The Blackhawks visited the Utah Hockey Club, the first game in Utah’s history at the Delta Center on Tuesday, October 8th. The Hawks took an unfortunate 5-2 loss, however, it was an amazing first win for Utah. Dylan Guenther scored the first goal in the Club’s history and the fourth goal of the game to help Utah secure the 5-2 victory. Teuvo Teravainen scored the first goal for Chicago, and Nick Foligno redirected a shot by Alex Vlasic for the second goal. Utah plays their second game in New York against the Islanders on Thursday, and the Hawks will play against the Jets in Winnipeg on Friday.
Blackhawks Lineup:
Mikheyev – Bedard – Teravainen
Hall – Kurashev – Bertuzzi
Foligno – Dickinson – Anderson
Maroon – Donato – Smith
Martinez – Jones
Vlasic – Brodie
Allan – Murphy
Mrazek
Soderblom
Utah Lineup:
Keller – Hayton – Schmaltz
McBain – Cooley – Guenther
Maccelli – Doan – Crouse
O’Brien – Stenlund – Kerfoot
Sergachev – Durzi
Valimaki – Kesselring
Cole – Kolyachonok
Ingram
Vejmelka
Dylan Guenther struck the first goal of the night and in Utah’s history early into the opening 20 at 15:04. To give Utah the 1-0 lead, Guenther sent a one-timer past Petr Mrazek from just behind the right circle. Later in the first period, Clayton Keller made it a 2-0 game with 6:25 on the clock when he scored on a rebound off a shot from Nick Schmaltz.
Extending Utah’s lead to 3-0 at 11:14 of the middle frame, Barrett Hayton scored off a deflection of a shot by Mikhail Sergachev. Teuvo Teravainen struck the first goal for the Blackhawks late in the second with 5:33 remaining to cut Utah’s lead to 3-1. Connor Bedard sent a centering pass to Teravainen on the rush, who then sent a backhand from in front past Connor Ingram.
Nick Foligno won the faceoff cleanly, headed straight to the net, and tipped in Alex Vlasic’s shot early into the third at 15:12 to make it 3-2. Later into the period, with 44 seconds remaining, Dylan Guenther struck the Hawks’ empty net to make it 4-2 after he recovered a rebound of Logan Cooley’s long shot… With just seconds left, Lawson Crouse had scored on a redirection for the 5-2 final.
Nick Foligno on Utah HC, how the Hawks played, and the 5-2 loss: “They just got to there faster than we did in the first, and then honestly, I thought we took over,” – “The chances we had … they’re going to get their opportunities, they’re a skilled team, but I thought for the most part we carried the play and really deserved to equalize the game. So, that’s the disappointing part. It’s an area we need to address. We just need to make sure we start right.”
Notes:
– Connor Bedard recorded a pair of assists… he also attempted The Michigan and got denied, but he was really close!
Bedard is the second player in Blackhawks history to record a point in two season-opening games as a teenager. The first and only other player in franchise history being Eddie Olczyk (1984-1986)
– Petr Mrazek made 20 saves for the Blackhawks, and Connor Ingram made 24 saves for the Utah Hockey Club.
– Barrett Hayton had a two-point night, both a goal and an assist… Nick Schmaltz and Logan Cooley each recorded two assists.
– Scoring in the first franchise’s inaugural game, Clayton Keller became the first captain since Kelly Buchberger did the same for the Atlanta Thrashers on October 2nd, 1999.
– The Utah Hockey Club became the eighth team in the NHL’s expansion era, 1967-68, to win its inaugural game. The other teams who did the same are the Oakland Seals, Los Angeles Kings, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Tampa Bay Lightning, Ottawa Senators, and the Vegas Golden Knights.
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