Utah nips Ducks, remains in thick of wild-card hunt

Reuters

13-03-2025

March 13 - Dylan Guenther had a goal and an assist for the Utah Hockey Club in a 3-2 win against the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.
Jack McBain and Alexander Kerfoot also scored and Karel Vejmelka made 19 saves for Utah, which ran its point streak to four games (2-0-2) and moved within two points of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Alex Killorn and Mason McTavish scored and Ville Husso made 36 saves in his team debut for the Ducks, who were coming off a 7-4 loss to the visiting Washington Capitals on Tuesday.
Anaheim is eight points out of a playoff spot after going 1-4-0 in its past five games.
Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev saved a goal early in the second period, but later committed back-to-back minor penalties. The Ducks capitalized on the second when McTavish scored on a one-timer from the right circle to tie it 2-2 at 3:22 of the third period.
Utah then went on a power play and the top unit kept the puck in the Anaheim zone for an extended stretch before Guenther scored with a one-timer from the left circle for a 3-2 lead at 7:03.
McBain scored on a deflection to give Utah a 1-0 lead at 11:03 of the first period.
Sergachev made the goal-saving play when he kicked aside a close-in try by Ryan Strome after he had beaten Vejmelka on a drive to the net at 5:48 of the second period.
Utah pinned Anaheim in its own zone before Guenther centered a pass from off the wall to Kerfoot cutting to the net and he slipped the puck past Husso to extend the lead to 2-0 at 14:31 of the second.
Sergachev earned his 300th NHL point with an assist on the play.
The Ducks began their comeback shortly afterward.
Killorn hopped off the bench and received a pass from Leo Carlsson before squeezing a wrist shot between Vejmelka's blocker and left hip with a wrist shot from the left circle to make it 2-1 at 15:53.
Husso was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 24 for future considerations.