Utah’s Vejmelka Stymies Penguins in 6-1 Win

The Pittsburgh Penguins (7-11-4) were hoping to turn the month of November around when they welcomed the Utah Hockey Club (7-9-3) to PPG Paints Arena for their first-ever meeting.

The Penguins were 3-4-3 in the month of November until Utah came in and dismantled them 6-1, moving the Penguins’ record to 3-5-3 for the month.

Karel Vejmelka was outstanding for Utah, making 27 saves for his second win of the season. Utah’s power play was lethal against the Penguins, going 3-for-4 in the game.

Game Recap

The Penguins had an early onslaught of shots, putting up seven before Utah could get its first. Surviving that early pressure from the Penguins, Utah found itself with the lead, having scored two goals in the span of four minutes and 13 seconds.

Jack McBain opened the scoring at 8:54 on just their second shot, followed by Mikhail Sergachev at 13:07. Utah took its 2-0 lead into the locker room.

On an early second-period 5-on-3 power play, Sidney Crosby tallied his 600th career goal at 3:11 to make it a 2-1 game.

Related: Sidney Crosby Scores 600th Career Goal

At 10:37, Utah capitalized on its own power-play chance. A shot from Michael Kesselring deflected off Nick Bjugstad’s shin pads and into the back of the net. Though they held an 11-8 shot advantage in the middle frame, the Penguins found themselves trailing 3-1 with just 20 minutes left to find a way to tie the game.

The Penguins came out with a decent start to begin the period, earning a power play just four minutes in. They ultimately nullified their own chance at 5:21 when Matt Grzelcyk was sent to the box for tripping.

For the second time on three power-play chances, Utah converted on Dylan Guenther’s team-leading eighth goal of the season. Alexander Kerfoot joined in on the scoring to make it a 5-1 game.

After extending their lead to four goals, Utah controlled the pace and play for the remainder of the period. With constant pressure on the power play, Guenther tallied his second goal of the game.

Luckily for the Penguins, they have the next three days off before returning to game action against the Vancouver Canucks for the fifth and final game of their homestand. Utah will head to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs for the second game of their back-to-back.