Utah
PREVIEW: Blue Jackets visit Utah for the first time | Columbus Blue Jackets
The cliché goes that patience is a virtue, and the Blue Jackets are finding that out as they continue to be one of the hottest teams in the NHL.
The last two games have been battles of attrition against two of the heaviest teams in the league in Los Angeles and Vegas, and the Blue Jackets weren’t going to be able to easily skate their way past either of those teams and post the high-scoring outbursts that often marked the first half of the season.
The Jackets were going to have to stick to the plan, play strong defense and seize their opportunities to beat the Kings and Golden Knights, and that’s exactly what they did. With consecutive overtime victories against those squads, Columbus moved back on the right side of the postseason line and showed they might have the right stuff to keep thriving as the games get bigger and bigger in the NHL season.
It all goes back to a word head coach Dean Evason has used a lot this season – patience. Given how many young players are in key roles for the Blue Jackets, you might expect them to want to push for goals and to make things happen in tight games, but this team has learned quickly that sometimes less is more when you’re facing the NHL’s toughest teams.
“I’m impressed that the players don’t want to open it up,” Evason said after Thursday’s 2-1 win in Vegas. “They’re saying the same things (we’re saying as coaches). It’s not like we’re saying, ‘You can’t carry the puck in, you can’t try to score goals, you can’t try to make plays when it presents itself.’ But it’s fun because they’re coaching themselves, they’re coaching each other in situations. So yeah, it’s nice. Do you want to score as many goals as you can? Sure, but any type of win is a good win.”
Indeed that is true, and Columbus put two more points in the bank against the Golden Knights on Thursday night to kick off a key four-game road swing that continues tonight in the franchise’s first-ever visit to Utah.
The victory against Vegas was impressive in a number of ways, including the fact Columbus went into one of the most hostile environments in the league and didn’t seem flustered. They also didn’t bend or break after a shaky start that included a Vegas goal five minutes in, as the Blue Jackets stuck to their game plan and got better as the night went on.
“They scored first, but that didn’t break our confidence at all,” said Adam Fantilli, who scored the opening goal for the CBJ late in the first period. “We stayed sound in what we were doing, and we were able to get one and pretty much stay like that for the rest of the game. It went to overtime and we were able to finish it out, so two points is two points and we’re happy about it.”
While Fantilli knotted things with the lone CBJ tally of regulation, fellow young centerman Cole Sillinger won the game in overtime, capping a performance in which the Blue Jackets showed again they can hang in against some of the league’s best.
“These are the type of games that coming down the stretch here we need,” Sillinger said. “It’s nice to start this road trip off with the win.”
Know The Foe: Utah Hockey Club
Head coach: Andre Tourigny (Fourth season)
Team stats: Goals per game: 2.82 (22nd) | Scoring defense: 2.96 (16th) | PP: 22.5 percent (14th) | PK: 81.8 percent (7th)
The narrative: After years of trials and tribulations when it came to finding a feasible, long-term arena solution in Arizona, the then-Coyotes headed to Utah this offseason. Fans in Salt Lake City were rewarded with a young, entertaining team that appears to be on the cusp of success after making the playoffs just once in their last 12 seasons in the desert. The squad isn’t quite there yet, but the top nine scorers are all age 28 or younger, showing the talent is starting to fall into place.
Team leaders: Clayton Keller may be one of the most underrated players in the league, as the 26-year-old wing leads the squad in all three major statistical categories this season with a 18-36-54 line on the year. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Logan Cooley, is having a breakout season at age 20 with 15 goals and 43 points, while Nick Schmaltz has a 10-30-40 line. Another top draft pick, Dylan Guenther (ninth overall in 2021), is next on the team with 16 goals and 18 assists for 34 points but has missed time recently with a lower body injury.
In net, Karel Vejmelka has been one of the top netminders in the league this season, going 11-14-3 but posting a 2.47 goals-against average and .912 save percentage on the season in 30 games.
What’s new: Utah was hanging in there with a 16-11-5 record through Dec. 20, but the Hockey Club has just five wins in the last 18 games and sits seven games out of a playoff spot going into tonight’s action after Wednesday night’s OT loss vs. Pittsburgh. Of note, fans at the Delta Center will be able to vote on the three finalists for the team’s permanent nickname – Hockey Club, Mammoth or Outlaws – over a four-game stretch that includes tonight’s contest vs. the Blue Jackets.
Trending: Arizona swept the season series a year ago, and the Blue Jackets were 0-3-1 vs. the Coyotes the past two seasons after sweeping the two games in 2021-22.
Former CBJ: Defenseman Ian Cole has posted a 1-12-13 line this season while playing for his ninth NHL team, while center Kevin Stenlund has held down the fourth line while chipping in seven goals among his 12 points.
Jon Anderson will be charged with moving the Orem school forward following the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on campus last year.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Incoming UVU President Jon Anderson poses for a photo with his family after an event announcing his selection at Utah Valley University in Orem on Friday, July 17, 2026.
BEAVER COUNTY, Utah — A massive community effort is underway as volunteers and Beaver County crews distribute thousands of sandbags to protect homes from the potential path of floodwaters.
After the Cottonwood Fires, residents have been waiting for weeks for relief to come in the form of rain, though officials now warn it may come all at once with an increased risk of flooding and debris flow.
Emergency Service Director Les Whitney believes that the fire has left plenty of debris to bring trouble for residents.
“We got a lot of water. We’re bringing debris with it, so tree branches, tree limbs, logs, lots of different size firewood, and that’s all in the creeks. We’re worried about that plugging up our bridges and stuff, so we have heavy equipment and excavators located in strategic places so that we can keep those bridges open,” said Whitney.
An estimated 140 homes and condominiums were spared from the flames, but remain in the paths of floodwaters.
Residents can also pick up sandbags at the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office or at the Beaver County Rodeo Fairgrounds.
EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man currently on pretrial release in 4th District Court who is accused of abusing his dog has been arrested again for allegedly punching the same animal.
Keith Reaves Davis, 43, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of aggravated cruelty to an animal.
Utah County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday afternoon to a grocery store on a report that a man was beating his dog after it had gotten off its leash and was stopped by a bystander, according to a police booking affidavit.
“I reviewed security camera footage from the grocery store, and an individual matching the description of the suspect was seen holding the dog in the air by one paw and repeatedly striking the dog on the right hind leg area. I observed the male strike the dog several times before dropping the dog from approximately 1-2 feet. The strikes appeared to be as hard as the male could hit,” the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit. “The dog did not cry out or whimper as if the dog was accustomed to the abuse.”
When questioned, Davis “admitted to striking the dog because it was not behaving,” the affidavit states.
An animal control officer who responded to the scene to take custody of the dog noted it was the same dog he had taken from Davis exactly three months earlier during another animal abuse investigation.
In that case, Davis was charged in 4th District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor, after deputies received a tip from a neighbor that a dog was being abused at Davis’ home, according to charging documents. When questioned, Davis “acknowledged hitting his dog as punishment,” the charges state.
Deputies also reviewed videos that the neighbor had filmed. The neighbor told investigators “there was blood from the dog on the ground of the garage and (the neighbor) can hear the dog screaming as if it’s being hurt. Deputies got the videos from the (neighbor) and you can hear very loudly the dog screaming and crying with a lot of loud banging noises. In one of the videos, you can hear the dog sounding like it is being choked by a collar and is grasping for air,” a police booking affidavit states.
Davis’ next court hearing in the April case is scheduled for July 28.
In their latest booking report, sheriff’s deputies note that they “believe further harm will be inflicted on this dog if it is released back to the male a second time,” and have recommended the dog not be returned to Davis.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
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