Dylan Guenther returns, scores in final second to lift Utah Hockey Club over Flyers

SALT LAKE CITY — Dylan Guenther didn't wait to celebrate. After all, he had waited long enough already.

Guenther rushed into the zone and sent a wrist shot into the back of the net with 0.7 seconds left in overtime to lift Utah to a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday at the Delta Center.

Utah players poured out onto the ice as Guenther lifted his hands in celebration.

The late winner capped off a perfect return for the young rising star, who had missed the previous 12 games with a lower-body injury. Guenther had already set up a goal and scored another in his first game back, seemingly fixing Utah's scoring issues by himself.

But then there was the waiting game.

First, the league needed to check if the goal had made it in before the horn sounded. Second, it needed to make sure Clayton Keller wasn't offside.

"I didn't even know. I was so tired, I was just like, 'Ah, please go in.' And I had a big celly, too, so I was like, hopefully it counts or else that would kind of suck," Guenther said.

Guenther had the puck in the neutral zone in the waning seconds as Keller was circling through the offensive zone on his way to the bench.

The Utah captain hopped over the boards and off the ice just a hair before Guenther skated it in for the final shot.

"Thank God he was off the ice because that would have been a tough pill," head coach André Tourigny said. "(Keller) told me, 'Almost doesn't count'"

As for the time left?

The replay showed Guenther beat the clock by the slimmest of margins, and that was good enough for a Utah win. The victory snapped Utah's five-game losing skid. It's probably not a coincidence it came with Guenther back in the lineup.

Guenther was part of both Utah's game-tying goals in regulation. On the first, he teed up Mikhail Sergachev for a blast that made it 1-1 in the second period. Then, in the third, he pushed the puck on a rush and scored on a quick snapshot.

"Having good players makes the life easier of a coach, there's no doubt about it," Tourigny said. "The better your players, the better you are as a coach."

And Guenther is a pretty darn good player.

It's that natural goal-scoring ability that Utah has been lacking with him out. He's an elite shooter who doesn't need a clean look or much space to get off a lethal shot. Philadelphia goalie Samuel Ersson found out the hard way on Tuesday.

"I'd love to give all the credit to our skill development coach, but there's a little bit of God's gift in that," Touringy said. "And he works at it. He has the skill set. He's a hell of a shooter."

And his shot led to a win.

"It's not like other sports where it's kind of anticipated," he said of the final goal. "The game's super fast and really nothing to lose, so just try to get through the D's stick and, yeah, it went in."

Like it has so many times before.

After his two goals on Tuesday, Guenther is now tied for the team lead for goals in the season, despite just playing in only 41 games. If Tuesday proved anything, it's that the team plays with a different swagger and a different confidence when he's on the ice.

"He's one of the best shooters, big part of our power play," said Liam O'Brien. "Great kid. We're just happy to have him back."

And so were the fans. Guenther got the loudest cheer when he was introduced in the starting lineup; and three hours later, he sent the Delta Center into a frenzy.

"It was buzzing," he said. "The crowd was buzzing the whole game, even when they announced my name. … That feels really good as a player, and that makes you excited to play. It makes me excited to be here in Utah."

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