Three reasons why Utah Hockey Club keeps winning

The Delta Center crowd jumped to its feet, roars filled the arena and the goal horn sounded as the Utah Hockey Club flooded the ice.

The team staged a comeback in the third period after trailing 2-0 against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night. Mikhail Sergachev won the game 3-2 in overtime, marking Utah's first win on home ice since November 13.

Utah has now won five of its last six games and is one point out of playoff position in the Western Conference.

How did the team find consistency and string this series together?

Sergachev remains an MVP-caliber player

With the score tied at 2-2, Sergachev threw himself in front of a Vancouver shot and blocked it with his arm in the final two minutes of the third period.

My arm was dead, the defender said.

Sergachev remained on the bench as regular time expired and extra time began. Normally he would start the five-minute three-on-3 period, but Sergachev did his best to regain feeling in his arm.

He is a bit confused, so we didn't know if he could play in extra time, said head coach Andr Tourigny. We knew he couldn't start. We said to him: As soon as you think you can give us a service, tell us. He went at the end of overtime and it was worth it.

Sergachev, as he has done all season, mustered all the strength and endurance he had to help the team earn two points.

After being trapped in the defensive zone with Logan Cooley and Nick Schmaltz, Sergachev and Utah got their break. Cooley picked up the puck along the left boards and charged the other way. Sergachev joined him in the 2-on-1 and delivered the cross-crease pass with a backhand for the 3-2 win with 12 seconds left.

Cooley got the puck, so always have the net, Sergachev said. He made a sick dish. I was a little lucky that it hit the defender's stick and went five holes, but I don't care.

Sergachev's game-winner was also his eighth goal and 23rd point of the season after posting a team-high 27:02 of ice time against Vancouver.

He could have sat for the rest of the game, but he didn't. Utah won as a result.

That was desperation, that was urgency, Tourigny said.

Sergachev wore an A on Wednesday and played with responsibility. His leadership on and off the ice has been quickly recognized by teammates and fans alike since he was traded to Utah this summer.

Sergachev is one of the biggest difference makers in Utah.

Sergy makes an incredible block there on the one-timer that might save us a goal, said Utah captain Clayton Keller. That's a huge play from him and it's great to see him rewarded with the game winner too.

Finding different ways to win, especially in the third period

Utah Hockey Club didn't play a perfect game against the Canucks.

But good teams find ways to win and that's what Utah has been doing lately.

Utah unraveled during parts of the second. Danton Heinen scored on the power play to give Vancouver a 1-0 lead, while Utah went 0-for-2 on its own. The Canucks quickly extended their lead with a goal from Dakota Joshua 2:45 into the third.

Had Wednesday's game taken place in late October, Utah likely would have forgone the game. When something went wrong, it really went wrong and the team couldn't regroup physically or mentally to give themselves a chance to win.

That story has changed drastically. Utah has matured. It has become resilient.

I think it shows that we are more likely to learn from our mistakes, Keller said. If you stick with it and keep doing the little things, the tide will eventually turn. I'm happy with the way we fought through some adversity tonight and got the two points.

Keller was the one who got Utah back into contention with his 11th goal of the season and fourth in four games. The captain dropped the puck to Schmaltz and rushed to the net to bury the rebound of his linemates, who shot from the high slot for the 2-1 score at 9:02.

Dylan Guenther potted the 2-2 equalizer from his regular left circle position on the first unit. Keller hit Guenther with a cross-zone pass for the 21-year-old to one-time home at 3:30 for his team-leading 14th goal of the season and fourth in four three games.

Adversity will happen, it's how you respond to adversity, Tourigny said. The way they responded to setbacks was a great comeback.

Utah had to lock down defensively in the final 4:30 of regulation, but still had to push on the offense itself. The team has recently found the right balance by not giving its opponents too much respect at key moments in the game, but also skating responsibly in all three zones.

That third-period effort and increased credibility pushed Utah into overtime, where Sergachev sealed it.

It says that we are growing as a group, Sergachev said. We're a young group, but we can make the playoffs, we can play in the playoffs, we can play playoff teams. We show it every evening.

Good, consistent goaltending

Utah Hockey Club had not yet taken the ice for warm-ups and VEG-GIE chants broke out in the crowd as the goaltender was briefly shown on the jumbotron.

The enthusiastic reception of Vejmelka by fans has a direct link to how he has played very well for them. The netminder posted 26 saves on 28 shots against Vancouver, contributing to his 2.37 goals against average and .915 save percentage.

It sounds redundant at this point, but Vejmelka's tenacity has given Utah a chance to win in every game it has played in the past month.

He's been great. He's been kicking since he walked in there, Keller said. He's got his swagger and his confidence back. He's such a good goalkeeper. In practice it is difficult to score on him.

Ian Cole was called for a high stick 13 seconds after Keller's score, making it 2-1, forcing Utah into a make-or-break penalty kill. It took all of two minutes and Vejmelka played a big role in stopping the power play of ninth-ranked Vancouver in the league.

His calm, direct and accurate performance kept things close until Utah could find its scoring touch later in the evening. Without Vejmelka, this team will not win five out of six.

He does the little things and cares deeply about them, Keller said. It's good to see that he is certainly having so much success and that he will keep it up.

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