Barrett Hayton forced himself in front of the net, made space, hopped on the rebound of Michael Carcone’s shot and wired the puck in.
It was the Utah Hockey Club forward’s third goal of the night, marking his first career hat trick and first in franchise history.
“I like the fact he got rewarded. I often talk about how much Hayton plays the right way,” head coach André Tourigny said. “He does everything right on and off the ice. He has the right attitude, he competes so hard. You cannot not cheer for him. Really happy for him.”
Hayton secured the hat trick at 11:00 of the third period to bring Utah within one, 4-3, against the Los Angeles Kings Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena. However, his historic effort was not enough to secure the two points as the Club ultimately fell 5-3 after letting up an empty-net tally.


HAYTON HATTY pic.twitter.com/6wPbqYeDtw
“Right now it’s kind of just the sting of the game. At some point, I’ll look back. It is cool to do,” Hayton said. “At this point, it is frustrating losing that game. It’s such a big game. I feel like we kind of put our heart and soul into that game — our effort was there.”
All three of Hayton’s goals were a result of him battling for inside ice around the crease – an area he has been known to excel in. The 24-year-old opened scoring for Utah in the first period while on the power play. Hayton sniffed around LA netminder Darcy Kuemper before tipping in Nick Schmaltz’s initial look for the 1-0 lead at 7:54.
Drew Doughty quickly knotted the game 1-1 — 28 seconds later, to be exact — with a slapshot from the high slot but Hayton regained the edge for Utah in the middle frame. On the man advantage again, Hayton took his place around the blue paint and whacked the loose puck from Schmaltz’s shot home to make it 2-1 at 5:50.
Utah Hockey Club center Barrett Hayton (27) celebrates after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Minnesota Wild, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Hayton has been skating on the first power play unit in the absence of forward Logan Cooley who is now day to day with a lower-body injury. Before Saturday’s game in LA, Hayton had scored just one power-play goal this season — Oct. 16 against the Anaheim Ducks. Hayton posted two PPG against the Kings and tied Cooley for the third-most goals on Utah with 15. The two trail just Clayton Keller and Dylan Guenther who each have 20.
The Kings responded with three consecutive goals after Hayton’s second of the night.
Kevin Fiala tied things 2-2 at 7:59 of the second period with a one-timer from the right circle on the power play. Alex Laferriere gave LA a 3-2 boost off the rush as he backhanded the puck past Connor Ingram at 16:10. Trevor Lewis — who is a Salt Lake City native — knocked one in at 9:41 of the third to widen the gap to 4-2. Following Hayton’s hat trick, Mikey Anderson’s empty-net goal at 18:30 sealed the loss for Utah.
“Just a couple plays that cost us tonight,” Hayton said. “Obviously it was a one-goal game and down the stretch here there’s going to be a lot of those games. Every team is fighting.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club defenseman Sean Durzi (50) as Utah Hockey Club hosts the Los Angeles Kings, NHL pre-season hockey in Salt Lake City on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024.
Utah saw the return of Sean Durzi after the defenseman missed 52 games with an upper-body injury (shoulder surgery). It was hard to tell, though, as Durzi jumped right into action and had a productive showing on the third pair with Olli Määttä. Durzi assisted on Hayton’s third goal, had four shots and two blocks through 21:37 of ice time.
“He worked really hard at his rehab to come back now and be ready to step in full force. I think you saw that tonight…I think he did a heck of a job coming in full steam,” Hayton said of Durzi. “He’s a huge part of our team. His communication out there. The leadership and he just brings a lot of confidence to our D-corps.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club left wing Lawson Crouse (67) skates toward the puck, in NHL action between Utah Hockey Club and Vancouver Canucks at the Delta Center, on Wednesday, Dec 18, 2024.
The Club will play the second game of its back-to-back Sunday night at Delta Center, and it is a big one. The Vancouver Canucks — who currently hold the second wild card spot in the Western Conference — come to Salt Lake City to face Utah who is six points out of the playoff picture with 57 points.
“Tomorrow is all-in. That is a massive game for us,” Hayton said. “We’ve got to do our recovery right now, get ready for the game. Our mindset switches to Vancouver tomorrow. Rest up and get locked in.”
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