Utah Hockey Club management drew some criticism for signing Dylan Guenther to a long-term extension before playing a full NHL season. But those critics might eat their words as early as this season.

It’s probably still too early to form opinions, but Guenther scored twice again in Utah HC’s 5-4 overtime win over the New York Islanders on Thursday evening. It was his second two-goal game in as many games.

In Utah’s first-ever road game, Maxim Tsyplakov scored with 2:07 left in regulation to put the Islanders ahead by a goal. However, Josh Doan tied the game 13 seconds later on a partial breakaway, sending the game to overtime.

Guenther, 21, who is under contract for nine years, scored the overtime winner.

“All three of us were in (the offensive zone) so if we didn’t score, it probably would have been a breakaway the other way,” Guenther said of the goal after the game.

Utah leaves UBS Arena with two points, starting the season 2-0.

Utah Hockey for dummies

If this was your first hockey game, you probably think hockey is the greatest sport in the world. It was a nail-biter all the way until the end, and no matter which team you root for, you were entertained the whole time.

Not every game has this much drama, but the speed, physicality and excitement are always the same at the NHL level. Stick around. It only gets better.

Utah HC is now 2-0-0 in the regular season, but their upcoming games against the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils will be good tests. Head coach André Tourigny called the Rangers “elite.”

Utah Hockey for casual fans

Goalie Connor Ingram told me five days ago that he loves to be a boring goalie. With the amount of times I said “How did that stay out?” during this game, I have to disagree.

Being “boring” is a good thing for goalies because if you’re always in position, you rarely have to make desperate or flashy saves. It’s what made Carey Price as good as he was. But who doesn’t love a good flash of the leather?

In the first period, after a weird bounce behind the net, Ingram found himself way out of position with the puck on an Islander stick. He dove and blocked it in mid-air, bringing the crowd to its feet and immediately back to its seats.

“It is the most lonely feeling in the world being behind the net, looking through the net and seeing the wide open net,” he said. “There’s nothing you can say about it. It’s just pure desperation.”

A period later, he denied an Islander on the doorstep with a sliding pad save.

“Sometimes you’ve just gotta be an athlete,” he said.

Utah Hockey for nerds

The hockey die-hards appreciate a solid defensive play just as much as a fancy goal. “Solid” would describe Utah HC’s defensive game on Thursday — especially on the penalty kill.

Utah HC took six penalties and killed five of them.

“I think our PK was probably the best part of our game,” Tourigny said after the game. “A lot of the guys who played PK, they came out big. They made big plays.”

On Thursday, Utah did all the little things right: blocking shots and passing lanes, playing hard in the corners and backchecking and forechecking as if its season depended on it.

Tourigny specifically shouted out Mikhail Sergachev, Ian Cole and Michael Kesselring for doing the little things right, but he emphasized that there are many more players that did virtually everything right.

What’s next?

Utah HC plays its third and final home opener of the year on Saturday as they take on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers are expected to be Stanley Cup contenders this year.

Interesting fact: It will be color commentator Dominic Moore’s first time ever calling a game at MSG, where he played five seasons for the Rangers.

What’s Tourigny’s key focus for the upcoming game?

“Rest for now,” he said.

On Monday, Utah HC visits the New Jersey Devils, followed by the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday to round out the road trip.

Saturday’s game is at 5 p.m. MDT, Monday’s is at 11 a.m. and Wednesday’s is at 8 p.m. All three games will be available on Utah HC+ and Utah 16.