Tag: Philadelphia flyers

Utah Mammoth game wrap: Are We Entertained? Mammoth Erase 3-0 Deficit Foiling Flyers 5-4 In Overtime

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Mammoth captain Clayton Keller, who scored the game tying and game winning goals in Utah’s 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night, addresses the media after the game on Wed Jan 21, 2026 (photo by the author Tom Walker)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Down 4-3 and Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka was pulled from the net with moments left in the third period, Nick Schmaltz strips the puck from the Flyers enabling Clayton Keller to strike for the tying and overtime game-winning goals to help defeat Philadelphia 4-3 in overtime.

The Utah Mammoth (25-20-4) wrapped up their season-long seven-game homestand on Wednesday night against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers (23-17-8). The new year has continued to go well for Utah, which has posted a 7-1-1 record since January 1st, and entered Wednesday’s game with points in all six home games while going 5-0-1 at Delta Center.

Philadelphia jumped out to a quick start in the first period with Cam York scoring his 4th goal of the season just 30 seconds into the game, assisted by Travis Sanheim and Travis Konecny.

Four minutes later, the Flyers put the Mammoth in a 2-0 hole when Christian Dvorak netted his 11th of the season, assisted by Konecny and Noah Juulsen. Samuel Ersson was perfect in goal for Philadelphia in the period, stopping all 7 Mammoth shots, while NHL wins leader Karel Vejmelka surrendered two goals on 14 shots.

The Flyers opened the second period on the power play, resulting from a high-sticking penalty by Nick Schmaltz against Owen Tippett as time expired in the first. 58 seconds into the frame, Bobby Brink put Philadelphia up 3-0 with his 12th goal of the season, cashing in on the power play opportunity, assisted by a pair of former Anaheim Ducks, Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale.

Mammoth forward JJ Peterka brought Utah back to within two goals of the Flyers, putting a wrist shot past Ersson from the top of the crease at 5:35 unassisted.

36 seconds later Mammoth forward Lawson Crouse narrowed the gap to 3-2 assisted by Schmaltz and Clayton Keller. Crouse’s 13th goal of the year in 50 games surpasses his 2024-2025 season mark of 12 goals in 81 contests.

Philadelphia got one back just past the halfway mark of the period when Dvorak scored his 2nd goal of the game and 12th on the season, assisted by again by Zegras and Drysdale. The Flyers skated to the locker room holding a 4-2 lead at the end of the period, with both netminders stopping 8 of 10 shots. Courtesy the Mammoth stat crew, Utah has gone 4-14-1 when trailing after two periods, while the Flyers have gone 15-0-2 when leading after two.

Tempers flared at 11:49 of the third period when a roughing minor by Noah Juulsen against Jack McBain turned into a lopsided fight where McBain pummeled Juulsen before tackling him down onto the ice. Utah capitalized on the ensuring power play with Barrett Hayton narrowing the score to 4-3 tipping in his 6th goal of the season, assisted by Dylan Guenther and Nick Schmaltz.

With 87 ticks left on the clock in regulation and Vejmelka pulled for the extra attacker, Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway had a breakaway with no one standing between him and an empty net when out of nowhere Schmaltz streaked up behind him and stripped the puck to keep Garnet from sealing Philadelphia’s victory.

With 35 seconds remaining, Mammoth captain and Team USA Olympian Clayton Keller drove to the net and put the puck past Ersson with a backhand shot, unassisted, for his 14th goal of the season to tie things up and send the game to overtime as the 16,000+ fans at Delta Center erupted in disbelief and celebration.

The 6-on-5 goal was the first in Mammoth franchise history and was the latest game-tying goal in franchise history, the previous latest game-tying goal having been scored with 1:54 remaining by Josh Doan in a 2024 game against the New York Islanders.

Doan, who was traded along with Michael Kesselring to the Buffalo Sabres in the offseason for JJ Peterka, signed a seven-year, $48.65 million contract extension on Wednesday to keep him locked up in Buffalo through the 2032-33 season.

At 2:01 of overtime it was Keller again with a snap shot, assisted by Guenther, to stun the Flyers with his 15th of the season as he launched his stick over the glass into the stands in celebration. The 5-4 victory gives Utah a 6-0-1 home record in 2026 and 8-1-1 overall in the new year.

The win further pads Vejmelka’s NHL-leading 24 victories. Once again, courtesy the Mammoth stat crew, the Mammoth are now the 13th team in NHL history to earn points in each game of a homestand of at least seven games, the last time being the Los Angeles Kings which went 5-0-2 during a stretch of the 2022-2023 season.

The Utah’s eight-game point streak matches a franchise record set last season, and the seven-game home point streak extends a franchise best run.

For the sixth time on the homestand, the Mammoth locker room blasted their victory tune, “Beer For My Horses” by Toby Keith and Willie Nelson, followed by Eric Clapton’s “Cocaine.” Dylan Guenther was first on the docket to meet with the media as the locker room cleared. “Resiliance” is how he defined the game. “We did stick with it, the talk was all positive, and we all thought that we could come back and win. It was a huge character win.” What did he say to Keller on his tying goal? “Just ‘nice play, nice shot.’ To get a 6-on-5 goal –we haven’t had one this year– it was a really nice individual effort by him. Nice route by him, too. Kind of a 2-on-2, caught his guys sleeping with nice shots, so he had a good game tonight.”

Commenting on the team’s overall effort on the night, Keller said, “It was great. We stuck with it, even when we knew that we weren’t playing great, creating a lot of mistakes, but we just kept fighting. So many guys made key plays, especially Veg making saves. We talked about it in the room after, none of this happens if Nick Schmaltz doesn’t backcheck and give everything he’s got to strip them before they score on the empty net. And that’s the difference sometimes.” Of Crouse, whose goal Wednesday night surpassed his total from last season, Keller said, “He is such a great player, person, guy in the locker room, does everything for the team, and does everything right. I can’t say enough good things about him and it’s great to see him get rewarded. He’s been working on his shot a lot. He’s doing the little things, the rest of you guys might not see. So it’s great to see him get rewarded and he’s going to bring that same effort every single night.” Asked about how he is able to perform under high-pressure situations, the captain responded, “I think a lot of it is belief, and the mental talk that I’m saying to myself in my head. I’ve always trusted my training. I know I’ve done everything possible to leave myself in a good position and let the rest take care of itself. I skate every day in the summer with a couple other guys, I work on those touches and all those things.”

A joyful head coach André Tourigny took to the podium and said, “Entertainment business, heh? … What was the attendance, sixteen something? I think they all got entertained tonight.” He continued, “I’m really happy about our comeback. Obviously, that was a big goal on the power play at a key moment; we often talk about producing on the power play but also producing in key moments–and that was a key moment. Our first 6-on-5 goal in our franchise’s history was a clutch one, obviously. And in overtime, that was a really good goal. I liked the way we turned things around in the second period. There’s things we didn’t like about the game; it’s obvious if you watch the game. But I would like to focus a lot on the positives, because if I talk about what we didn’t like I think it will overshadow the good things…The key goals, the comeback, the grit we showed in the second period. We had a good push. I think the fight of (Jack McBain) was a turning point. And we all know the play of the game was (Nick Schmaltz’s) strip. Those are a lot of positives, and I don’t want to take the spotlight off those things.” Asked about how this type of game develops the team, Bear responded, “It’s a good development for our team to understand the good, the bad and the ugly. When we didn’t do what we had to do, what should have happened–we got what we deserved. And when we did what we had to do, we were successful. So we need to learn (from) that. It’s part of a long season, a process, a grind. It’s great to do it in victory and get the two points. But we need to learn from it.” The buzz at Delta Center was all about the strip by Schmaltz, without which the Mammoth would have lost in regulation. “You know what I’m happy about,” Tourigny asked. “I’m happy that everybody saw that. Because that’s what we see from (Schmaltz). I talked about it last year and I’ve talked about it this year and I’ve talked about his play away from the puck and his effort and his IQ, the way he defends, the way he strips pucks, how he gets body position and battles. Not everybody will see that and you need to pay attention. And when there’s a highlight play like that; I liked his performance and how he impacts our team. I’m glad for him and for everybody–who were here at the Delta Center or at home watching our game–who sees that. It can highlight what Nick Schmaltz means for our team.”

The way things are going, the Mammoth may not want to hit the road right now. Nevertheless, Utah (26-20-4) plays its next four games on the road beginning with an early Saturday afternoon tilt in Nashville followed by games against Tampa Bay, Florida, and Carolina before returning home on January 31 for a three-game homestand against Dallas, Vancouver, and Detroit before the Olympic break begins.

Utah Mammoth game wrap: Seattle Sleepless In Salt Lake City As Schmidt Scores Four Points In 6-3 Mammoth Victory Over Kraken

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The Seattle Kraken and the Utah Mammoth mix it up in the second period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sat Jan 17, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY– Utah Mammoth veteran defenseman Nate Schmidt scored two goals and two assists in Utah’s Saturday matinee slaughter of the Seattle Kraken 6-3.

The Mammoth (24-20-4) took to the ice at Delta Center for an early Saturday afternoon tilt against the visiting Kraken (21-16-9). The new year has been good to Utah thus far where they have gone 4-0-1 at home and 6-1-1 overall.

The first minute of the first period wasn’t so good to Utah as the Mammoth didn’t seem quite ready to go and Jordan Eberle put the puck past Karel Vejmelka at 1:07 for his 17th goal of the season, assisted by Kaapo Kakko and Matty Beniers, to go up early 1-0.

At 2:36 of the period, Brandon Tanev was whistled for hooking against Ben Myers. Though Seattle won the ensuing faceoff in their offensive zone, Mammoth defenseman Ian Cole recovered the puck and passed to Lawson Crouse who went the length of the ice, passing at the last moment to Kevin Stenlund who easily tipped the puck past Kraken netminder Philipp Grubauer for the shorthander, his fourth goal of the season to even things up 1-1.

It was Utah’s fourth short-handed goal on the season. Almost immediately following the ensuing faceoff, Mammoth forward Jack McBain joined Tanev in the sin bin for cross-checking against Shane Wright, putting Utah in the position of defending a 5-on-3 power play for a minute and 37 seconds, but the Mammoth managed to kill off both penalties to maintain the tie score which carried through the balance of the period. Grubauer and Vejmelka each finished the period stopping 11 of 12 opponent shots.

Utah came out flying to begin the second period, with defenseman Nate Schmidt delivering a perfect impression of Mikhail Sergachev just 28 seconds in, firing a missile from the offensive corner between the faceoff circle and blue line to beat Grubauer and give the Mammoth their first lead of the game.

The 34-year-old defenseman in his thirteenth season tallied his third goal on the year, assisted by Dylan Guenther and Michael Carcone, with his wife and kids in the stands watching dad play the early afternoon game.

At 4:31, Utah forward Nick Schmaltz made it 3-1, banging in a rebound off a shot by Crouse for his 18th goal of the season, with the additional assist to Schmidt, the 200th helper of his career. Courtesy the Mammoth stat crew, Schmidt joins Torey Krug (STL) and Neal Poink (WPG) as the only undrafted active defensemen to achieve that milestone.

Kraken forward Matty Beniers brought the Kraken back to within a point with his 10th goal of the season at 15:11 of the period, assisted by Vince Dunn and Berkly Catton, and with a little more than two minutes remaining in the period, Chandler Stephenson completed the comeback, putting the pack past Vejmelka’s glove hand for his 13th goal of the season, assisted by Freddy Goudreau and Eeli Tolvanen, sending both teams to their locker rooms tied up at 3-3. Once again, Grubauer and Vejmelka kept pace with one another, each stopping 5 of 7 opponent shots during the frame.

Saturday’s tilt was neck-and-neck until 14:30 of the third period when Schmidt netted his second goal of the game, assisted by Clayton Keller, to go up 4-3. 42 seconds later, Schmidt and Keller assisted on the 12th goal of the season by Crouse to pad Utah’s lead 5-3 with under five minutes to go.

With Grubauer pulled for the extra attacker, Barrett Hayton scored his 5th of the season into an empty net with 51 seconds left, assisted by John Marino and netminder Karel Vejmelka, to put the game away for good at 6-3.

The assist was the second of the year for Veggie, who stopped 18 of 21 shots on the night and now leads all NHL goalies with 23 victories. Seattle managed only two shots on goal in the final frame. With the victory, Utah is now 5-0-1 on the current homestand and 7-1-1 in 2016.

In the Utah locker room, Mammoth forward Lawson Crouse talked about how adversity has shaped the team. “We talked about coming into the third, and we came back to our game, and we did that. There were parts throughout the game that we didn’t love, but (we) came away with (a) big two points.” On defenseman Nate Schmidt’s big night, Crouse praised him as “a wise veteran who brings a lot to our locker room, and a very hard-working, team-first guy.” Crouse continued, “Obviously, very happy to see him get rewarded, and we were all cheering for him to get that empty-net at the end there, but the defenseman made a nice play grabbing it down.”

Schmidt, whose four-point night tied a personal best (he had a four assist game with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2019), talked about the adjustments the team has been making. “I think as the year’s gone on, we’ve gotten into situations where we’re not panicking. We’re a little more poised with pucks late in games. It’s something you have to have. As you grow as a team, that’s got to be something that grows with you. That was a really big part of today’s game. You could look at the first couple periods and we liked some parts of our game, didn’t like some other parts. But in order to get there in the third (period), tie ballgame at home, that’s the way you want to finish it off.” Schmidt has found chemistry with defensive linemate John Marino, of whom he said after quickly checking to make sure he was no longer in the locker room, “He is such a calm, poised, cool, collected guy back there. We really do a lot of chatter and a lot of communication, whether it’s on the ice or off the ice. I feel like he always says he can hear me on the ice, which is always a plus. Sometimes it’s too much, but I tell him it’s never (too much).” Playing his first season in the Beehive State, Schmidt was asked how much he enjoys playing here so far. “It’s been great. … I think the way that this organization has built itself and how it has started and set the standard for how they want to move forward, how the team wants to move forward long after I’m gone…It is quite a testament to not only the fans, but to the Smiths and everybody they’ve brought in here so far.” Schmidt said that he didn’t know if his kids would remember his four-point afternoon, but was happy that they were able to wave to one another during the game, and he will remember it forever.

Head Coach André Tourigny opened his post-game comments by saying, “A big win. It’s a team we’re racing with, so it’s an important win. It’s a big two points. I liked the way we were opportunistic, and we found a way to score a big goal in that key moment. We didn’t start the way we wanted. They scored, and then we scored a big goal on the PK. That settled us a little bit because we didn’t have the best start. Early in the second, we scored a big goal to loosen up our game a little bit, and in the third period, obviously, we had a good push.” On the penalty killing unit, which scored a goal and withstood a lengthy 5-on-3 kill, Bear said, “Huge. The moment they scored the goal in the PK, it wasn’t just scoring a goal on the PK. At that moment, we were a little bit on our heels, to say the least. … I think one of the key moments was the five-on-three. There’s no doubt about it. I think that was a huge moment for us. I think that the momentum definitely shifted quickly. When they scored after our power play, we missed our chance. We could have put a nail in the coffin on the power play, and we had good chances, but we didn’t. Right away, they scored on the next shift, so that shifts the momentum. They scored right away after. It made the third period a little bit more interesting.”

Utah (25-20-4) will play its seventh and final game of the current homestand next Wednesday when they face off against the Philadelphia Flyers (22-17-8).

Sharks Lose 4-1 to Flyers, Graf Scores Lone Sharks Goal

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Philadelphia Flayers Travis Konecny scored his 500th career goal against the San Jose Sharks on Tue Dec 9, 2025 at Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-1 to the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday. Christian Dvorak, Carl Grundstrom, Noah Cates and Travis Konecny scored for the Flyers. Dan Vladar made saves for the win. Collin Graf scored the only Sharks goal and Alex Nedeljkovic made 26 saves in the loss.

After scoring first, the Sharks gave up four goals to the Flyers. After the game, Sharks forward Ryan Reaves said: “You can’t win in this league not playing in your structure. And we show it every other game right now. That’s why we’re just kind of middle of the pack right now and I think we know we should be a little bit higher.”

Alexander Wennberg said:

“I don’t think we came out the way we wanted. We talked about playing fast, playing hard, tough puck plays and get the puck to the net. I mean obviously it’s not to the standard we want. So… disappointing result and there were some good parts to the game but I mean we gotta come in and give them a better fight.”

Collin Graf opened the scoring at 11:33 with a snap shot. Will Smith made a cross-ice pass to John Klingberg, who sent it right back across to Graf for the shot.

Christian Dvorak tied the game at 18:39. Dvorak and Trevor Zegras broke away and went into the Sharks zone two-on-one against Sam Dickinson. Dvorak got around Dickinson and beat Nedeljkovic on the glove side with a backhand. Assists went to Zegras and Travis Konecny.

The Sharks were outshot 16-3 in the first period. The Sharks also took two penalties and the Flyers took none.

Carl Grundstrom scored the second Flyers goal at 3:20 of the second period. Grundstrom tipped a shot by Nick Seeler. A secondary assist went to Travis Sanheim.

Noah Cates scored the third Flyers goal at 19:48 of the second period. Bobby Brink made a pass to Cates as they rushed to the net. Cates beat Nedeljkovic with a wrist shot on the blocker side. Assists went to Brink and Jamie Drysdale.

The shots were closer in the second, 10-8 Flyers. The Flyers also took the only penalty in the period.

Travis Konecny scored the final goal from the Sharks’ blue line into an empty at 18:17. Dvorak got an assist on that one. The Sharks led in shots in the third, 7-4. The Flyers again took the only penalty in the period.

The Sharks next play on Thursday in Toronto against the Maple Leafs at 4:00 PM PT.

NHL podcast Len Shapiro Fri Mar 14, 2025: Panthers get the edge on Leafs 3-2; Senators rolling with fifth straight win 5-3 over Bruins; plus more NHL news

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Florida Panthers Sam Bennett second from left scores on Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) as the Maple Leafs Jake McCabe (22) defends in the first period at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Fri Mar 14, 2025 (Canadian Press via AP)

NHL podcast Len Shapiro Fri Mar 14, 2025:

#1 The Florida Panthers edged the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thursday night. The Panthers Sam Bennett helped out with two goals in the winning cause.

#2 The Ottawa Senators are becoming to be known as Hottawa. They have now won five straight games. In the latest win on Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre the Senators scored four goals against the Boston Bruins in the first period. The Sens Drake Batherson scored two goals with an assist, Brady Tkachuk has now scored a point in eight straight games with seven goals and two assists. There was nothing the Bruins could do as they ran into a hot Ottawa team losing 6-3.

#3 The Philadelphia Flyers Bobby Brink scored two goals as they edged the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Thursday night. The win ended the Flyers five game losing streak and the Lightning lost their third game in a row.

#4 The Pittsburgh Penguins Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust scored a goal each and had an assist in the Pens win over the St Louis Blues 5-3 at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night. The Penguins Sidney Crosby and Blake Lizotte had two assists to help the Pens pick up their third straight win. The last time the Penguins won three in a row was when the won four in a row back on Nov 27-Dec 3.

#5  The Vegas Golden Knights chalked up their fourth straight win over the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 4-0 shutout. Knight’s goaltender Adin Hill stopped all 27 Jackets shot on goals. Hill stopped 14 shots in the first period and gave the Knights an opportunity to score to goals to take the lead in the first period.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro Fri Mar 7, 2025: Utah’s Veimelka 31 saves shutout Red Wings 3-0; Bjorkstrand scores game winner for Bolts 6-5 win over Sabres; plus more news

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Utah Hockey Club goaltender Karel Veimelka saved 31 shots for a 3-0 shutout against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Thu May 6, 2025 (AP file photo)

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro Fri Mar 7, 2025

Len before we start just a quick run down about the NHL trade deadline and the Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin’s run at the all time goal scoring record.

#1  Karel Veimelka stopped 31 shots for the Utah Hockey Club and Utah scored three unanswered goals against the Detroit Red Wings for a 4-2 win at Little Caesars Arena Thursday night in Detroit. Vejmelka just signed a five year extension before the game for Utah.

#2 Jake Guentzel had a big night for the Tampa Bay Lightning picking up a hat trick that helped the Bolts edge the visiting Buffalo Sabres at Amailie Arena on Thursday night 6-5. Oliver Bjorkstrand ended a 5-5 tie in the third period in his Tampa Bay debut with a goal. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.

#3 Florida Panthers Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 16 shots as the Florida Panthers picked up their fifth straight game in a shutout over the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 at Amerant Bank Arena Thursday night. Bobrovsky picked up his 433rd career win which tied goaltender great Tony Esposito for the tenth spot on the NHL all time list.

#4 Winnipeg Jets Mark Scheifele scored a goal and had two assists as the Jets got a convincing 4-1 win over Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night. Gabriel Vilardi picked up three assists teammate Kyle Connor scored a goal and got an assist. The Jets snapped a three game losing streak with the win.

#5  Carolina Hurricanes Seth Jarvis scored a key goal with 19 seconds left in regulation to get the Canes a 3-2 win against the visiting Boston Bruins at Lenovo Center in Raleigh on Thursday night. Jarvis scored his goal from the short side at the left hash marks after defenseman Nikita Zadrorov broke his stick in an attempt to clear the puck in the right circle.

Join Len Shaprio for the NHL podcasts Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Knights stay perfect in New Jersey with 3-1 win; Lightning open up some offense on Ottawa in 5-1 win; plus more NHL news

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Vegas Golden Knights Tomas Hertl (right) brings the puck up ice against the New Jersey Devils Jack Hughes (left) in the first period at the Prudential Center in Newark on Thu Feb 6, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Vegas Golden Knights had goals scored from three different players in their 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Thursday night. Jack Eichel, Nicolas Roy, and Shea Theordore scored a goal each. Adin Hill will be representing Canada in goal during the 4 Nations Face off on Feb 12-20. Hill stopped 14 shots for the Knights. The Knights have not lost a game in New Jersey in their seven games there since coming into the NHL.

#2 Brayden Point scored a goal and had two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-1 at Amalie Arena on Thursday night. The Bolts Jake Guentzel and Brandon Hagel scored a goal apiece. Nikita Kucherov had two assists and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots. It was Tampa Bay’s second win over three days against Ottawa.

#3 Alexander Ovechkin scored his 879th goal on a on timer just inside of the right face off circle at 19:07 in the first period and is now 16 goals shy of passing Wayne Gretzky for the NHL record of 894 goals. Ovechkin has a hot hand right now he has scored in four straight games with 26 goals on the season. The Washington Capitals get a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

#4 Dylan Guenther scored an overtime goal for the second straight game and the Utah Hockey Club edged the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Guenther scored at 4:27 getting a pass from goaltender Connor Ingram and got a breakaway scoring on his own rebound for the win.

#5 Filip Gustavsson saved 38 shots for the Minnesota Wild as they win in a one goal difference over the Carolina Hurricanes at the Xcel Energy Center in St.Paul on Thursday night 2-1. Gustavsson made quite a recovery in net after allowing six Ottawa Senators goals in his last start.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Bruins blank Senators 2-0 behind Korpisalo’s shutout; Red Wings get a jump on Habs in 4-2 win; plus more news

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The Boston Bruins left winter Brad Marchand (63) takes a poke at the puck in an attempt to score on the Ottawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg (31) in the third period at TD Garden in Boston on Thu Jan 23, 2025 (AP News photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The Boston Bruins took care of business shutting out the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden in Boston on Thursday night. The Bruins and Sens didn’t score in the first period but the Bruins got single goals in the second and third periods. Bruins Morgan Geekie (13) score in the second period at 2:06 and David Pastrnak (23) at 19:55 in the third period in the 2-0 win. Bruins goaltender Joonas Korpisalo stopped all 29 Ottawa shots for the shutout.

#2 The Detroit Red Wings won a two goal game over the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 at Little Caesars Palace in Detroit on Thursday. The Red Wings Jonatan Berggren (8) scored the game’s first goal in the first period at 13:00. The Wings scored a second goal at 19:56 in the first period by Alex DeBrincat (20) to go up 2-0. Second period Andrew Copp (9) at 4:25 and Dylan Larkin (21) at 7:50 both scored. The Wings came away with a 4- 2 lead after two periods. Neither team scored in the third period.

#3 The New York Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller scored a goal and had an assist. The Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin stopped 35 shots in the Rangers convincing win over the Flyers 6-1 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.

#4 The Carolina Hurricane put away the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-4 at the Lenovo Center in Columbus. The Canes Seth Jarvis scored two goals and had two assists. Sebastian Aho had a goal and two assists, as the Hurricanes scored five goals in the second period and came away with a three goal win.

#5 The Minnesota Wild who are 28-16-4 took a rather shocking defeat 4-0 to the Utah Hockey Club (21-19-7) at the Target Center in Minneapolis on Thursday. Utah’s Barrett Hayton scored two goals, Lawson Crousse, and Clayton Keller scored a goal each in the win. Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped all 26 Minnesota shots for the shutout.

Len Shapiro does the NHL podcasts each Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks shutout by Flyers 4-0 on New Years Eve matchup; SJ falls to their 8th straight loss

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Will Smith (2) and Sean Couturier (14) taking a face-off during their game at SAP center on Tuesday December 31st. (via SanJoseSharks/x)

By Madison Montez

SAN JOSE- In a New Years Eve matchup, the Sharks fell to a 4-0 shutout by the Philadelphia Flyers at SAP Center, the second loss against the Flyers this season.

Philadelphia opened the scoring on a wrist shot by Nick Seeler at 5:59. He netted just his third goal of the season with Jamie Drysdale registering the lone assist.

After a quiet start to the second period with no penalties or goals, Philadelphia extended their lead to 2-0 at 12:09 when there was a scramble in front of the Sharks’s net. With Georgiev not knowing where the puck was, Ryan Poehling took advantage and netted his third of the season assisted by Egor Zamula and Bobby Brink.

At 13:35, Mikael Granlund took a two minute penalty for tripping giving Philadelphia their second powerplay opportunity. Philadelphia’s powerplay was ranked 29th in the league at 14.7. Although their powerplay is nearly last, Travis Konecy found the back of the net within nine seconds. Konecy netted his 17th goal and Philadelphia’s 15th PPG of the season assisted by Owen Tippett and Jamie Drysdale, Drysdale’s second helper of the night.

With the final 20 minutes of play, Philadelphia didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal. Right after coming off of the powerplay at 2:30, Egor Zamula netted his third of the season. Bobby Brink and Noah Cates registering the assists, Brink with his second helper of the night.

THREE STARS OF THE GAME:

  • 1. Egor Zamula, 1G 1A
  • 2. Jamie Drysdsle 2A
  • 3.Ryan Poehling 1G

The Sharks will be back in action on Thu January 2nd at 7:30pm PST against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The last time these two teams faced off was on December 5th which resulted in a Tampa Bay 8-1 win. Alexander Wennberg registered the lone San Jose goal assisted by Fabian Zetterlund and Jan Rutta.