goalie Lukas Dostal turned away Nick Schmaltz, Clayton Keller, and Nick Bjugstad. Keller’s shot went off the crossbar and fans initially cheered as if it had crossed the goal line, but the official and video replay both indicated no-goal. For his part, Jaxson Stauber turned away Ducks penalty shot specialist Troy Terry and Brock McGinn, but ultimately could not stop Mason McTavish who won the game for Anaheim on a snap shot.

In Utah’s locker room forward Barrett Hayton, who scored the second goal of the night, commented, “Right now, it doesn’t feel like we walked away with a point with the way we handled that second half and obviously handled the lead. (That) can’t happen. It’s disappointing.” Addressing how things unraveled, he said, “I think it happened a little bit at the start of the game and then creeped back in. I think (we were) just getting too loose, giving up too much. You give a team that many power plays, it’s tough. I think there were a lot of things throughout the entire game. Obviously, fell apart in the third. It wasn’t good enough.”

Captain Clayton Keller weighed in, “It was kind of a back-and-forth game. We just weren’t good on our details. Just kind of played a little too loose. That’s what happens; they get some life, they get some bounces and we unfortunately lose the game. But the good thing about this is (that) we play tomorrow. We don’t have to think about it too much. We’ll address it and be better from it.” With regard to his four point game, Keller said, “Just playing simple, doing everything I can to help this team win. My linemates have done a great job as well. We’re on to tomorrow. … We’ll address it in the morning tomorrow, the things we need to do better. I still feel like we have a lot of confidence in this room. We still got a point tonight. We still have confidence and a quick reset (for) tomorrow.”

Utah Hockey Club head coach André Tourigny also talked about turning the page to tomorrow’s contest against the Dallas Stars. “We have to. Today is a good testimony of our maturity. That’s unfortunate. It is what it is. Anaheim is a tough team to play. They apply pressure, they have talent. You have to know that. And you need to show up with your ‘A’ game every night…Last week, I was here sitting in front of you and I was talking about urgency. That’s the most important thing. We need to have energy, yeah. But, urgency is a super important currency. If you have it, we can play against anybody and we can sustain success. If we don’t, you have your answer. That’s the problem tonight. The guys wanted to play well; they worked hard. I didn’t feel anyone was not working that hard. But I think we were not as urgent. We didn’t stop on pucks. We were not reloading with the same urgency. We didn’t take the simple decisions. We tried to make plays where there were no plays. That turnover goes on the other side. You take bad penalties. That kind of stuff. That’s just urgency. If you play for your life, you don’t do those things. It’s just what happened today. Those guys, they mean good. They want to do the right thing. They’re as mad as me right now. Nobody’s happy. They care; they care a ton. I have no doubt about it. We need to learn from it. That’s, unfortunately, the maturity part. Same thing when I was a young guy. You need to go through some adversity, some battle scars. So you learn from it and you get better…It’s frustrating, but it is what it is. I’m not mad at them. I’m mad at the situation. It’s (about) how we react to it. Adversity is what builds you. It shapes you. Either you become better or you become worse. If you become worse, that’s who you choose to be. That’s not what we will choose to be.”

The mood was much lighter in Anaheim’s locker room after the game which was filled with upbeat music including the resurgent Village People anthem “YMCA.” Ducks forward Robby Fabbri, who scored twice in the game, spoke about his team’s comeback. “I don’t think it was anything specific that we did. I think we just didn’t stray away from our team. When you’re down like that on the road, it’s easy just to pack it in. We don’t have that in our room here, and we showed that tonight.”

Anaheim’s head coach Greg Cronin addressed the media about keeping the faith when coming from behind. “I mean, it’s kind of a weird game, but there’s a lot of penalties. You know, they got up three to one, and I thought when it got four to one, there was that point in the game where we were trying to generate some energy internally to get the faith and the belief back. And then we got that second goal, which really changed the dynamic of the game. I didn’t attribute a lot to the physicality, I just thought we started skating more in the third period.” With regard to that third period, “Ironically, we had the five on three, and then we ended up making it a four on three. Then we ended up, you know, killing a penalty for 30 seconds… but I thought after that was over, we had that goal at the goal mouth [the third goal], when we made it four to three, that goal changed it. We could just tell there was more belief in our play, and then I think there was a little bit more confidence that if we got pucks down deep, we got them back, and would get an opportunity to get some scoring chances off of direct shots or rebounds.”

Cronin talked about the extra incentive to get a win for the dads who are tagging along on this road trip. “I don’t know what they were thinking about. I know after the second period, I had told them that the dads are here, and they have come a long way to watch you guys play. Let’s finish this off and get a win. Killorn’s dad, Matt, read the pregame lineup… he did a great job, so I’m gonna carry him with us on all the trips.”

Utah will immediately lace up their skates on Monday at 7:00pm MST for their final game before Christmas against the Dallas Stars. Dallas won their previous matchup 2-1 at Delta Center three weeks ago. The two teams are tied for points in the Central Division with 38 each, but Dallas has a game in hand.

With 3-2 Overtime Comeback Victory Over Vancouver, There’s Finally No Place Like Home For Utah HC 

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The Utah Hockey Club’s Mikhail Sergachev is thrilled to score the winning overtime goal against the Vancouver Canucks at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wed Dec 18, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah snaps a 5-game home losing skid with a thrilling 3rd period comeback and overtime win against the Vancouver Canucks 3-2.

The last time Utah Hockey Club won at home was five weeks ago, November 13, against the Carolina Hurricanes.  Coming into Wednesday night’s matchup with the Vancouver Canucks, Utah had lost five consecutive home games while winning six in a row on the road including the most recent two against Colorado and San Jose.  Utah had scored four or more goals in each of their last five games.  

The first period ended as a scoreless draw, with Utah netminder Karel Vejmelka turning away all four of Vancouver’s shots, and Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko turning away nine from Utah. The two squads split the period’s faceoffs with each team winning 11 of 22.

At 8:41 of the second period, Vancouver defenseman Erik Brännström committed a holding penalty against center Logan Cooley, but Utah was unable to capitalize.  Just three seconds following the penalty kill, Utah defenseman Michael Kesselring went to the sin bin for interference against Canuck winger Conor Garland, and with just five seconds remaining in Vancouver’s power play Danton Heinen found the back of the net to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead, assisted by Quinn Hughes.

Dakota Joshua put Vancouver up 2-0 early in the third period going the length of the ice on a breakaway, assisted by Teddy Blueger and Quinn Hughes.  Utah appeared to be pressing to overcome their home arena blues, resulting in some sloppy moments in the offensive zone. 

Nearly halfway into the period, Captain Clayton Keller gave Utah life with his 11th goal of the season, assisted by Nick Schmaltz and Barrett Hayton. With less than five minutes remaining in the game, Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers cross-checked Keller to give Utah a critical power play opportunity which was cashed in just 22 seconds later by Dylan Guenther, assisted by Keller and Logan Cooley, keeping hope alive for a potential end the home losing streak.

As the crowd roared in overtime, the two squads exchanged numerous potential game-ending scoring chances with multiple rushes.  In the end, however, it was Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev who came through in the clutch with his 8th goal of the season, assisted by Cooley, to secure the victory.  Utah has now won 5 of its last 6 games.  

Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev spoke with media in the locker room afterward.  “Yeah, it feels good. Finally we got two at home. It feels great. I don’t think we have won at home in a month or so, you know, obviously a big one.”’ Responding to a question about transitioning road success to home success, Sergachev added, “Yeah, it’s just overall play. It’s not like at home we’re not trying. We’re trying a little more, and gripping the sticks sometimes, trying to get a win. But I’m just proud of the group coming from behind. We were down two nothing. Big goals, obviously a big power-play goal, kind of lucky, but we take those, and obviously big in overtime.  …  We’re growing as a group. You know, we’re a young group, but we can make the playoffs. We can play in the playoffs. We can play against playoff teams. We show it on a nightly basis, so we just have to put 60 minutes together and play like that every night.”

Captain Clayton Keller weighed in on getting the home win. “Yeah, it feels good. I think we had a good start, and in the second, we were a little sloppy. We gave them a lot of chances just from our mistakes and maybe forcing a little bit. But, similar to that Minnesota game, I think we regrouped after the second and wanted to have a good start. And I think it’s good, power play gets a goal, and we get a five on five, and great playing in overtime. A lot of players stepped up and made big plays at key times.”  What was the turning point? “I don’t know, maybe after we got the first one, and then we killed off a penalty there. Sergey (Sergachev) makes an unbelievable block on the one timer there that maybe saves a goal for us, and it’s great to see him get the winner as well.”

Earlier in the day, team owner Ryan Smith posted to X, “My treat…we’re opening up single goal view seats which we typically don’t open. Use the link to get 2 free tix for tonight. First come, first served. Let’s pack the barn!” About 2,000 tickets were given away in less than an hour.

Head coach André Tourigny commented on Smith making tickets free and the atmosphere. “That means a lot for the player. You want to be supported, you want to feel like you belong. It means a lot for the coach. It means a lot to everybody. The reaction tonight from the fans, from the first period, from the moment Keller scored, the overtime, don’t tell me you don’t have goosebumps. That was cool, that’s what you love.”

This game marked the conclusion of four straight one-game homestands for Utah. Following this coming Friday night’s game in Minnesota, Utah will return for three consecutive home games beginning on Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks at 3:00pm MST.

Utah HC Loses A Wild One To Minnesota In A Shootout 5-4

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Minnesota Wild left wing Matt Boldy (12) scores the only goal in the shootout against the Utah Hockey Club’s goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tue Dec 10, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–After climbing back from behind in the third period to take the lead, Utah surrendered the tying goal with 44 seconds remaining and fell to Minnesota 5-4, failing to score in the franchise’s first shootout.

The Utah Hockey Club swept their two-game road trip over the past several days, first defeating the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Saturday in a game featuring Utah’s first Gordie Howe hat trick by defenseman Michael Kesselring in his 100th NHL game and in which head coach André Tourigny recorded his 100th career coaching victory, followed by a 4-2 win over the Flyers in Philadelphia on Sunday. It was also the first time Utah has recorded back-to-back victories since winning their first three games of the season, giving them a 8-6-2 record on the road.

Utah entered Tuesday night’s matchup against the Minnesota Wild with a 4-5-2 home record and hoping to break even with a win over their division rival. Kevin Stenlund got Utah off on the right foot with his 4th goal of the season at 13:46 of the first period, assisted by Michael Carcone. Goaltender Karel Vejmelka turned away 17 shots in a very lopsided opening frame.

With a little more than five minutes remaining in the second period, Minnesota forward Marat Khusnutdinov evened things up for the Wild with an unassisted goal. Teammate Kirill Kaprizov made it 2-1 just 36 seconds later, netting his 18th goal of the season, assisted by Marcus Johansson. Kaprizov trails only Sam Reinhart of Florida and Leon Draisaitl of Edmonton by one in the NHL goal scoring race.

Early in the third period, Utah caught a break as Matt Boldy went to the penalty box for tripping against Clayton Keller. On the ensuing power play, Keller cashed it in for his 8th goal of the season to tie things up, assisted by Dylan Guenther and Mikhail Sergachev.

The momentum vanished less than a minute later when Minnesota’s Marcus Johansson scored his fourth goal of the season unassisted, silencing the crowd which had been so exuberant mere seconds earlier.

Midway through the third, Utah caught yet another break as Marco Rossi went to the sin bin for tripping against Dylan Guenther. With time running out on the power play, Clayton Keller drilled a nearly identical shot past Minnesota netminder Filip Gustavsson for his second of the night and ninth on the season, assisted again by Sergachev and Guenther, making things even at 3-3.

At 11:45 of the period, Utah defenseman Juuso Välimäki gave Utah its first lead since the opening period with just his second goal of the season, assisted by Lawson Crouse. The home team locked down its defense the rest of the way until the Wild pulled Gustavsson for an extra attacker in the closing minutes. With just 44 seconds remaining in regulation, Minnesota’s Marco Rossi from Feldkirch, Austria, stunned the Utah faithful with his 10th goal of the season to send the game to overtime.

Neither side was able to claim victory in extra frame, sending the game to Utah’s first-ever shootout where Matt Boldy was able to get past Karel Vejmelka while Filip Gustavsson shut the door on Nick Schmaltz, Clayton Keller, and Nick Bjugstad to steal the win for the Wild and a first-place tie with the Winnipeg Jets in the Central Division. Utah drops to 4-5-3 at home with it’s fifth straight home loss.

Utah HC head coach André Tourigny addressed the media after the game. “It was a tough game. They’re a good team. For us, it’s our third game in four nights and with the long travel…we’re not as urgent as we normally are. So having that pushback late in the game, even if the guys were tired, I think that was huge. Unfortunately, we could not close the deal, that will go in the baggage and we won’t forget it. Sometimes we show our age a little bit. We’re a young team and we got emotional, especially when you’re tired. It’s bittersweet that we got a big point again against the number-one team in our division. Having said that, I would have loved to have two points, especially when you have a lead late in the game. But there are a lot of positives.”

Talking about Clayton Keller’s two power-play goals, Tourigny continued, “I thought those two were really clutch at key moments. I like the way he competes. I think his game is really taking off, and the way he competes, the way he works from the inside, both sides of the puck. He’s doing a good job.”

Utah captain Clayton Keller talked about the power play goals and the shootout loss. “I think the boys played hard tonight. It was nice to get a couple on the power play. Hopefully, build some momentum there. I thought we got better as the game went on. It was a little sloppy early. I’m proud of the guys for the way we fought back. We got the lead there, just gotta have better coverage…But we’ll learn from it and be ready to go next game. … There’s going to be games throughout the year where you’re a little sloppy with your execution; a couple mistakes here and there. But I’m proud of the way we fought. The power play stepped up, which we hadn’t recently. That’s a good step in the right direction. I think we have a lot of confidence right now. We’re heading in the right direction.”

Tuesday night marked the third straight one-game homestand for the Utah Hockey Club. Utah hits the road once again for games against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday and the San Jose Sharks on Saturday before returning to Salt Lake City for yet another one-game appearance against the Vancouver Canucks at 8:00pm MST on Wednesday, December 18.

Utah HC Falls To Division Rival Dallas Stars 2-1 

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The Dallas Stars goaltender Casey DeSmith (1) makes a save against the Utah Hockey Club’s center Jack McBain (22) in the second period at the Delta Center on Mon Dec 2, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Following a 6-0 rout of the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, Utah’s offense faltered at home against Dallas losing 2-1 at the Delta Center on Monday.

The Utah Hockey Club returned home from a successful one-game road trip in Las Vegas where rookie backup goaltender Jaxson Stauber recorded 29 saves in a 6-0 blowout of the Golden Knights in his Utah debut. The shutout is the first in Utah franchise history. The win gave André Tourigny his 99th career victory as a head coach.

On Monday night, Utah welcomed the Dallas Stars to Salt Lake City for a one-game homestand. Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev was recognized during the contest for competing in his 500th NHL game. Sergachev would not get on the scoresheet in his milestone effort in which his two minor penalties would not factor into any Dallas goals.

The same could not be said for Utah captain Clayton Keller who was whistled for holding against Mavrik Bourque at 5:46 of the second period, resulting in a power play goal for Dallas winger Evgenii Dadonov, his seventh of the season, assisted by Matt Duchene and Miro Heiskanen. With less than a minute remaining in the middle frame, Dallas winger Jamie Benn made it 2-0 on his sixth goal of the season, assisted by Sam Steel.

Utah forward Nick Schmaltz would finally cut the Dallas lead in half at 6:57 of the third period with his third goal of the season, assisted by Matias Maccelli and Nick Bjugstad, but that would turn out to be Utah’s lone score of the night. Despite Utah outshooting the Stars 35-21 with numerous Grade-A chances, Dallas goaltender Casey DeSmith outdueled Karel Vejmelka for the win.

Utah Hockey Club head coach André Tourigny, who was unable to register his 100th coaching win at home, complemented tonight’s opponent. “Dallas is, by any metrics you can find, a really tough team to get anything sustained against them in terms of O-zone time. They put a lot of pressure on you. They create a lot of O-zone time themselves. You look at their bread and butter, you look at what we did against them; I’m really proud of the guys. They fought, they played hard, they were focused. Obviously, we generated (offense) as well. If you look at our three games we played against Dallas last year, you put all the scoring chances we had together; I think that’s about the number (of chances) we had tonight. I’m not saying we had a million tonight. Last year we had seven, eight, nine per game. They were 2-1 games, but we didn’t have a lot of offense sustained. Today, we had a lot of offense sustained, a lot of shots from the slot, a lot of passes through the slot, a lot of opportunities to break the game down. Unfortunately, we didn’t finish. In those kinds of games, you need it because normally you don’t have quantity. So you need to bury your chances.”

Tourigny addressed the grind of the next series of games following the strange scheduling of home-away-home games over the past four nights. “We’ll have a day off tomorrow. We must not forget we’re starting…(a stretch of) five games in eight days. And we’re going across the country. Need to make sure, as a coach, that you’re not putting yourself ahead of the team and that you give all the opportunity to your players to have all the energy possible. As an organization, I think we do a good job managing those things. Our departure will be on Thursday for the game on Saturday, so that we have time to arrive in Buffalo and have a practice there. Then an afternoon game. Then we play (the next night) in Philly, and then we come back, we’ll arrive late and 36 hours later, we play against Minnesota here in our building. And then we’re going back on the road the very next day. All of that to say, energy’s really important. Tomorrow will be a day off. We’ll have a good practice on Wednesday, we’ll travel on Thursday, good practice on Friday.”

Utah’s next home game is against the Minnesota Wild at 7:30pm MST on Tuesday, December 10.

Edmonton Bowls Second Period Turkey En Route To Post-Thanksgiving 4-3 Overtime Win Over Utah HC 

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Edmonton Oilers center Ryan Nugent Hopkins (93) passes the puck against Utah Hockey Club center Clayton Keller (9) in the second period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Fri Nov 29, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–The Edmonton Oilers scored three unanswered goals in the Second Period on Friday as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl lead Edmonton to victory against Utah 4-3 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

The Utah Hockey Club returned home from a 2-2 road trip through Boston, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and Montréal which featured an unscheduled pedestrian journey through Toronto where they had to abandon their bus which was stuck in traffic and walk the rest of the way to Scotiabank Arena for their matchup with the Maple Leafs. On Friday they hosted the Edmonton Oilers at Delta Center as the two teams marked Hockey Fights Cancer Night.

Utah forward Alexander Kerfoot got things going for the home team at 6:17 of the first with his fourth goal of the season, assisted on a well-timed pass near the crease by Kevin Stenlund. Forward Logan Cooley made it 2-0 near the end of the period, putting a rebound off of Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard into the back of the net for his fifth of the season, assisted by Juuso Välimäki and Robert Bortuzzo. Cooley now has points in each of his past four games, tying his career consecutive game scoring mark, and his 18 points through 23 games this season is the most by any player in the NHL 20-years-old or younger.

The ice tilted in Edmonton’s favor in the second period as forward Vasily Podkolzin cut the lead in half midway through the frame, assisted by Leon Draisaitl and Troy Stecher. At 12:59, Olli Määttä committed a holding penalty against Corey Perry which set the stage for Leon Draisaitl to tie things up with his 17th of the season on the ensuing power play, assisted by Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard. Moments later, Utah’s Robert Bortuzzo went to the sin bin for tripping against Jeff Skinner which set the table for Oilers center Connor McDavid to give Edmonton a 3-2 lead with his 12th of the season on the power play, assisted by Evan Bouchard and Corey Perry.

Early in the third period, Utah winger Lawson Crouse evened the score with his fourth goal of the season, assisted by Nick Bjugstad and Olli Määttä. The two squads continued to exchange chances without yielding to one another, and then with 3:25 remaining in regulation Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev was whistled for interference against Leon Draisaitl. With the game on the line, Karel Vejmelka stood tall during the penalty kill to send the game into overtime.

Just over a minute into the overtime period, Utah lost the puck in their offensive zone and Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins raced the full length of the ice to swat the puck past Vejmelka for the game-winner, giving the Oilers a 4-3 victory. All seven goals in the game were scored into the same net.

After the game, Lawson Crouse was asked about playing against the Western Conference Champs. “We feel pretty good about our game, I feel like we dominated early on. Obviously they have an elite powerplay with the personnel that they have, but we did a good job, we battled back, we stuck through it through overtime. It was just an unlucky bounce and they capitalized, and we have a quick turnaround to get ready for another good hockey game tomorrow.” With regard to his third period goal, Crouse commented, “It felt good. Obviously, it’s been a long time, so it feels really good. It would’ve been much better if the team got the win, but you gotta move on quickly here, we got another big game tomorrow and we want to walk away with those two points.”

Utah Hockey Club head coach André Tourigny, commenting on his team’s play, “I think [the Oilers’] powerplay was really tough to contain, and they wore us down, basically, and they scored their goals. Disappointing, because I thought we were disciplined.” With regard to Crouse breaking out of his goal drought, “That was a big positive point of the game, seeing him and [Maccelli] play against McDavid all night long, so at 5-on-5, they shut them down and he got the big goal to get us a point, so there’s a lot of positives there.”

The one-game homestand is followed by a one-game road trip on Saturday against the Vegas Golden Knights before returning to Salt Lake City for yet another one-game homestand on Monday against the Dallas Stars at 7:00pm MST.