'No doubt': Utah Hockey Club knew Guenther would return after taking puck to face

SALT LAKE CITY — Ten minutes into the first period of the Utah Hockey Club's 3-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, Utah Hockey Club forward Dylan Guenther took a puck to the face and went down, blood dripping off his nose and pooling on the ice.

For any average person — or perhaps an athlete in any other sport — it would be more than enough to force a "sick day."

But was there any doubt that Guenther would return to the game?

"No doubt," said head coach André Tourigny after the game when asked about his reaction to Guenther's injury.

Guenther was helped off the ice at 9:56 of the first period and returned at 1:07, banged up nose and all to a round of applause from the home crowd.

While he was off, Utah's Kevin Stenlund did his best impression of the teammate they call "Gunner," ripping a one-timer past Calgary netminder Dustin Wolf to give Utah a 1-0 advantage 17:46 into the first period.

Barrett Hayton doubled Utah's lead with a slick backhanded shot that bested Wolf, arguably the NHL's best rookie goaltender in the second period. When asked afterward if he had any doubt that Guenther would emerge from the locker room, Hayton's answer echoed Tourigny's.

Not really.

"In the culture of hockey, each guy in this room is going to do whatever they can to play," Hayton said. "Guenther had that scary one tonight where no one really knew from our point of view on the bench where the puck had gone. I think it brings a kick of energy when you see them come back with a bunch of zippers (stitches) and blood and stuff like that."

Clayton Keller suffered a similar injury in Utah's 5-2 win over Winnipeg on Jan. 20. He found the wrong end of a shot by teammate Michael Kesseling, deflected up and under his helmet visor, leaving a nasty cut on his face.

Yet, like Gunner on Tuesday, Keller returned to the game within the same period. In that contest, he promptly found the back of the net, scoring Utah's first goal of the win with a fresh set of stitches on his face.

While Guenther didn't match that storyline with a goal on Tuesday, he did collect an assist on Keller's game-sealing empty goal in the third, and added three shots on goal and two hits to his stat line.

"We talked about this when Keller came back from his (injury), and I thought Gunner did a great job of not being hesitant, too," Hayton said.

It's the hockey player way, according to the Utah Hockey Club locker room. Bumps, bruises, and the occasional puck to the face are just part of the game.

Even after seeing Guenther go down momentarily — and obviously in pain — it didn't deter his teammates from continuing to dive in front of the frozen rubber.

Defensemen Sean Durzi and Mikhail Sergachev both laid out to stop pucks, giving goaltender Karel Vejmelka, who made his 18th consecutive start, some added defense.

After all, they're not out of the playoff hunt yet.

With the win over Calgary, Utah sits 8 points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wildcard spot with seven games to go.

"There's no quitting in those players," Tourigny said. "There's only one thing we want to do, we want to pursue that objective and we won't quit. We won't quit until we pull the plug. If they do, it is what it is, but we won't give them any reason to do it."

The team's fans deserve its best effort, Tourigny added.

"We're so proud to play in this season, the way we've been supported by the fans, we're so fortunate so I think we want to give it back."

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