Karel Vejmelka skated back onto the ice, pumping his arms and whooping to a Delta Center crowd eager to give him a raucous standing ovation.
The usually soft-spoken and reserved Utah Hockey Club goaltender was announced as the first star of the game and let his emotion break through after making a career-high 49 saves in Wednesday’s 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
It was Vejmelka’s first win of the season and one Utah will look back on for plenty of reasons.
After scoring three goals in just over two minutes in the third period, Utah was put on a seven-minute penalty kill, followed by two more minors. The team spent 10:26 on the penalty kill in the final frame and did not allow the Hurricanes — who came into the night averaging the second-most goals per game in the league — to cash in.
“It’s a great effort from everybody,” Vejmelka said. “We need to remember this night and keep building on it as a team.”
The chaos started when Michael Carcone found Jack Drury at center ice and, essentially, forced him into a fight before laying punches on the Carolina forward who was already down on the ice.
As a result, Carcone got two minutes for instigating, five for fighting and a game misconduct. That gave the Hurricanes a seven-minute power play. Maveric Lamoureux was called for hooking with 34 seconds remaining in Carcone’s major penalty, and after that was killed off, Nick Bjugstad sat for delay of game.
Nonetheless, Utah bore down, sacrificed its bodies and got some key stops from its goaltender to hold the Hurricanes scoreless in a period in which they played half of on the power play.
It was pride.
“The best thing that can happen to us is when everybody thinks we cannot do it. I think that is perfect,” head coach André Tourigny said.
Utah finished the game with 26 blocked shots; Ian Cole and Mikhail Sergachev led the team with six each.
Prior to a third period that displayed important character and grit from a team working to put meaningful wins together, Bjugstad gave Utah a 1-0 lead late in the first. The forward collected the puck loose in the slot following a failed Carolina clear and one-timed it for his first goal of the season at 17:55.
Utah Hockey Club center Nick Bjugstad (17) smiles on the ice during warmups prior to an NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)
“We’ve struggled a little bit as of late offensively. … It’s good to see it come in a game, get rewarded in a game,” Bjugstad said. “Guys stayed with it. We didn’t get frustrated. That was a big reason and we stuck together.”
With Bjugstad’s goal, Carcone, Nick Schmaltz and Liam O’Brien are the only three forwards who have yet to score for Utah this season. Granted, Carcone skated in his sixth game of the year Wednesday and O’Brien has played in three. Schmaltz, though, has played 16 games and is a first-line winger on a team that desperately needs consistent offensive production from its top players.
The Hurricanes found the 1-1 equalizer in the second period while Cole sat in the penalty box for holding. Martin Necas wasted no time to blast the puck from the left circle home at 10:04.
Utah had five shots on goal in the middle frame while Carolina unleashed 17. Vejmelka had made 31 saves before the third period even started.
And then things exploded.
Utah potted three goals in just under two and a half minutes in the final stanza. First, it was a slick move by Michael Kesselring who sent a cross-crease pass to Jack McBain to knock in on the doorstep. McBain’s fourth of the season made it 2-1 at 5:09.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club defenseman Mikhail Sergachev (98) during an NHL hockey game at the Delta Center against the Calgary Flames in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024.
Sergachev followed it up with a snipe from the high slot for the 3-1 lead at 7:11, and Bjugstad scored his second of the night just 17 seconds later by tapping in a net-front rebound. Kesselring picked up his second assist of the night on the play.
“There was adversity in that game for us. Mentally we were a little bit not the most confident team at this point offensively,” Tourigny said. “Come back in the third the way we came back — with a lot of confidence with the puck and making plays, making big plays.”
With the 4-1 cushion, Utah then put on a penalty-kill performance that had the Delta Center the loudest it has been since opening night to seal the victory. “VEG-GIE, VEG-GIE” chants reigned supreme for the goaltender that kept Utah in it through three periods.
“It’s unreal. This is a moment to remember for sure,” Vejmelka said. “This is a night to remember for me. For everybody, this is a huge game for us.”
