Utah Hockey Club scores 18 seconds into game in 4-2 win over St. Louis Blues

ST. LOUIS — Coming into Thursday's game, Utah Hockey Club captain Clayton Keller had recorded 29 points in 28 career games against his hometown Blues.

It took him just 18 seconds to continue that hot streak.

Keller's backhand flick from the neutral zone was caught by Michael Kesselring, who found himself in a one-on-one situation. Kesslering dropped the puck and walked it in against St. Louis goalie Joel Hofer for the fastest goal in club history (sure, it's a short history, but that mark might stand for a while).

That early score helped lift the Hockey Club to a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Blues at the Enterprise Center. Utah improved to 6-5-3 with the win.

"I had so many memories here, growing up, going to games with my dad, my grandpa," Keller said before the game. "Those are things that I really remember."

He's garnered a few more memories now that he's playing against the Blues, including his NHL debut, which came soon after his college season ended with Boston University.

"We lost against Minnesota Duluth, and then the next day I was in St Louis and made my debut the next day," he said. "So it was pretty crazy. But had tons of family and friends here, and you couldn't draw it up any better than that."

He couldn't have drawn up a better start to Thursday's game, either.

Keller saw the Kesselring out of the corner of his eye streaking past the center line. He quickly lofted a back-handed pass to try and keep his teammate onside for a breakaway chance. It worked to perfection. The puck beat Kesselring into the zone and the scoring chance was on.

"I just know Kells likes to make plays. I kind of saw that he saw me, so I got on my horse a bit, and he made a great pass — a little alley-oop — and then, luckily, it went in," Kesselring said.

Utah needed a little luck at the end of the game, too.

After a third-period equalizer by St. Louis, what had been an admirable road performance was on the brink of slipping away. A lucky bounce changed that.

With under four minutes remaining, Dylan Guenther forced a turnover in Utah's defensive zone creating a two-on-one chance with him and Logan Cooley. Guenther sent the puck toward the net where Cooley was charging at the far post. It didn't reach Cooley; instead, it ended up in the back of the net.

"I mean, just kind of a lucky bounce," he said. "Made a good defensive read, and sometimes you get rewarded like that."

Kesselring, though, thought it was more than just luck.

"I know, me personally, I'm already cellying on the bench whenever he gets a good chance," the defenseman said. "He's an elite shooter, so we want to get him in those situations."

It was Gunether's team-leading seventh goal of the season, but it was the defensive play that Utah really needed.

The Hockey Club was down to five defensemen after Maveric Lamoureux was issued a game misconduct in the second period for a kneeing penalty — a hit that also sparked the 20-year-old's first NHL fight (he won that at least).

It was bad timing for Utah. Head coach André Tourigny opted to go back to the usual six defensemen on Thursday after playing with an extra for the previous three games.

"You go from seven to five in no time," he said. "For sure that has to happen the game we had six D-men, but I think you dig in. That's where your character steps in."

Kesselring said the key was to have quick shifts so each guy didn't get stuck on the ice for too long. Guenther added there was an emphasis for the forwards to manage the puck well and put it in places so the defenders could actually make those changes.

Forcing a big turnover didn't hurt, either.

"Gunner all his life has been a clutch player, and scored big goals," Tourigny said.

He added one on Thursday — and gave his captain another memory playing back home,

"I'm always super excited to play here, so anytime I come back here, I'm excited," Keller said.

But just a bit more excited when his team wins.

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