Lawson Crouse scored twice, including the game-winning tally, and Clayton Keller collected one goal and one assist to lead the visiting Utah Hockey Club to a 5-3 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
Logan Cooley and Kevin Stenlund also scored goals while Olli Maatta notched a pair of assists for Utah, which snapped a five-game losing streak (0-4-1). Goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 23 saves.
Blake Coleman replied with one goal and one assist, while Connor Zary and Brayden Pachal also scored for Calgary. Goalie Dan Vladar stopped 21 shots, including an Alexander Kerfoot penalty shot in the third period.
After twice surrendering leads, Utah cued up a third-period comeback to erase a 3-2 deficit.
Keller tied the clash 37 seconds into the third period by redirecting Maatta’s shot-pass from the point, and Crouse notched his second of the game at 2:35 of the final frame by finding the mark on a partial breakaway.
Stenlund’s empty-net goal with one minute remaining sealed the victory.
The clubs twice traded goals, with Utah hitting the board first on Crouse’s tally at 8:51. Thanks to a won board battle deep in the Calgary zone, Crouse was sent a cross-ice pass in the right circle, and he converted to snap a 14-game goal drought.
Coleman’s power-play goal drew Calgary even, coming when he was on the spot for a rebound with 47.2 seconds remaining in the first period.
Cooley put Utah ahead for the second time with a power-play goal at 6:19 of the second period when he redirected Dylan Guenther’s shot-pass.
However, Zary replied 67 seconds later, coming when he got a shot off as he was being hauled down. The puck was stopped initially, but it went in off Zary’s foot as he slid toward the net.
Pachal gave the Flames their first lead of the night at 15:14 of the second period, burying a shot from the slot to end a scoring chance created by Matt Coronato’s strong forechecking work.
But the Flames were unable to carry the momentum and lost in regulation time for the first time all season when leading after two periods.
–Field Level Media
