A bad night got worse
Utah lost 5-3 to Vegas on Wednesday. The scoreline was the least of their problems.
Less than 30 minutes before puck drop, the Mammoth put Dylan Guenther on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Then leading goal scorer Logan Cooley was a late scratch, also upper body, and is now listed day-to-day. Defenseman Nate Schmidt went on IR too, backdated to November 5. And with 11 minutes left in the second period, second-leading scorer Nick Schmaltz left with a lower-body problem. He never came back.
That is a lot of firepower gone in one evening. It is also a third straight loss, and St. Louis are in Salt Lake City on Thursday night.
no renewal
Free for 2 weeks.
Tourigny wants a tighter Utah
Utah stayed level with Vegas through the first period. Then it unravelled. Three goals went in during a span of just over five minutes early in the second, and the game was gone. Dmitri Simashev pulled one back midway through the third to make it 4-3. All four of the young defenseman’s goals this season have come in his last eight games.
Andre Tourigny did not hide behind the absences. His message: injuries are real, but his group must stay connected, stay in control and play a stingy, defensive game that puts pressure on opponents.
Karel Vejmelka sat out against Vegas and should start in goal. His record against St. Louis is mixed: 4-3-1 in 11 appearances, with a 3.30 goals-against average and an .890 save percentage.
Blues back on track
St. Louis snapped a skid of their own on Tuesday, beating Detroit 3-2 to end a run of three games without a win (0-2-1). Jimmy Snuggerud scored and assisted, Robert Thomas added two helpers.
Justin Barron also scored. The defenseman has points in four of his last six and 10 points in 15 games, five short of the career high he set with Montreal in 2022-23. Jim Montgomery is convinced it is no fluke. Joel Hofer, who has started 13 of the Blues’ 18 games, stopped 29 shots on Tuesday and is 2-2-0 against Utah since November 2024.
Discover the rest of our NHL news on MathODDS!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply