LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 22: Clayton Keller #9 of the Utah Hockey Club in the first period at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 22, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
TAMPA, Florida – The Tampa Bay Lightning controlled every aspect of play, dominating Utah Hockey Club in an 8-0 loss. Five days after an electric home win over the Lightning, Utah looked like a completely different team in the rematch.
Utah HC (32-29-11, 75 points) faces the Lightning (42-25-5, 89 points) at Amalie Arena on Thursday, March 27. Utah has fallen to fifth in the Western Conference Wild Card race, eight points behind the streaking St. Louis Blues. Vancouver (80 points) and Calgary (80 points) also lead the first-year franchise.
Tampa Bay has been nearly unbeatable at home, holding a 26-8-2 home-ice record. Utah HC is 17-15-4 on the road. Utah stunned the Lightning at Delta Center with a 6-4 win last week.
Wildly fun night at @AmalieArena 😁#GoBolts | #UTAvsTBL pic.twitter.com/AOWBitnAnC
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 28, 2025
Mikhail Sergachev, a Stanley Cup-winning defender with Tampa Bay, returns to his former home for the first time. Sergachev leads Utah defensemen with 45 points after being acquired in an offseason trade. Since day one, he has been a steadying force on Utah’s back line, offering experience and veteran leadership for the young group.
Captain Clayton Keller leads Utah with 78 points, including a career-high 54 assists. Keller is 13th in the league in scoring and has 21 more points than Utah’s second-leading scorer, Nick Schmaltz. Schmaltz adds 17 goals and 40 assists, while second-year forward Logan Cooley recently crossed the 20-goal plateau for the second time in his young career. Cooley’s 54 points are third on the team. Dylan Guenther leads the club with 26 goals.
Sunshine state smiles 😁 pic.twitter.com/Eyyy1LbwlQ
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) March 26, 2025
Nikita Kucherov, the league’s second-leading scorer, has 31 goals and 70 assists, making him one of three players to reach 100 points this season. Brandon Hagel (33 goals, 46 assists) is 12th in the NHL with 79 points.
Brayden Point (35 goals, 24 assists) and Jake Guentzel (34 goals, 34 assists) round out a quartet of high-level scorers.
Going to be a lot harder to put pucks in the back of the net tonight. https://t.co/i3IWMI5Aj9
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 27, 2025
Lineup vs. Lightning. pic.twitter.com/dUEuRX4QUm
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) March 27, 2025
LISTEN LIVE: @utahhockeyclub is on the road to face the @TBLightning on the @kslsports app, @KSLSportsZone and:https://t.co/A2VLsuCIyB pic.twitter.com/B6KQHFIh8o
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 27, 2025
Cool moment for Sergachev back in the city where he won 2 Stanley Cups.#GoBolts #UtahHC pic.twitter.com/H4DBfXKglV
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 27, 2025
Lightning score less than 90 seconds in.
1-0 Tampa
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 27, 2025
Hedman scores.
2-0 Tampa Bay.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 27, 2025
Cernak just delivered a BRUTAL hit on Keller which drew a response from Cooley who is now in the box.
Yikes.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 27, 2025
Kesselring has challenged Cernak after the hit he delivered on Keller.
Unfortunately, the two fell to the ice before much happened.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 27, 2025
Good heavens, that’s a nasty hit. https://t.co/jruRz2LoBh
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 27, 2025
End of the 1st period in Tampa Bay.
Tampa 2
Utah 0SOG
Tampa 7
Utah 5Brutal start that put Utah in a sizable hole.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 27, 2025
Tampa back to full strength.
No shots for Utah during the man advantage and Utah continues to struggle on the power play. https://t.co/26ooBSkFnT
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 28, 2025
3-0 Tampa Bay
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 28, 2025
Kucherov scores.
4-0 Tampa Bay.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 28, 2025
Kuch 🤝 back of the net pic.twitter.com/pbAQEP245E
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 28, 2025
Karel Vejmelka has been pulled and Stauber is now between the pipes for #UtahHC
It was time. Vejmelka deserves a long rest.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 28, 2025
Lightning score immediately on the power play.
5-0 Tampa Bay. https://t.co/d8NqypsoTs
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 28, 2025
6-0 Tampa Bay.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 28, 2025
7-0 Tampa Bay.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 28, 2025
Schmaltz just put one off the pipe during a Utah PP.
I think that's the closest Utah has come to scoring tonight.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 28, 2025
8-0 Tampa Bay.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 28, 2025
Final.
Crazy the difference 5 days and Vasilevskiy can make. https://t.co/Ctx1edbfu2
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 28, 2025
Utah Hockey Club games can be viewed on SEG+. Fans can also tune in on the KSL Sports app or 97.5 and 1280 The Zone. Click here for the full schedule.
Cole Bagley is the Utah Hockey Club insider for KSL Sports. Keep up with him on X here. Listen to Cole break down the team on KSL Sports Zone and KSL 5 TV.
Find sports.ksl.com coverage of the Utah Hockey Club here.
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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering Locals in MLB and the Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball here. Find Brian on X, Instagram, and BlueSky at @bpreece24.
