SALT LAKE CITY – Everything is new for fans of the Utah Hockey Club as the relocated team plays its inaugural season in the Beehive State. So they can be forgiven if they weren’t prepared for what their Central Division foe from Minnesota looks like, especially away from home.
On Tuesday, the Wild introduced themselves to the fans in Utah, and a good-sized number of spectators in green and red, playing its patented brand of road hockey as Minnesota rallied for a 5-4 shootout win.
Backstopped by 21 saves from Filip Gustavsson, the Wild got a late tying goal from Marco Rossi with the goalie pulled and got a Matt Boldy goal in the shootout as they bounced back from a loss in Los Angeles two nights earlier. They headed back to Minnesota for a homestand holding an eye-popping 12-2-3 road record.
Gustavsson stopped all three Utah shootout attempts.
Trailing in the second period, they got goals from Marat Khusnutdinov and Kirill Kaprizov on back to back shifts, and were able to overcome a pair of third period power-play goals by Utah’s Clayton Keller.
Despite a large Wild shot advantage in the first, Utah took advantage of some on-ice chaos to grab the early lead. Minnesota defenseman Declan Chisholm snapped his stick on a slap shot from the offensive blue line, then had to scramble to get new hardware and get back in the defensive zone as Utah made a rush. The Wild defenders never really got re-set, and Utah fourth-liner Kevin Stenlund was able to slip a shot through traffic and past Gustavsson.
The Wild finished the opening period down by a goal despite a 17-5 advantage in shots, and have now gone six consecutive games without a goal in the opening 20 minutes. Their most recent first period goal was the night before Thanksgiving in Buffalo.
Utah appeared to double its lead near the midway point of the second on a long shot that beat Gustavsson low. But the Wild bench immediately challenged the play, and video review showed a Utah skater was offside, keeping Minnesota’s deficit at one goal.
Then a costly turnover in front of the Utah bench sprung Khusnutdinov on a breakaway, which he finished with an upper right corner shot for his first goal of the season. Kaprizov gave the visitors the lead just 36 seconds later with a quick shot that beat Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka low.
Utah forged a 2-2 tie, briefly, on a power play early in the third, but Minnesota answered less than a minute later when Vejmelka failed to cover a loose puck in the crease and it sat loose just long enough for Johansson to sweep it over the goal line.
It was the first game played in Utah by the Wild, after the former Arizona Coyotes relocated in the summer of 2024.
With this three-game western road swing concluded, the Wild return to Minnesota and will play six of their next seven games at home, beginning on Thursday night when Edmonton visits Xcel Energy Center for a 7 p.m. game.
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