The Utah Hockey Club has accomplished a lot in its inaugural seasons. One thing that it has failed to do, though, is beat the Los Angeles Kings.
In a season a lot of people underestimated the Kings, they’ve taken pride in proving people wrong. They’re three points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for the Pacific Division lead, leading many to wonder if this is the year they’ll get past the Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs.
On Thursday night when Utah and Los Angeles met, it was a game of strange bounces at the Delta Center. An early Dylan Guenther goal was called off because the puck carrier was offside — something that can’t happen unless he passes it backwards (which is exactly what happened).
Later on, the Kings scored the first allowed goal, though nobody realized it until a few minutes later (we’ll get into the details below).
In the third period, the Kings scored twice at 4 on 4, followed by an empty-netter from distance. Then, with 20 seconds to go, UHC tallied a power play goal — something they struggled to do all of March.
It ended with a final score of 4-2, though Utah out-shot LA 30-19.
“I think we played a really solid, solid game,” said UHC head coach André Tourigny. “There were a few broken plays that made a difference in the game, but I think the guys were ready and we were really structured.”
Utah Hockey for dummies
As promised, we’ll dive into the Kings’ first goal. I got questions on X about it so I’m sure there are plenty of people wondering why it counted.
Here's the replay of the goal. Again, it's bizarre, but it's the right call. https://t.co/UEeVYselNi
— Brogan Houston (@houston_brogan) April 4, 2025
It started when Logan Cooley dragged Adrian Kempe down on a back-check, causing him to crash into Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka.
The referee’s arm immediately went up to call Cooley for interference, meanwhile Cooley went after Kempe for running into the goalie.
As Utah’s captain was arguing on Cooley’s behalf, the officials were looking at another aspect of the play: the fact that the puck was in the net.
Andrei Kuzmenko’s shot landed in Vejmelka’s glove initially, but he dropped it as Kempe came barreling toward him. Kempe’s skate pushed it under Vejmelka as he fell, and it ended up in the net.
It’s hard to see it on most of the replay angles, but the overhead camera caught it perfectly. It’s one of the stranger goals you’ll ever see, but it was the right call.
Utah Hockey for casual fans
Before the game, Kings head coach Jim Hiller was confident.
“I’d be surprised if we’re not really good tonight," he ...
