The first game. The first goal. The first fight. These moments culminated in another first for the Utah Hockey Club: the first win in franchise history, a 5-2 victory Tuesday night over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Though it took months to reach this point, Utah’s introduction to the NHL was swift. Dylan Guenther needed less than five minutes to score the first goal in team history. Nearly ten minutes later, Utah captain Clayton Keller scored to give the club a 2-0 lead.
“That was pretty cool,” Guenther said. “That building was special. It was a ton of fun to play in front of that crowd.”
Midway through the second period, Utah tripled its lead when prized offseason acquisition Mikhail Sergachev set up Barrett Hayton for a 3-0 advantage.
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A three-goal lead in front of a packed crowd instilled confidence that the first game in team history would be a successful one—and it was, but it almost wasn’t.
“I think we were good from the start after we settled in and got back to our style of hockey,” Keller said. “We had a little bit of a lull in the third period, but [Connor Ingram] was great back there and settled us down. It doesn’t matter how you get the win; the win itself is all that matters.”
Chicago’s Teuvo Teravainen, who returned to the team that drafted him in the offseason, broke through to cut the lead to 3-1 with less than five minutes left in what ultimately became an active second period.
Seconds after the goal, a scrum against the boards saw Keller receive a two-minute minor for removing Connor Murphy’s helmet, while Murphy and Utah defenseman Sean Durzi each received five minutes for fighting.
Once Durzi and Murphy were separated, cameras captured Durzi jawing at Murphy, prompting the Utah crowd to chant “Durzi! Durzi! Durzi!”
That high later turned to dread when Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno scored just 4:48 into the third period, trimming Utah’s lead to 3-2.
With that, Foligno gave Utah fans another first: the anxiety of potentially watching their team surrender a three-goal lead at home on opening night.
The Utah crowd watched as reigning Calder Trophy winner Connor Bedard attempted to execute “The Michigan” lacrosse-style goal, only to fall short. With around nine minutes left, fans saw Bedard create isolation and launch a point-blank chance. Then, with 7:54 remaining, they witnessed former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall break away from three Utah players.
All of those tense moments were met with Utah goaltender Ingram making crucial saves.
Ingram finished with 24 saves, and his teammates combined to block 23 shots in a game that had once seemed to be on cruise control. The game concluded with Guenther scoring his second goal on an empty-netter with 42 seconds left, followed by Lawson Crouse scoring just ten seconds later for a final score of 5-2.
“Today was special; there’s no doubt about it. One day we will look back on this,” said Utah Hockey Club coach Andre Tourigny. “I received texts from about half of the head coaches in the league today. That means something, and it’s because this is special.”
“I think that’s what this team needs to learn now—to close out games,” Ingram said. “It’s a good learning step for us.”
Getting the first win in team history capped what was an active day. While the team held its first morning skate, construction crews were still hard at work. As players left the ice, arena workers hurried to finalize details, from adding more monitors to other last-minute tasks.
Hours later, the team arrived at the Delta Center and walked the blue carpet, greeted by roaring fans.
Many fans filled the arena wearing the Utah club’s blue and white, along with a strong contingent of Blackhawks supporters. There were even a few fans in Arizona Coyotes jerseys.
Utah’s Tourigny, who also coached that Coyotes team, noted that Tuesday would be remembered for many years to come. But at the same time, he admitted he couldn’t wait to return to the normalcy that comes with a regular-season schedule.
“Today was special; there’s no doubt about it,” Tourigny said. “One day we will look back. I received texts from about half of the head coaches in the league today. That means something, and it’s because it’s special.”