Utah Hockey Club Takes Control With Three Goals In Three Minutes
Nov 13, 2024, 9:31 PM
SALT LAKE CITY—Karel Vejmelka has been putting on a show in goal for the Utah Hockey Club tonight, keeping Utah in the game despite constant pressure from the Hurricanes’ offense. With Vejmelka standing on his head, Utah’s offense finally broke loose, scoring three goals in less than three minutes to take a 4-1 lead over Carolina.
Utah Hockey Club (6-6-3, 15 pts) is hosting the Carolina Hurricanes (11-3-0, 22 pts) at Delta Center on Wednesday, November 13.
RELATED: Nick Bjugstad Gives Utah Hockey Club First Period Lead Over Hurricanes
McBACK OF THE NET AND WE’RE UP! pic.twitter.com/5uwyyS29HJ
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) November 14, 2024
Despite being outshot 36-15, Utah HC has made the most of its limited opportunities. Five minutes into the third period, Michael Kesselring found Jack McBain in front of the net with a perfect pass. The fourth-year forward blasted a one-touch snap-shot past Pyotr Kochelkov in goal.
Two minutes later, defenseman Mikhael Sergachev beat a suddenly shaky Kochelkov to put his club up by two.
SERGY!! ANOTHER ONE! 💥 pic.twitter.com/EhCSadvM6c
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) November 14, 2024
Following a goalie swap, Utah HC continued the onslaught 17 seconds later when Nick Bjugstad’s second goal of the night put Utah in front 4-1.
Make that goal #151 for Bjugy! pic.twitter.com/pR7iT55h1Y
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) November 14, 2024
Utah Hockey Club Looking For Solutions
As it currently stands, the Utah Hockey Club is fourth in the Central Division with a 6-6-3 overall record, far from panicking and about where most probably would’ve predicted they’d be this many games into the new season. However, with so many losses over the last few weeks and struggles on both ends of the ice, continued experimentation and changes are needed to figure things out.
Related: Three Highs, Three Lows For Utah Hockey Club After 13 Games
We’re back 😎#UtahHC pic.twitter.com/CmQt35cHre
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) November 14, 2024
As one of Utah’s most seasoned veterans and someone who knows how to turn things around, defenseman Ian Cole, a member of the 2016 Stanley Cup Champion Penguins roster who flipped a nightmare season into a dream, shared that Utah needs to look at it from every angle and be open to necessary changes.
“Along the way here, we need to continue to make changes and be mature about it and say, hey, this is what worked, this is what didn’t work, we’re going to continue to do this, we’re going to change this, and we’re going to improve this,” Cole said regarding the situation.
“We need to take a step back, try to look at it as objectively as we can. I mean, some of the underlying numbers are really good, some of them aren’t good enough. So, what do we need to fix, what do we need to change, what do we keep the same, what do we improve on? These are all questions we’re trying to systematically answer and move forward.” he added.
Follow Utah HC With KSL Sports
Utah Hockey Club games can be viewed on SEG+. Fans can also tune in on air on the KSL Sports APP or 97.5 and 1280 The Zone. Click here for the full schedule.
Cole Bagley is the Utah Hockey Club insider for KSL Sports. Keep up with him on X here. Listen to Cole break down the team on KSL Sports Zone and KSL 5 TV.
Find KSLSports.com coverage of the Utah Hockey Club here.
Are you on Threads yet? Let’s connect; give us a follow @kslsports.
Take us with you wherever you go.
Brian Preece is a KSLsports.com insider covering Locals in MLB and Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball coverage here.