After handily beating the Chicago Blackhawks 6-2 on Saturday, the Vancouver Canucks welcomed the Utah Hockey Club to Rogers Arena on Sunday for a crucial matchup with playoff implications. Coming into the day, Utah was four points back of the Canucks and could move within two of the final wild card spot with a win. The Canucks, meanwhile, had the opportunity to further distance themselves from the Calgary Flames and put a huge dent in Utah’s hopes of making the playoffs in their inaugural season. But it was Utah that prevailed in a tight game, pulling ahead in the third period thanks to Logan Cooley’s 18th and eventually winning 3-1 after Clayton Keller sealed it into an empty net.
Quinn Hughes opened the scoring for the second straight game for the Canucks before Kevin Stenlund tied it in the second, but it was Cooley who played the hero for Utah on this night, grabbing the game-winner in the third.
With the win, Utah moves within two points of the Canucks and ties the Calgary Flames in points with 71, while the Canucks stay put in the final wild card spot, but have company now with the St. Louis Blues tieing them after their 7-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks.
Game Recap
As expected, the first period was a spirited 20 minutes of scrums after the whistle and penalties both ways. All told, there were seven penalties, but Utah got the only power play when Tyler Myers got a delay-of-game call a little less than five minutes in. Despite Utah outshooting the Canucks 10-3, they couldn’t get one by Kevin Lankinen, and both teams ended the period still deadlocked at zero.
The Canucks opened the scoring early in the second on the power play when Hughes bounced one off Mikhail Sergachev’s hand and past Karel Vejmelka for his 16th. The score stayed 1-0 until Stenlund hit double digits with his 10th at 12:04 off a nice pass from behind the net by Nick Bjugstad. Utah still led substantially on the shot clock by the end of the period, 17-9, but the score was tied 1-1 heading into the final frame.
Utah pulled ahead in the third period after Cooley got a fortunate bounce off a couple of his teammates, which led to an empty net for him to shoot at. He made no mistake at the 5:08 mark, potting his 18th. The Canucks were gifted a four-minute power play about five minutes after that, but Utah’s penalty kill stood strong, keeping the lead at 2-1 until Keller salted it away with an empty netter in the final minute.
Goalie Matchup
- Vejmelka didn’t have a really busy night, stopping 18 of 19 shots for a .947 save percentage. He notched his career-high 19th win of the season, surpassing the 18 he had in 2022-23 with the Arizona Coyotes.
- Lankinen was solid, but his teammates couldn’t provide him enough run support, as he stopped 20 of 22. All three goaltenders (Lankinen, Arturs Silovs, and Thatcher Demko) that have started games this season for the Canucks have now faced the Utah Hockey Club, and none of them could come up with a victory.
What’s Next for the Canucks & Utah Hockey Club?
The Canucks welcome in the Western Conference-leading Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday for a potential first-round preview. Utah will also be in action as they travel to Edmonton to face the Oilers.
