Dylan Guenther scores OT winner as Utah Hockey Club improves to 2-0
by Ryan Miller, KSL.com · KSL.comEstimated read time: 3-4 minutes
ELMONT, N.Y. — Utah Hockey Club coach André Tourigny wants people to stop talking about Dylan Guenther's shot.
Or, at least, stop only talking about his shot.
"People see him just as a goal-scorer, and he's way more than that," Tourigny said. "He handles the puck well, he defends well, he works hard, he's a good forechecker, he's got a great stick, he's good on the PK, he does way more than shooting."
That may be true, coach; but with all due respect, until Guenther stops sniping, it's going to be hard to look at anything else.
His latest one? Oh, just your casual overtime winner.
Guenther's quick wrister at 2:18 of overtime lifted Utah to a 5-4 win over the New York Islanders Thursday at UBS Arena, giving the new franchise its first win on the road. Two games in, the NHL's newest team has to lose.
"I don't know if a lot of people knew that went in right away, it came out so quick," forward Josh Doan said of Guenther's game-winner.
It's been just two games, but this much is clear: The new kids in Utah certainly have a flare for the dramatic.
And, yes, we do mean kids.
Ahead of the game, Tourginy said he would be looking to his veterans to help the team avoid a lull after Tuesday's emotional opener. Turns out, it was the young guns that brought Utah home.
Give up a shorthanded goal in the third period? Meh.
Go down by a goal with just over two minutes remaining? No problem at all.
Not to mention, Utah needed some Herculean — or, more accurately, Superman-ean(?) — saves from Connor Ingram just to be close at the end.
"It's one of those things where we got belief in each other in that room," Doan said. "So when we go down, it's pretty easy to come back."
Easy seemed like an understatement on Thursday.
New York's Jean-Gabriel Pageau looked to have stolen one for the Islanders by scoring a short-handed goal to give his team a 3-2 lead seven minutes into the third period.
Later in that same power play, Clayton Keller teed up Guenther — who else? — for a one-timer to tie things up again.
"I think I like shooting from everywhere," he told the media afterward. "Whenever I try to shoot it, I try to just get it off as quick as possible. The goalies are so good, I think quickness beats accuracy."
It certainly has thus far into Utah's inaugural season. Guenther has a league-leading (yes, we know, it's very early) 4 goals on the season. Not bad for a player who started last year in the AHL.
But Utah wasn't done being dramatic yet.
New York's Maxim Tsyplakov gave the Islanders the lead with 2:07 left in the contest. Game over, right? Not even close. That lead lasted all of 13 seconds.
Lawson Crouse passed the puck deep up the ice, Alex Kerfoot zipped it from the boards and Josh Doan backhanded it up and over the New York goalie's pad.
Just like that, it was all tied up again.
"Our objective was to have a quick shift and get in their zone for the big boys to come back out and tie it up," Doan said. "Fortunately, we got a bounce and put one in."
That all set up Guenther's heroics in overtime.
"If you get him the puck, odds are it's going in the back of the net," Doan said of Guenther.
See, even his teammates can't stop talking about it.
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Ryan Miller
KSL.com Utah Jazz reporter