Utah Hockey Club earns first-ever shootout win

Washington, D.C. • Nick Schmaltz’s top-shelf move secured Utah Hockey Club’s first-ever shootout win in a 5-4 game Sunday afternoon against the Washington Capitals.

It closed out a three-game road trip for Utah which now enters the 4 Nations Face-Off break. The team has eight days off before its next practice and does not play until Feb. 22 against the Los Angeles Kings.

It was an eventful final game at Capital One Arena, though. Let’s break it down below.

Three-goal first period for Utah

By the two-minute mark of the first period, Utah had already celebrated scoring twice.

Josh Doan put the Club up 1-0 with his second goal in two games. The forward’s wrist shot from the high slot squeaked past Washington goaltender Logan Thompson at 1:10. Connor Ingram started the play, pushing the puck up to Jack McBain who dished it to Doan ahead of the opening goal.

The goaltender picked up the secondary assist on the play, marking Ingram’s second point in his last two starts.

“He was really good tonight. I think he was probably our best player,” head coach André Tourigny said of Doan. “I really liked the way he played — that line was really good. It’s good when it starts to come a little bit from everybody. Everybody chips in.”

Michael Carcone doubled the Club’s advantage 32 seconds later. The forward stationed himself in front of the crease and knocked in Dylan Guenther’s pass from the right side to make it 2-0.

Following a power-play goal from Tom Wilson at 3:47, McBain scored for the first time since Dec. 31. He exploded into the offensive zone, picked up Michael Kesselring’s pass off the rush and flipped it in at 7:07.

“It’s been a tough stretch here when things aren’t really bouncing your way,” McBain said. “You find you’re not getting any puck luck. But just stick with it and things come in waves in this league. It was good for sure.”

Pierre-Luc Dubois’ tally on the man advantage at 12:38 made it 3-2 heading into the middle frame; Utah went 0-for-2 on the penalty kill in the first but maintained its lead.

McBain and Doan finished the first frame with two points (one goal, one assist) each. It was both forwards’ second multi-point performance of the season. Guenther also finished the contest with two points.

“It’s huge. This was a big road trip for us, really good teams,” McBain said. “To get those points is really big.”

Connor Ingram leaves the game with injury

On Dubois’ scoring play during the man advantage, Ingram made the initial save on Alex Ovechkin’s blast from close range. The puck hit the netminder up high and he was immediately tended to by a Utah trainer on the ice.

Ingram ultimately headed down the tunnel and was later ruled out of the game with an upper-body injury.

“He’s hurt,” Tourigny said. “I don’t know what his status is at this point. He will be evaluated by the doctor and we’ll see.”

Karel Vejmelka came in relief with 7:22 remaining in the first period and finished the game with 30 saves. The netminder allowed six goals against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday but seemed to mentally and physically reset when called upon just 24 hours later.

“He was assertive,” Tourigny said. “I never felt he was shaky or whatever. He was assertive. He wanted to play, he was confident. Good for him.”

Injuries are, obviously, unwanted. But it comes at a convenient time for Ingram and Utah with the upcoming eight days off.

“Having time to have a mental rest and then get back at working out and getting ready for the second half, I think that will be huge,” Tourigny said.

Dylan Guenther picking up right where he left off

Guenther widened Utah’s gap early in the second period with his eighth power-play goal of the season — which is a team-high for Utah.

The 21-year-old blasted the puck in from the left circle — a spot that has somewhat become his office on the man advantage — for the 4-2 boost at 2:47. It was Guenther’s 20th goal of the year, tying Clayton Keller for most on the team.

Washington came back with goals from Dylan Strome and Wilson in the third period, but the Club ended things in the shootout.

This is the first time in Guenther’s NHL career that he has reached the 20-goal milestone; it is his first full year in the league, after all. He spent half of last season in the AHL before the call-up.

“You try not to look back, you try to kind of just stay in the present. But I’ve definitely come a long way since then. It’s pretty exciting and I’m proud of that.”

Guenther missed nearly a month of hockey with a lower-body injury and made his return on Feb. 4 against the Philadelphia Flyers. Since then, he has logged seven points in four games — including two overtime game-winners.

“I feel like I was able to recuperate my body, get a little bit stronger and gain a little more weight that I had lost throughout the year,” Guenther said of his recovery process. “A nice mental reset, too. I was kind of going through a bit of a tough stretch so it’s nice to start out well coming back from it.”

With the extra free time away from the rink, Guenther leveled up his cooking skills, too, he said — including dinners of spicy Italian sausage pasta with spinach, salmon and steak. McBain, his roommate, was somewhat impressed.

“He actually had a couple new recipes,” McBain said. “We’ve been cooking a lot more this year in general. I think he got a couple more dialed in. He’s doing good.”

Vladislav Kolyachonok claimed off waivers

Vladislav Kolyachonok was placed on waivers to be assigned to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners Saturday afternoon. By the second period of Sunday’s game, the defenseman was claimed by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The 23-year-old — who had been with the Utah (and previously Arizona Coyotes) organization for four years — played in 23 games this season. Kolyachonok’s last time in the lineup was Jan. 8; he had been the regular healthy scratch of the defensive group.

“We have a lot of guys available right now,” Tourigny said. “He didn’t play for a while so it’s tough for him to get ready, get in game shape when you don’t play for that long.”

After dealing with blueline injuries all season, the Club is starting to get some important players back. John Marino and Mikhail Sergachev are both healthy and, per Tourigny, Robert Bortuzzo and Sean Durzi are close to returning. Plus, there’s Juuso Välimäki who has been a scratch for the last seven games and can slot in if needed.

“It made it tough a little bit for [Kolyachonok] right now,” Tourigny said.

Durzi and Bortuzzo traveled and practiced with Utah on its most recent road trip and will be re-evaluated after the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

Kolyachonok signed a two-year contract with an average annual value of $775,000 in June. That is now off of Utah’s books.