St. Louis • Michael Kesselring had a feeling Dylan Guenther would secure the win for Utah Hockey Club.
“I know me personally, I’m already cellying on the bench whenever he gets a good chance,” Kesselring said.
And a good chance Guenther got.
The 21-year-old forward broke up a play, chipped the puck up the ice and gathered it before wristing Utah Hockey Club’s game-winning goal into the net.
The forward’s diligent defensive move resulted in a 2-on-1 rush with Logan Cooley in which an intended pass to his linemate deflected in and secured Utah’s 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues Thursday night at Enterprise Center.
For a team that has struggled to close out games thus far this season, Guenther’s tally at 16:39 of the third period was exactly what Utah was working for. It helped the Hockey Club avoid a third-straight loss and instead earned it its third regulation win of the year.
“Kind of a lucky bounce. Made a good defensive read and sometimes you get rewarded like that,” Guenther said. “A divisional game, too. A game coming in that we kind of needed. It gives us a little bit of juice heading into Nashville.”
Utah got things going early against the Blues, scoring its fastest goal in franchise history to open the first period.
Clayton Keller picked up the puck at the red line and no-look, backhand passed it to Kesselring who flashed into the offensive zone unmarked. The defenseman tapped the puck past Blues’ goaltender Joel Hofer for the 1-0 lead 18 seconds into the game.
Kesselring logged his third goal and seventh point of the season. Keller — a Chesterfield, Missouri native — extended his point streak against his hometown team to 30 in 29 career regular-season games with the assist on the goal.
“I kind of saw that [Keller] saw me so I got on my horse a bit. He made a great pass, little alley-oop. And then luckily it went in,” Kesselring said. “We needed that one. We don’t want to be a team that loses a few in a row. We need to find some consistency here, so it was good to get that going.”
Kesselring finished the contest with three shots — most of all Utah defensemen — in a night in which the Hockey Club posted 31 shots on goal, just one shy of its season-high of 32. Utah had 21 SOG against the Winnipeg Jets and 19 SOG against the Vegas Golden Knights in its two previous losses.
“I think everybody can be a little more selfish,” Kesselring said. “We have guys that want to make plays, but at the end of the day, we have to shoot the puck to break the team down. We did a much better job tonight.”
Colton Parayko tied things 1-1 just before the first period expired. Parayko settled a pass from Pavel Buchnevich in the high slot and wristed it home at 18:41.
Maveric Lamoureux’s night was over under a minute into the second period. The rookie defenseman was dealt a five-minute major and game misconduct for kneeing the Blues’ Alexey Toropchenko, followed by five minutes for fighting against Pierre-Oliver Joseph who dropped the gloves with Lamoureux because of the hit.
Utah Hockey Club's Michael Kesselring (7), left, scores a goal past St. Louis Blues' Joel Hofer (30) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Connor Hamilton)
Utah played the rest of the matchup with five defensemen. Mikhail Sergachev posted a team-high 28:00 of time on ice. Kesselring followed with 23:23.
“I think our D did a really good job. I think it was a strong game for them. They managed it well. I liked it,” head coach André Tourigny said.
Utah regained its lead with 1:51 remaining in the second period. Guenther — who ended the night with two points — protected the puck at the top of the zone before dishing it to Matias Maccelli above the right circle. Maccelli unleashed a sharp wrister to make it 2-1 and earn his third goal of the year.
Jordan Kyrou found the 2-2 equalizer for the Blues at 13:29 of the final stanza, but Guenther’s goal pulled Utah ahead before Jack McBain iced the game with an empty-netter at 19:56.
“I think we just did a better job as a team, honestly, managing the puck and not taking too many risks to end the game,” Kesselring said.
Utah did not let up on the Blues in the final five minutes of play and skated with a sense of desperation that teams need on a nightly basis to win in the NHL. It is something the Hockey Club will look to carry into Saturday’s game against the Nashville Predators — another divisional opponent — as it closes out the four-game road trip.
