Crouse scores twice, Utah Hockey Club rallies past Flames

CALGARY -- Lawson Crouse scored twice, and the Utah Hockey Club rallied for a 5-3 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday.

Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist, and Logan Cooley scored for Utah (17-15-6), who had lost five straight (0-4-1). Karel Vejmelka made 23 saves.

"That's part of our identity," Crouse said. "All season we've done a good job of not quitting. Tonight's another example of that. We have a lot of character in our locker room. No quit and go right until the end of the game and tonight that paid off for us."

Blake Coleman had a goal and an assist, Connor Zary and Brayden Pachal scored, and Dan Vladar made 21 saves for the Flames (18-13-7), who have lost two of three.

"I just thought we got off our game, especially in the third," Calgary defenseman Rasmus Andersson said. "Stretches we were there. Stretches we weren't. It cost us today. Just not a good enough third period.

"It was just sloppy out there, honestly. Not good enough. Too many turnovers. They have a lot of skill up front, and you give them time and space and they're going to score, and they did. Kind of left 'Vladdy' out to dry in the third. Just not good enough in the third."

Utah scored goals two minutes apart early in the third to jump ahead.

Keller scored 37 seconds into the period, a redirect of Olli Maatta's point shot, to tie it 3-3, and Crouse's wrist shot off the rush deflected off MacKenzie Weegar's stick before beating Vladar glove side for the 4-3 lead at 2:35.

Kevin Stenlund scored into an empty net at 19:00 for the 5-3 final.

"A long season ... sometimes you have some nights or some stretches or some weeks where the urgency drops, and for us it's critical," Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. "When our urgency drops, we're not the same team. I really liked the urgency we had in the third. I think we played a good, structured game, especially in the third."

Crouse put Utah up 1-0 at 8:51 of the first period when he knocked down a cross-ice centering pass from Ian Cole and shot short side over Vladar's glove from inside the right face-off circle. The goal was Crouse's first in 15 games dating back to Nov. 29.

"It felt good," Crouse said. "Feels better to get a win. That's a big win. We needed it."

Coleman tied it 1-1 at 19:12. Vejmelka made the initial stop on Nazem Kadri's one-timer on the power play, but Coleman slid in the rebound from the top of the crease.

Cooley finished a three-way passing play with Keller and Dylan Guenther by tapping in a backdoor pass on the power play to put Utah up 2-1 at 6:19 of the second period.

Zary scored 1:07 later when the rebound from his initial shot deflected off his skate and in to tie it 2-2 at 7:26.

Pachal put the Flames ahead 3-2 at 15:14. He slid down from the point and one-timed a centering pass from Matt Coronato by Vejmelka's blocker after a turnover behind Utah's net.

"It's adversity," Kadri said. "It's expected in every single hockey game. Obviously, there's different forms of it. We have to do a better job of fighting through that. I think in the second period we gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game in the third. We just came out a little flat to start the third period, so we'll learn from that."

NOTES: The loss is Calgary's first in regulation this season when leading after 40 minutes. ... Utah has scored first 12 times on the road this season, tied with the Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche for most in the NHL. ... Cooley has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in a 12-game road point streak dating back to Nov. 23, the longest such run by a player this season. He tied Pierre Turgeon (1989-90) and Geoff Sanderson (1992-93) for the fifth-longest road point streak by a player age 20 or younger.