The Utah Hockey Club hit the ice for its inaugural pre-season game, but the first goal wasn’t how the team hoped to kick things off.
The franchise formerly known as the Arizona Coyotes made its debut Sunday night against the St. Louis Blues in Des Moines, Iowa.
St. Louis was up 1-0 early in the second period when Utah pulled its goalie for an extra attacker during a delayed penalty call. That’s when disaster struck, as Utah winger Dylan Guenther lost control of the puck at the point and couldn’t catch up to it in time as it slid down the ice and into the team’s empty net.
Blues defenceman Anton Malmstrom was officially credited with the goal and St. Louis “congratulated” Utah for its first goal in franchise history.
That trolling seemed to come back to bite the Blues, though. Michael Carcone scored Utah’s actual first goal just over six minutes later and Kevin Connauton added another later in the period to tie the game.
Guenther, who signed an eight-year contract extension Friday, also redeemed himself with a power-play marker to put Utah ahead 3-2.
Utah went on to win 5-3, with Carcone adding his second of the game into an empty net — this time into the Blues’ net — during the final minute.
The Blues social admin still managed to get the last laugh though.
