After getting tough with Brendan Gallagher late in the third period of Tuesday’s game (Nov. 26) in Montreal, Utah Hockey Club’s Mikhail Sergachev got the last laugh. He scored at 4:33 of overtime to award Utah a 3-2 victory over the Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
Utah Plays a Stingy Defense
The Utah Hockey Club hasn’t earned a reputation this season of being an especially difficult squad to generate offense against. Heading into Tuesday’s match, they were 22nd in the NHL with 3.19 goals against per game, and 16th with 619 shots on target against (or an average of 29.47).
Related: Utah HC: Has Nick Schmaltz Lost His Scoring Touch?
Utah stepped up its defensive game versus Montreal. They limited their opponents to only eight shots on target through 40 minutes. Then again, the host Canadiens didn’t do themselves any favours by getting called for four penalties.
Although the visitors failed to capitalize on any of those chances at the time, they opened the scoring at 6:23 moments after a power play. With the Canadiens still skating with four players in their zone, Utah cycled the puck after a close chance. Clayton Keller, who was along the boards, found a wide-open Dylan Guenther across the slot, fed his teammate the puck, who tore into a one-timer for the 1-0 lead. It was Guenther’s 10th goal of the campaign.
The advantage didn’t last long, as Jaden Struble netted a goal for the second consecutive match at 8:05. Montreal applied decent pressure in Utah’s zone, and all the skating and puck passing eventually allowed Struble to step up closer to the slot to wrist home a shot.
Speaking of those Montrealers sent to the sin bin, David Savard was given a 10-minute misconduct after the siren to end the middle frame rung. The referees apparently did not take kindly to his jawing at them.
Third-Period Goals and Fisticuffs
The clubs exchanged goals quickly in the third period. Much maligned forward Alex Newhook put the hosts in front 2-1 at 0:46 by pouncing onto the puck in front of Karel Vejmekla’s net after it had been sent from behind by Christian Dvorak. Remarkably, it was only Montreal’s 10th shot on net.
However, Utah responded in kind at 4:17 when a two-on-one permitted Logan Cooley to slide the disc onto Jack McBain’s stick, who blasted a shot past Samuel Montembeault. It was his third marker in four games.
Things got heated with about six minutes remaining when some post-whistle scrums broke out. Despite the tension, the 2-2 deadlock remained. Overtime would be required.
The extra session was almost complete when, at 4:33, Sergachev went in front of Montreal’s net as Jake Evans covered him. Nick Schmaltz’s pass from the right found the mark as Sergachev tapped home the game-winning goal. As Utah’s own Twitter account posted, “Winner, winner, poutine dinner.”
Utah returns home to face the Edmonton Oilers on Friday (Nov. 29). Montreal has a quicker turnaround. They’ll be in Columbus to play the Blue Jackets on Wednesday (Nov. 27).
