Dylan Guenther produces more OT magic as Utah Hockey Club beats Columbus, 3-2, in overtime
Dylan Guenther is quickly becoming a Utah Hockey Club legend. Playing in just his second game since returning from a lower-body injury that sidelined him for more than a month, Guenther scored his second straight game-winning, overtime goal.
The Utah forward took a clearing pass off the boards from goaltender Connor Ingram and scored on a rebound of his own breakaway attempt with 33 seconds remaining in overtime to lift Utah to a 3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday at Nationwide Arena. It was Guenther’s 19th goal of the season, setting a new career high after he scored 18 goals in his second NHL season last year. His three overtime goals are tied for fourth most in the NHL this season.
It was also Ingram’s fourth career assist.
“[Columbus] had a 3-on-0 but I saw they were offside so I just kind of took off,” Guenther told play-by-play man Matt McConnell after the game. “It was a hell of a pass by Ingy.”
The win was Utah’s second straight and temporarily pulled it within four points of the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks in the race for the Western Conference’s final wild card spot. Both the Flames and Canucks played later games on Thursday.
Coach André Tourigny has stressed the importance of having a strong road trip before the 4 Nations Face-Off break. Utah got off on the right foot.
“Last time against Columbus we fell on our heels a little bit. I really liked the way we played tonight,” Tourigny said. “I think we had nerves at times but I think we controlled our emotion much better and we were able to come back, playing with a lot of passion; a lot of pace.”
Crouse-ometer: Lawson Crouse was a healthy scratch in Utah’s win against Philadelphia at Delta Center on Monday and he took the benching like a leader.
“I’ve got to play better; it’s on me,” said Crouse, who had just seven goals and 11 points entering Thursday’s game. “I’m excited to be back in and I’m excited to have a really big game.”
He did. Crouse scored the first goal of the game after a hustle play to keep the puck in the zone on a Utah power play. Josh Doan found him with a precision pass in the high slot and Crouse ripped it past Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins to tie the game at 1-1 at 2:06 of the second period.
Crouse has four goals and five points in past six road games, and he had a team-high six hits on Thursday. Better yet, the Utah Hockey Club is 5-1-1 when Crouse scores.
“He played hard, he was focused, he was intense,” Tourigny said. “I really liked his game.”
Working overtime: Utah went to overtime for the fourth time in the past five games. Utah has played 16 overtime games this season which is tied for the league lead with Columbus, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. These two teams also went to OT on Jan. 31 (Columbus won). All four of Utah’s most recent OTs were decided by a 3-2 score.
300 club: Tourigny coached his 300th game as an NHL head coach on Thursday. The first 246 came with the Arizona Coyotes. One hundred and thirty-five coaches have reached that number in the NHL’s 106-year history.
Bjugy on the board: Nick Bjugstad scored just his second goal since Nov. 23 to give Utah a 2-1 Utah.
Quotable: Here’s what Tourigny had to say about Doan’s pass to Crouse on Utah’s first goal: “What’s underrated on that play is he wanted to shoot first and when he saw the play close, he was capable of changing his mind, looking for the next option and made the right decision. That’s IQ.”
Up next: Utah travels to Raleigh, North Carolina to face the Carolina Hurricanes in a Saturday matinee. Carolina is 0-3 since acquiring superstar forward Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche in a three-team deal. Utah leads the season series, 1-0. Karel Vejmelka made 49 saves and Nick Bjugstad had a pair of goals in a 4-1 win at Delta Center on Nov. 13.
UTA at CBJ | Recap
