Utah Hockey Club falls to Vegas Golden Knights in overtime

Las Vegas • Even while Utah Hockey Club led the Vegas Golden Knights 2-0 in the second period of Saturday’s matchup, it never felt like the team was wholly in control.

Logan Cooley and Ian Cole’s goals gave Utah room to find its game, but it ultimately wasn’t enough as the Hockey Club fell 4-3 in overtime at T-Mobile Arena. Utah collected a point out of the performance.

“They outplayed us for a majority of the game so it’s not like we climbed Mount Everest tonight,” said Alex Kerfoot who scored the game-tying goal in the third period. “We did good things to keep us in the game — played responsibly, played well defensively. … We’re still building. We’re not fully satisfied by that effort by any means.”

Utah had just eight shots on goal through 40 minutes of play and ended the night with 19 to Vegas’ 35. The low-volume offense did not initially affect the Hockey Club’s ability to impact the contest, but the Golden Knights’ chances — which later turned into goals — were persistent.

“I think Vegas is a really, really good team. … I think they did not give us any chance to get going in that game. We had to work our way into that game,” Utah head coach André Tourigny said.

Utah’s first shot on goal in the opening frame earned it a 1-0 lead. A strong forecheck from Jack McBain forced the puck into the offensive zone where Nick Bjugstad dropped it to Cooley by the left circle to one-time past Vegas goaltender Adin Hill. Cooley’s second goal of the season came at 11:52.

Cole doubled Utah’s advantage in the second period. The veteran defenseman blasted the puck in from above the left circle while Dylan Guenther took away sightlines in the crease to make it 2-0 at 12:00. The play marked Cole’s first goal of the season and fourth point in three games. He’s now one away from 200 career points.

“Playing with good players, that happens,” Cole said. “I think if you just do the right things, the points come. It’s not necessarily in my job description quite as much, but when it happens it happens and it’s good.”

Vegas got on the board at 15:06 of the second following a failed clear in the defensive zone from Utah. Brett Howden intercepted the puck at the blue line and lasered it down to Tomas Hertl who found a wide-open Pavel Dorofeyev across the crease. Dorofeyev buried it for the 2-1 scoreline.

Noah Hanifin found the equalizer for Vegas with one second remaining in the middle stanza. Utah was, once again, unable to clear the zone and allowed the Golden Knights to set up. Keegan Kolesar’s initial shot bounced around the crease where Hanifin knocked in the rebound for the 2-2 tie at 19:59. Vegas then took its first lead of the night at 5:37 of the third period with a back-handed tally from William Karlsson.

“They’re a good team. They create a lot, they use a lot of speed, they stretch you out. They’re tough to play against,” Cole said. “Sometimes it can feel chaotic. … I think if we iron out these — call them kinks, call them wrinkles — in our team game, maybe we’ll be a little bit more settled in that chaos.”

Kerfoot responded for Utah with his second goal in two games to knot the game 3-3 at 13:10. The forward crashed towards the net as Bjugstad carried the puck into the zone and shot it. Kerfoot potted the rebound to force overtime in which Vegas’ Howden sealed the 4-3 win at 2:15.

Utah will take the point from making it to overtime, but the sting of allowing three unanswered goals after holding a 2-0 lead remains. Despite Vegas containing Utah for the better part of three periods, the Hockey Club pushed where it could — got net-front positioning, was better with its defensive details and laid 21 hits. That’s what it’ll build off of.

“We’ve got to learn how to win different ways, learn how to get points different ways. We’re a young team still trying to find our way as an experienced team,” Kerfoot said. “They probably carried the majority of play, but we didn’t break and ended up getting a point out of it.”