Month: March 2025

All four forward lines score in first game of critical, two-game road trip

Utah GM Bill Armstrong told his troops this week that they had earned the right to stay together. In the next breath, he handed out four contract extensions to walk the talk.

His team repaid him with a gutsy 4-2 win in Detroit on the day before the NHL trade deadline.

Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka was the story of the game on Thursday, stopping 38 shots to earn his fifth win in his past six outings.

Dylan Guenther, Nick Schmaltz, Kevin Stenlund and Lawson Crouse scored, the penalty kill was a perfect three-for-three against the NHL’s second-ranked power play unit, and Utah crept a little closer to the final wild card spot in the Western Conference with a win against a team that is trying to claim its own wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Utah rallied from a 2-1 deficit despite being outshot 40-19. Utah has won three of its past four games, four of its past six, and seven of its past 10.

“We had a kind of slow start today, but after the first period, we played a pretty good second and even better in the third,” Vejmelka said. “It’s a big team win tonight.”

Playoff watch: The only other team of note in the race for the Western Conference’s final wild card spot that was in action on Thursday was the Calgary Flames. They lost, 3-2, in overtime in Dallas on Thursday. Overall, Utah drew within a point of the St. Louis Blues with a game in hand, within two points of the Vancouver Canucks, and within three points of the Flames, who hold the final wild card slot.

Extension energized: Utah signed four players to contract extensions this week: forward Alex Kerfoot, defensemen Olli Määttä, Ian Cole and Vejmelka. They all seemed energized by the security in Thursday’s game.

Kerfoot set up Dylan Guenther’s first period goal with a terrific backhand pass. Määttä logged 18:20 of ice time, he was a plus-1, and he drew a game-clinching penalty on Patrick Kane late in the game. Cole logged 21:32 of ice time and recorded a goal-saving blocked shot late in the game.

And then there was Vejmelka.

Utah’s starter, who just agreed to a five-year extension on Wednesday, made 38 saves to mark his highest save total in a road game this season. Two saves in particular stood out.

Vejmelka’s right pad/toe save on Red Wings center Dylan Larkin with just over a minute remaining in the first period was a possible game-changer with Utah already trailing 2-1. So was his point-blank glove save on forward Alex DeBrincat, moving left to right, with just over a minute left in the second period and the game tied, 2-2.

“We got an elite performance from Veggie,” Utah coach André Tourigny said. “We demanded a lot from him tonight. I want to help him a little better, but you know what? That’s what a team is. When you stick together, sometimes it’s one guy, another night it’s another guy.

“He was really, really good, tuned in, made key saves at key moments.”

Bjugdstad injured: Utah center Nick Bjugstad missed the game with an upper-body injury that landed him on injured reserve. The IR stint is retroactive to Utah’s last game on March 1 which means he is eligible to play in the team’s home game against Toronto on Monday.

Players who are placed on IR must miss at least seven days.

Quotable: “We had one period to go out there and win an important hockey game and that’s what we did,” said associate captain Lawson Crouse of his team’s two-goal third period. “It shows a lot of courage from our team. There’s definitely things we need to improve on, but getting a win like that feels good.”

Up next: Utah travels to Chicago for the only time this season to face the Blackhawks on Friday. Utah leads the season series, 2-0. In the first game in Utah Hockey Club history, Dylan Guenther had two goals, Connor Ingram made 24 saves and Utah beat the Blackhawks, 5-2 at Delta Center on Oct. 8. Utah won the second meeting at Delta Center on Feb. 25 when Crouse scored the game-winning goal on a backhander with 7:48 left in a 2-1 victory.

SALT LAKE CITY (March 6, 2025) – Utah Hockey Club announced today the signing of goaltender Karel Vejmelka to a five-year contract extension.

“Karel’s confident demeanor helps set the tone for our team every day,” said Chris Armstrong, president of hockey operations for Utah Hockey Club. “It allows our group to play to its strengths, knowing he is back there to make the key saves. Vej has earned this commitment from our organization, and we are grateful to have him as an important piece in our future.”

“Karel has been integral to the success of our team this season,” said Bill Armstrong, general manager of Utah Hockey Club. “He is a talented goaltender that competes every night he takes the net and has solidified one of the most critical positions on our team. We are thrilled to have Karel signed for the next five years.”

The 28-year-old Vejmelka has earned a 16-16-4 record with a 2.45 goals against average (GAA), .910 save percentage (SV%) and one shutout in 38 games with Utah in 2024-25. He has established new single-season bests in goals-against average and save percentage, and his 16 wins are just two shy of matching his career high set with the Arizona Coyotes in 2022-23. Vejmelka has also posted a career-high nine wins on the road this season, including a franchise-record, five-game road win streak from Nov. 26 to Dec. 20.

Vejmelka has played 178 career NHL games over four seasons with Utah and Arizona, registering a 60-91-15 record, 3.26 GAA, .901 SV% and six shutouts. The 6-foot-4, 202-pound netminder ranks 10th all-time in games played and wins among Czech-born goaltenders.

A native of Trebic, Czechia, Vejmelka won back-to-back Czech Extraliga titles with HC Kometa Brno in 2017 and 2018. He posted a 77-84-0 record, 2.56 GAA, .913 SV% and 13 shutouts over nine Extraliga seasons with Brno, Dukia Jihlava and HC Pardubice.

Vejmelka has also represented Czechia at the 2014 IIHF Under-18 World Championship and each of the last three IIHF World Championships (2022-24), and he helped Czechia win the gold medal on home soil in 2024.

Vejmelka was originally drafted by the Nashville Predators in the fifth round (145th overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft.

WHEN: 5:00 p.m. MT

WHERE: Little Caesars Arena – Detroit, Michigan

TV: SEG+, UtahHC+, Utah 16 | RADIO: KSL Sports Zone 97.5 FM, NHL App

The Utah Hockey Club (27-25-9) gets back to work tonight against the Detroit Red Wings (30-25-6) in the first-ever meeting between the two teams. Utah enters tonight on four days of rest and has won six of its last nine contests. The Red Wings are looking to bounce back after three consecutive losses following one of the NHL’s hottest streaks of the season in which they won nine of 11 games from Jan. 23 to Feb. 25.

Both Utah and Detroit are narrowly on the outside of the Stanley Cup Playoff picture. Utah is four points out of the second wild card spot in the Western Conference while the Red Wings are one point out of the postseason picture in the Eastern Conference.

ONE-TIMERS

• Clayton Keller is 12th in the NHL with 69 points (22G, 47A), and his 22 power-play assists rank seventh in the league.
• Kevin Stenlund ranks sixth in the NHL with a 58.8% faceoff win percentage.
• Ian Cole is second in the league with 160 blocked shots and is a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
• Last night, Utah signed Ian Cole (one year), Alexander Kerfoot (one year), and Karel Vejmelka (five years) to contract extensions.
• The Red Wings are 17-8-2 since Todd McLellan took over as head coach on Dec. 27.

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP

Detroit and Utah are both in the middle of a rebuilding process, albeit at slightly different stages. Last season, the Red Wings missed the postseason by virtue of a tiebreaker. This season, Detroit’s roster is filled with young draft picks advancing in their NHL development.

Leading the charge is 22-year-old Lucas Raymond, who leads the club with 63 points (22G, 41A) in 61 games. Raymond was taken fourth overall back in 2020, a year after the Red Wings selected defenseman Moritz Seider sixth overall in the 2019 draft. Seider has 36 points (5G, 31A) in 61 games, and like Raymond, is in his fourth NHL season.

Along with Raymond and Seider, several other recent draft picks are making an impact for Detroit: defenseman Simon Edvinsson (sixth overall – 2021 draft), center Marco Kasper (eighth overall – 2022 draft), winger Jonatan Berggren (33rd overall – 2018 draft), and defenseman Albert Johansson (60th overall – 2019 draft).

Three American-born stars provide the veteran production for Detroit up front: Alex DeBrincat leads the team with 29 goals; Captain Dylan Larkin represented Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-off and has 53 points (24G, 29A) this season; and Patrick Kane is in his second season with the Red Wings and has 38 points (15G, 23A) in 51 games. Kane is three-time Stanley Cup Champion with the Chicago Blackhawks, and his 1,322 career NHL points rank second amongst all American-born skaters behind Mike Modano.

WHO TO WATCH

UTAH: #2 OLLI MÄÄTTÄ – Määttä spent the first seven games of the season with Detroit before he was traded to Utah on Oct. 29. The Finnish defenseman played in parts of three seasons with the Red Wings before donning the Mountain Blue.

UTAH: #93 ALEX DEBRINCAT – After two goals last Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Stadium Series game at Ohio Stadium, DeBrincat now has three goals in his last three games. The Farmington Hills, Michigan native now has eight goals in 10 games since the start of February.

LOOK BACK

Utah fell 3-1 to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday at Delta Center. After Nico Hischier scored his 25th goal of the season to give New Jersey the lead in the first period, Utah’s Mikhail Sergachev knotted things up at 1-1 in the second frame after a setup from Liam O’Brien.

Later in the third, Timo Meier and Curtis Lazar added to New Jersey’s lead to put the game out of reach. The Devils outshot Utah 29-25, and Utah’s power play went 0-for-2. The loss snapped a three-game win streak and a four-game home win streak for Utah.

FIRST MEETING

Tonight is the first-ever meeting between Utah and Detroit. After this evening, the only team that Utah has yet to face is the Tampa Bay Lightning. Utah will host Tampa Bay on Mar. 22 and then visit the lightning on Mar. 27. The Mountain Blue will conclude its season series with Detroit on Mar. 24 at Delta Center.

OLLI MÄÄTTÄ SIGNS EXTENSION

Utah signed defenseman Olli Määttä to a three-year contract (beginning in 2024-25) on Monday. The defenseman has 14 points (two goals, 12 assists) and is averaging 20:41 of ice time in 51 games since being acquired in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 29.

“We’re thrilled to have Olli signed for the next three years,” Utah general manager Bill Armstrong said. “Olli is a smart defenseman and a true professional on and off the ice. He has brought stability to our blue line, has a tremendous work ethic, and is an excellent role model for our younger players. We look forward to having him as an important part of our core moving forward.”

Selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round (No. 22) of the 2012 NHL Draft, Maatta has 191 points (42 goals, 142 assists) in 742 regular-season games with Utah, the Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Chicago Blackhawks and Penguins, and 27 points (five goals, 22 assists) in 85 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He helped the Penguins win the Cup in 2016 and 2017.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Utah’s special teams have provided major boosts over the last several weeks.

The power play has connected eight times over the last seven games (8-for-23, 34.7%), including three multi-power-play-goal games. Dylan Guenther leads the team with 10 power-play tallies, and Clayton Keller paces the club with 28 power-play points (6G, 22A).

Utah’s penalty kill experienced a rough patch, allowing six power-play goals in five games from Feb. 8 to Feb. 25, but is now back on track after back-to-back 2-for-2 efforts against the Minnesota Wild and New Jersey Devils. Utah’s penalty kill ranks 12th in the NHL at 80.8% and will be facing an elite Detroit power play that is second in the NHL at 29.1%.

LOOK AHEAD

Utah concludes a two-game Midwestern road swing tomorrow night at United Center against the Chicago Blackhawks. Utah is 2-0-0 against the Blackhawks this season, and tomorrow’s game will mark Utah’s first visit to the historic venue.

SALT LAKE CITY (March 5, 2025) – Utah Hockey Club announced today the signing of defenseman Ian Cole to a one-year contract extension.

“Ian is the consummate professional and puts his body on the line nightly for our team,” said Chris Armstrong, president of hockey operations for Utah Hockey Club. “He has played a critical role in helping to shape the identity of our team this year through his work ethic, durability and relentless commitment.”

“We are thrilled to have Ian back for another season,” said Bill Armstrong, general manager of Utah Hockey Club. “Ian’s championship pedigree, work ethic and leadership on and off the ice are valuable assets to our group, and we’re thrilled to have him remain with our organization as we fight for a playoff spot.”

Cole, 36, has played 61 games with Utah this season, recording 1-12-13 and 53 penalty minutes (PIM). He leads the NHL in blocked shots (160) in 2024-25, and he also ranks second in hits (73) and takeaways (21) among all Utah defensemen.

The 6-foot-1, 237-pound defenseman has tallied 35-171-206 and 797 PIM in 887 career regular-season NHL games with Utah, the Vancouver Canucks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues. Cole has also earned a plus-146 rating in his career, which ranks tied for the ninth-highest rating of any active NHL defenseman.

Cole has skated in an additional 129 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, posting 3-28-31 and 92 PIM. He won back-to-back Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017 alongside current Utah teammate Olli Määttä. Cole has made 122 playoff appearances since 2016, which trails only Pat Maroon (134) and Corey Perry (125) for the highest total by any NHL skater over that span.

A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Cole represented the United States on multiple occasions throughout his junior career and helped Team USA win back-to-back IIHF World Junior Championship gold medals in 2008 and 2009.

Cole was originally drafted by St. Louis in the first round (18th overall) of the 2007 NHL Draft.