SALT LAKE CITY – In the final home game of the 2024-25 season, Utah Hockey Club fell 4-3 in a shootout to the Nashville Predators. Filip Forsberg's goal in the third round of the shootout secured the win. Nick Bjugstad, Josh Doan, and Dylan Guenther scored for Utah. Filip Forsberg paced Nashville with two goals while Nick Blankenburg (PPG) and Ryan O'Reilly each scored once. Utah’s goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped 28 of the 31 shots he faced.
“Not the result we wanted,” head coach André Tourigny shared postgame. “I think we played a good game offensively, did not like our game defensively. I think our commitment defensively was not what it has been for a long time. But Vejmelka was elite, made key saves at key moments.”
Although Utah didn’t score on any of their 11 shots, the team had a solid first period. In addition to generating chances, Utah had some solid o-zone possession. When he needed to be, Vejmelka made saves to keep Nashville from scoring. Utah has held its opponents scoreless for the last seven consecutive games.
Nick Bjugstad opened the scoring five minutes into the second period. The veteran shot from the goal line and targeted the room above Saros. His precision paid off and Utah took a 1-0 lead. Alexander Kerfoot picked up an assist. During the final seconds of the penalty kill in the second period, a couple of big saves by Vejmelka led to a standing ovation by the crowd at Delta Center.
With six minutes left in the second period, Josh Doan increased Utah’s lead to 2-0. Doan initially passed to Jack McBain. McBain’s shot hit the crossbar; however, Doan was net front and capitalized on the rebound. Nick DeSimone also had a helper on the goal.
With only two and a half minutes left in the second period, Nick Blankenburg scored a power play goal to cut Utah’s lead to 2-1. Ryan O’Reilly screened Vejmelka and Blankenburg’s shot got through. Jonathan Marchessault and O’Reilly picked up assists. Filip Forsberg’s power play goal 1:19 into the third period tied the game, 2-2. Brady Skjei’s shot was stopped by Vejmelka, but Forsberg worked the puck behind Utah’s netminder and scored. In addition to Skjei, Steven Stamkos picked up an assist.
Nashville took its first lead of the game two minutes later. Ryan O’Reilly collected the rebound of his initial spot and scored before Vejmelka could get in position. Michael Bunting picked up the lone assist on the goal.
Utah, as they have multiple time this season, fought back. Dylan Guenther’s goal 5:42 into the third period tied the game, 3-3. Clayton Keller’s shot was hit by Logan Cooley net front and the rebound popped out to Guenther. From there the forward scored his 27th of the season to keep the home team in it.
The home team had a flurry of great chances in the final two minutes of regulation, but Utah couldn’t get past Saros. The game remained 3-3 and went to overtime. 35 seconds into the extra frame, Guenther received a great pass from Keller, but Saros’ glove save robbed the forward. A minute later, Vejmelka came up with a huge save to stop Nashville from scoring on a 3-on-2.
With just over two minutes left in the extra frame, Mikhail Sergachev, Keller, and Guenther worked it around the zone, and Sergachev was tripped driving to net. The trip led to a Utah power play. Utah held the zone for over a minute and whipped the puck around; however, the home team couldn’t score on the man-advantage. Despite chances by each, neither team scored and this game went to a shootout. Both teams were stopped in the first two rounds of the shootout; however, Forsberg's second goal of the night secured the win for Nashville in the third round.
