Dylan Guenther's power-play goal lifts Utah to crucial, 2-1 win against Vancouver

Utah pulls within four points of Canucks in Western Conference wild card race

Utah Hockey Club needed a regulation win over the Vancouver Canucks in the worst way. Two of the biggest pieces of their future delivered in a total team effort.

Dylan Guenther scored his team-leading, sixth game-winning goal on a power play at the 14:07 mark of the third period. Logan Cooley also scored in his return to the lineup, and Utah pulled within four points of the Canucks in the race for the Western Conference's final wild card spot with a 2-1 victory at Delta Center on Sunday.

A whopping 15 of Guenther's 21 goals have either tied the game or given Utah the lead, and this one may have been his biggest one of all. Utah is 14-0-1 when Guenther scores, including 11 straight wins.

"Our power play was kind of buzzing the whole game but we couldn't score," said Guenther, who took a perfect feed from forward Nick Schmaltz at the doorstep to score his fifth goal in six games since returning to the lineup from an injury. "We came through when it mattered."

Utah (25-24-9) played a suffocating brand of defense against Vancouver, holding the Canucks to 15 shots on goal while blocking 20 shot attempts. The win got this crucial four-game homestand off to a great start.

The wild card race in the Western Conference is a tight one. While the Canucks still hold the final spot, four teams (Calgary, Utah, St. Louis and Anaheim in that order) are all within six points of the Canucks. It's going to be a fun finish.

"There's a lot of teams that are hunting for that spot but we gave ourselves a chance," Utah coach André Tourigny said. "There's an opportunity for us to learn, to grow."

Cooley returns: Cooley missed Utah's final six games before the 4 Nations Face-Off break, as well as Saturday's game in Los Angeles, with a lower-body injury. But he had an immediate impact upon his return, redirecting John Marino's shot from the point for a second-period goal that tied the game at 1-1.

With his return, Utah Hockey Club has a fully healthy forward group, a fully healthy goaltending tandem, and a blue line that is only missing veteran Robert Bortuzzo, who is on injured reserve.

Baby on board: Utah assistant GM David Ludwig and his wife, Ellen, welcomed Benjamin Wayne Ludwig to the world at 6:59 a.m. on Valentine’s Day. Per Ludwig, "Mama and baby are both happy and healthy." Dad seems pretty happy, too.

Välimäki on waivers: With defenseman Marino and Sean Durzi back in the lineup, with waiver pick-up Nick DeSimone playing well in a depth-defenseman role, and with forward Josh Doan earning a spot on the NHL roster upon his recall from the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League, Utah Hockey Club made the difficult decision to place defenseman Juuso Välimäki on waivers on Sunday. Välimäki just returned to the team after representing Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

If no other team claims Välimäki in the 24-hour waiver period, he will report to Tucson. Välimäki has another year left after this season on the two-year extension he signed on June 29.

Quotable: "You watch guys like [Connor] McDavid and all those top guys, [they] like to be out there in big moments. We want to help the team win and whether that's playing good defensively, coming up with big plays or scoring big goals, I definitely take a lot of pride in that."
— Cooley, when asked about his and Guenther's ability to consistently come up with clutch plays.

Up next: Utah hosts the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. Utah leads the season series, 1-0. In the first game in Utah Hockey Club history, Guenther had two goals, Connor Ingram made 24 saves and Utah beat the Blackhawks, 5-2 at Delta Center on Oct. 8.