Utah HC overcome Sidney Crosby’s 600th aim, slam Penguins

Dylan Guenther scored twice and added an assist, leading the Utah Hockey Club to a 6-1 victory over the host Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.

Jack McBain, Mikhail Sergachev, Nick Bjugstad and Alexander Kerfoot also scored for Utah, which snapped a three-game losing streak.

Clayton Keller had three assists while Nick Schmaltz, Michael Carcone and Logan Cooley added two helpers apiece.

Karel Vejmelka made 27 saves for his first career victory over Pittsburgh.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby scored his 600th career goal in the loss.

Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 24 shots for Pittsburgh, which has lost three games in a row and eight of its past 10 (2-5-3).

Utah outshot Pittsburgh 11-10 in the opening 20 minutes and led 2-0 after one period.

McBain opened the scoring at 8:54 of the first, one-timing a no-look, behind-the-back pass from Guenther for his sixth of the season.

Utah doubled its lead at 13:07 as Sergachev put a wrist shot glove-side past Nedeljkovic for his fifth of the season.

Crosby got Pittsburgh on the board on a two-man advantage, one-timing an Erik Karlsson feed past Vejmelka for his team-leading eighth of the season at 3:11 of the second period.

With the goal, the Penguins captain became just the 21st player in NHL history to reach the 600-goal mark.

Bjugstad restored Utah’s two-goal lead on a power play, redirecting a Michael Kesselring point shot past Nedeljkovic for his fourth of the season at 10:37.

Guenther made it 4-1 on a power play, tapping in a Schmaltz feed past Nedeljkovic for his eighth of the season at 6:38 of the third period.

Utah took a 5-1 lead at 7:25 of the third period as Kerfoot redirected a Maveric Lamoureux point shot past Nedeljkovic for his third of the season.

Guenther added his second of the night on a power play, snapping a shot past Nedeljkovic for his team-high ninth of the season at 15:59 of the third.

Saturday was the first of two meetings between Utah and Pittsburgh this season. The clubs will wrap up the season series on Jan. 29 in Utah.

–Field Level Media