Barrett Hayton’s early-second-period goal held up as the winner thanks to stellar goaltending by Karel Vejmelka as the Utah Hockey Club held on for a 3-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday in Salt Lake City.
Kevin Stenlund and Clayton Keller also scored for Utah (34-29-12, 80 points), which has won two straight.
The hero, however, was Vejmelka, who made 12 of his 33 saves in the third period while the Flames frantically pushed for the equalizer and controlled the play.
Vejmelka, who made his 18th consecutive start between the pipes, loomed especially large with saves on Blake Coleman and Matt Coronato on successive chances early in the third period and then against Joel Farabee when the Flames were on the power play.
Rasmus Andersson replied for the Flames (35-27-12, 82 points), whose playoff hopes took a huge hit. Dustin Wolf stopped 25 shots.
The Flames are six points behind the Minnesota Wild for the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot. Calgary has eight games remaining, one more than the Wild. Utah is eight points behind the Wild, with seven games remaining.
Utah won all three meetings with the Flames this season.
Amidst a low-event first period, Stenlund opened the scoring at the 17:46 mark, blasting home a one-timer from the slot, where he sneaked in unnoticed and took a slick pass from Alex Kerfoot.
Hayton doubled the lead in a wild turn of events in the second period. The Flames appeared score, but video review ruled the puck had not completely crossed the line. Once play resumed, Hayton slipped a backhand through Wolf’s legs to make it a 2-0 game at 2:25.
Andersson provided the Flames a sorely needed boost when he finally put them on the board at the 13:00 mark of the second period. His long point shot made it through the screen and inside the far post.
Calgary came close to tying the clash, but all hopes were dashed when Keller netted an empty-net goal with 18 seconds remaining.
–Field Level Media
