RECAP: Soderblom Makes 22 Saves Against Utah for First NHL Career Shutout

SALT LAKE CITY -- Arvid Soderblom made 22 saves for his first NHL shutout, and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Utah Mammoth 4-0 at Delta Center on Sunday.

The shutout came in Soderblom’s 104th NHL game.

“It felt great,” said Soderblom. “It's been a long time coming and a lot of ups and downs, but to finally get it done felt great. The guys did a great job in front today. I thought we played our defensive system flawlessly. It was really good.”

Soderblom was playing for the first time since Jan. 29, a 6-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

“Guys are happy for [Soderblom],” said Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill. “The life of backup goalies, sometimes you get some tough games, and we've kind of hung him out to dry a few times, to be honest with you. I think everybody was really happy for him, he's a great, great teammate, he's a great professional, goes about his business and does his job, and so guys were eager on the bench to try to get that done for him.”

Teuvo Teravainen, who helped Team Finland win the bronze medal at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, scored a power-play goal and a short-handed goal for the Blackhawks (23-28-9), who ended a three-game losing streak. Nick Foligno and Landon Slaggert also scored.

“I thought we played really good defensively overall,” said Blashill. “Coming out of the break, we've played pretty good. We've limited a lot of chances. The difference probably tonight was we broke the puck out really, really, really well. So then you don't have to defend as much. I think that's probably the biggest difference.”

Karel Vejmelka made 24 saves for the Mammoth (31-25-4), who have lost two of three since returning from the Olympic break.

“We need two points every night, and we're in a [heck] of a race. That game has to be won,” said Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny. “We need to take that game and learn, and that has to hurt big time so we make sure that doesn't happen again. If that's the purpose of that game, it is what it is. But there's no reason for us to play like that.”

Teravainen gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 19:05 of the first period, collecting a rebound and beating Vejmelka on the blocker side.

Foligno scored his 250th NHL goal at 11:38 of the second period, picking up a loose puck in front of the net and beating Vejmelka with a backhand deke to extend the lead to 2-0.

“[Foligno has] great hands around the net,” said Blashill. “What a great number for him, man. That's a great job.”

Slaggert scored just 1:29 later at 13:07, firing a wrist shot from the slot that went off the glove of Vejmelka and into the net to make it 3-0.

“I think we were just disconnected all over the ice with the puck, without the puck on our breakouts, on our ozone play. It just felt disconnected,” said Mammoth defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.

Teravainen scored short-handed at 1:25 of the third period, sending a wrist shot past Vejmelka for the 4-0 final.

“I think more importantly, it was just a really good win all around,” said Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic, who assisted on the fourth goal. “It didn't feel like we gave them any chances. It felt like we played a really solid team game and everybody contributed. So I think that was the biggest takeaway for us tonight.”