Utah pulls within two points of final Western Conference wild card spot
Logan Cooley didn't have a point in six previous March games. He ended his drought with a huge one in Vancouver on Sunday.
Cooley scored his 18th goal of the season early in the third period and Utah Hockey Club beat the Canucks, 3-1, to pull within two points of Vancouver and St. Louis for the final Western Conference wild card spot.
"It feels like the weight of the world is off my shoulders," said Cooley, who played on the wing in Vancouver. "Now I've just got to keep it rolling. Any time you can help the team it feels good and like I said, it's a big two points."
The goal was the 38th of Cooley's career. That's tied for the most in the 2022 NHL Draft class with Montréal's Juraj Slafkovský, who has played 42 more games.
Kevin Stenlund and Clayton Keller also scored for Utah (30-26-11), which killed off a four-minute Vancouver power play in the third period after Keller was whistled for high-sticking when he was shoved to the ice from behind and his stick came up.
Utah went 3-0 against the Canucks this season.
"We earned the right to be in that game," Utah coach André Tourigny said. "We worked hard all season long, for 60-some games, to earn the right to be in the game where it can make the difference in the standings."
Goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 18 saves in his 10th straight start.
Playoff picture: Utah is within two points of the Canucks and St. Louis Blues for the final Western Conference wild card spot. They are also tied with Calgary at 71 points. Utah and Vancouver have each played 67 games. Calgary has played 65. St. Louis has played 68.
Spicy Tuna sidelined: The team announced Sunday that forward Liam O'Brien will miss the next four weeks with a lower-body injury sustained in the third period of Thursday's loss at Seattle. The current timeline would allow O'Brien to return for the team's final two games of the season at Nashville and at St. Louis.
Bjugy's back: Utah activated forward Nick Bjugstad off injured reserve earlier this week and he was back in the lineup in Vancouver on Sunday. Bjugstad had the primary assist on Utah's first goal, finding Stenlund all alone at the side of the net with a pass through traffic.
Season of Stenny: Stenlund's 10th goal of the season is one off his career high set last season in Florida. Stenlund has already posted a career high in points with 18.
Quotable: "There's gonna be times when things aren't going great and we're likely not going to win 15 straight games to close out the year. We have to be resilient enough and believe in ourselves enough that we can't let bad shifts turn into bad games; bad games turn into a couple bad games. It was a huge bounce-back tonight." — Forward Alex Kerfoot on rebounding from a loss in Seattle on Friday.
Up next: Utah faces the Oilers at Rogers Place in Edmonton. Edmonton leads the season series, 2-0. The Oilers beat Utah, 4-3 in overtime, on Nov. 29 at Delta Center. Edmonton won, 4-1, at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Dec. 31.
