It was bad.
Very bad.
Utah Hockey Club was wholly dominated by the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday at Amalie Arena en route to falling 8-0 to a team it beat five days prior.
While not the end-all-be-all of playoff probabilities — yes, the magic of sports is getting to believe in miracles — the calculated percentage of Utah making the playoffs now is, well, near zero. Hockey Reference gives the Club a 2.9% chance while Money Puck says it is 2.2%. After an energizing surge that placed Utah just two points out of the playoff picture 11 days ago, those hopes are all but gone.
“We just need to make a decision if we want to be in the playoffs. If we want to fight for the playoffs or not right now,” said Mikhail Sergachev who played his first game in Tampa since getting traded. “I think this is kind of a punch in the face where we’ve got to take a step back and see what we want really out of this season.”
Beyond the postseason conversation, there was not much to take from Thursday’s performance against the Lightning.
(Dirk Shadd | Tampa Bay Times) Utah Hockey Club defenseman Mikhail Sergachev (98) on the ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning during second period action at Amalie Arena on Thursday, March 27, 2025 in Tampa, Fla.
It was Utah’s worst goal differential and, accordingly, worst loss of the season. It was also the second time in five games Utah has allowed seven goals against. In that span, the opponent has had four or more goals a night.
After scoring twice within the first five minutes of the opening frame — a backhander from Jake Guentzel and a snapshot from Victor Hedman — Tampa took the momentum and did not look back. J.J. Moser, who was a piece of the Sergachev trade last summer and spent three seasons with the Arizona Coyotes, had the primary assist on Hedman’s early tally.
Utah showed some resolve following a hard hit on Clayton Keller by Erik Cernak along the boards. Logan Cooley immediately went after Cernak and got thrown in the box for an interference call — one head coach André Tourigny may let slide. Kesselring then fought Cernak to further stick up for the Club’s captain.
“That’s very nice,” Sergachev said. “Obviously, Cools is not the biggest guy. He goes up to Cernak who is probably one of the biggest guys in the league, stands up for his teammate. That says a lot about this group, how tight we are.”
That fire was short-lived, though. Things proceeded to snowball for the Club in the second period as it allowed four goals against and could not convert on its one power play.
Tampa’s tenacious forecheck forced Utah off the puck in its own end and led to Gage Goncalves’ tip-in goal at 5:05 to make it 3-0. The Club was then unable to contain the Lightning’s rush as Nikita Kucherov blew right to the net and lifted one up and past Karel Vejmelka at 9:14 for the 4-0 lead. That was the last action Vejmelka — who made his 15th consecutive start — would see. The goaltender was pulled for the second time in five games and relieved by Jaxson Stauber.
(Dirk Shadd | Tampa Bay Times) Utah Hockey Club goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) is pulled from the game in favor of goaltender Jaxson Stauber (33) against the Tampa Bay Lightning during second period action at Amalie Arena on Thursday, March 27, 2025 in Tampa, Fla.
Stauber could not stop Tampa’s wrath, either. Guentzel potted his second of the night — this time on the power play as Ian Cole sat for slashing — at 17:54 before Oliver Bjorkstrand closed out the second with a one-timer from the slot for the 6-0 scoreline.
Goals from Brayden Point and Bjorkstrand (again) in the final stanza brought the contest to its 8-0 end.
“It was terrible. From the start to the finish. We didn’t play nearly the style, the game that we want to play and it showed,” Sergachev said. “You play against teams like Tampa, you’re going to get blown out. That’s what happened.”
Utah is now 10 points back of St. Louis for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. It looks increasingly unlikely the Club will make the playoffs in their inaugural year in Salt Lake City. Meaningful games were played, though, and the team can give looks to different players and combinations in the last 10 games of the regular season.
(Dirk Shadd | Tampa Bay Times) Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) celebrates his goal as Utah Hockey Club defenseman Michael Kesselring (7) skates off during second period action at Amalie Arena on Thursday, March 27, 2025 in Tampa, Fla.
Kailer Yamamoto was recalled from the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners on Wednesday; the forward played three games with Utah to start the season and had not been back up in the NHL since. Yamamoto posted 51 points (21 goals, 32 assists) through 51 games in Tucson after signing his one-year, two-way deal with the Club in October. While he did not play in Tampa, Yamamoto could get his chance in the lineup as the playoff race becomes far out of reach.
Utah has no time to dwell on the ugly loss in Tampa. It plays the second game of its back-to-back Friday night against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena.
