Utah Hockey Club stays in playoff hunt with win against Eastern Conference-leading Capitals
Before the final game of Utah Hockey Club’s last homestand, coach André Tourigny stressed the importance of getting two points against the Philadelphia Flyers and then having “a hell of a road trip before the break.”
Mission accomplished.
Karel Vejmelka stopped 30 shots in relief of injured goalie Connor Ingram, plus all three shots in the shootout, and Nick Schmaltz scored the lone shootout goal as Utah shook off a third-period rally by the Capitals to beat Washington, 5-4, at Capitol One Arena on Sunday.
It was the first shootout win in Utah franchise history. It was also the teams’ third win in its past four games. By earning six of its past eight possible points, including four of six on this three-game road trip, Utah (24-23-9) pulled within six points of the Vancouver Canucks for the final Western Conference wild card spot as it heads into the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
Utah is 17-0-4 when scoring four or more goals this season.
Vejmelka was sensational after coming into the game late in the first period, despite having played the day before in Carolina. His biggest save came on a sprawling left-pad stop of Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun late in overtime.
“Playing on back-to-back days, that’s pretty impressive for him to stay ready and help us get a win,” Schmaltz said of Vejmelka on the postgame show with play-by-play man Matt McConnell.
Josh Doan, Michael Carcone, Jack McBain and Dylan Guenther scored in regulation for Utah. With the goal, Guenther reached the 20-goal mark.
Ingram injured: Late in the first period, Ingram took an Alex Ovechkin slap shot from close range off his mask during a Capitals power play. Pierre-Luc Dubois scored shortly thereafter. Ingram lay on his belly after the goal and was eventually tended to by trainers. Ingram left the game and Vejmelka replaced him.
Tourigny did not have an update on Ingram after the game.
Ingram missed nearly two months earlier this season, taking a leave of absence to grieve the death of his mother.
Before Ingram left, he recorded an assist on Doan’s goal to give him points in back-to-back games.The NHL record for consecutive points by a goalie is three games, held by the New York Rangers Henrik Lunqvist and the New York Islanders Rick DiPietro.
Health on the horizon? When Utah Hockey Club returns from the 4 Nations Face-Off break, GM Bill Armstrong may just get his wish of seeing his team at full strength with some games left to show what it can do. Defensemen Robert Bortuzzo (lower body) and Sean Durzi (shoulder) accompanied the team on its three-game road trip that concluded Sunday in Washington DC. Tourigny said both are “closer” to returning to the lineup. Center Logan Cooley (lower body) remains out indefinitely but he will be re-evaluated after the break.
When asked about the team’s approach to free agency this offseason, Armstrong has cited the importance of evaluating Utah’s entire roster first.
“I’d like to see our team at full strength,” he said. “Let’s see what we can really do when everybody’s back. Let’s grow organically. I think it’s better to do that. You make less mistakes when you go through everything and you see what you have naturally instead of just plucking people out of free agency and putting them in there and then wondering why it doesn’t work.”
No-vechkin: Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin had a goal in every February game he had played (and four straight overall) before Sunday. While Ovi had two goals in the teams’ previous meeting, Utah held him scoreless (he had three assists), keeping him 16 goals shy of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal scoring record of 894.
Quotable: “It will be good for the team to have a mental break,” Tourigny said of the 4 Nations Face-Off break. “January and early February are always demanding. Having a time to have a mental rest and then get back and working out and getting ready for the second half, I think that will be huge.”
Up next: All but two members of Utah Hockey Club will get 12 days off before resuming play on Feb. 22 in Los Angeles against the Kings. Defensemen Olli Määttä and Juuso Välimäki will compete for Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off, which begins Wednesday. Finland begins play on Thursday against the United States at Centre Bell in Montréal.
UTA at WSH | Recap
