More than luck: Dylan Guenther scores twice to lead Utah Hockey Club over Avalanche

DENVER — Dylan Guenther's new eight-year contract came with more than a few extra dollars in his bank account.

"It brings on a little bit more responsibility," the Utah Hockey Club forward said.

It looks like he's plenty up for that.

Guenther scored two goals and added an assist to lead Utah to a 6-3 preseason road win over the Colorado Avalanche Sunday at Ball Arena. Utah improved to 3-1 in the preseason with the victory.

In the first period, Mikhail Sergachev teed Guenther up with a perfectly placed pass that he slammed home off a one-timer. The puck deflected off the goalie but still had enough juice to cross the goal line.

"It was kind of a lucky shot, to be honest," Guenther said during the first intermission. "But lucky enough, it went in."

Guenther didn't need any luck on the second one. Clayton Keller set him up for another one-timer that he blasted past the Colorado netminder to the back of the net.

Guenther returned the favor in the third period, sliding a slick backhanded pass past a couple of Colorado defenders to set up a Kessler goal.

The 21-year-old proved he was capable of that type of production at the tail end of last season once he was called up from the AHL. He had 18 goals and 17 assists in 45 NHL games with the Coyotes — flirting with a 40-goal and 40-assist full-season pace. That all came after general manager Bill Armstrong told him not to expect to stay up for too long.

About that …

"What he did was he forced our hand," Armstrong said. "He was just so good, and he was ready at that time to come up. And he took off from there."

As Sunday showed, Guenther is still a rising player.

Josh Doan, Cameron Hebig, and Jack McBain added goals in the win, and Sergachev and Keller finished with a pair of assists. Tij Iginla, the No. 6 pick in June's NHL draft, made his preseason debut and showed some exciting flashes with the puck.

But the story of Sunday was Guenther.

When Guenther signed his deal, he said it wouldn't impact how he prepared or played. He skated with an edge last season because he knew he was always one slip-up away from being sent down; he needed to earn the next game, the next practice, the next shift.

Even with his NHL future secure, he's kept that same mentality.

"I love playing hockey. I don't know what I would do if I wasn't playing hockey," he said. "So just coming to the rink every day, enjoying the process, enjoying the grind of it, and making sure I'm continuing to have fun. When I do that is when I play my best."

He certainly had fun on Sunday.

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