Sergachev’s “arm was dead,” but he still scored the game-winning goal in Utah HC’s win over Vancouver

SALT LAKE CITY — Mikhail Sergachev’s arm hung at his side as he returned to the Utah Hockey Club bench.

The veteran defenseman had just slid onto the ice to block a shot with 1:32 left, making the game 2-2. The block may have saved a goal, but it also looked like it knocked him out of the game as it went into overtime.

“My arm was dead,” Sergachev said. “I decided to stay on the bench. I thought I was just going to be a cheerleader. At some point in the OT I felt like it was good enough. And then they just used me.”

Good thing they did too.

With 11 seconds left in the extra session, Sergachev sent the Delta Center into a frenzy.

The smoke machines blared and the goal horn was barely audible over the roar of the crowd as Sergachev scored the game-winning backhand goal, giving Utah a 3-2 overtime victory over the Vancouver Canucks. It was Sergachev’s second game-winning goal of the season.

It was a dismal conclusion to an ultimately dismal victory. Utah trailed 2-0 in the third period before storming back in front of a crowd that hadn’t seen the home team win in over a month.

Clayton Keller gave Utah life when he rebounded a shot from Nick Schmaltz with just under 11 minutes left and quickly fired it past Vancouver goalkeeper Thatcher Demko. Then Utah got a little lucky when Dylan Guenther scored the power play equalizer with 4:30 left.

Günther’s shot bounced off a Canuck defender and flew over Demko for the equalizer. After losing five straight at the Delta Center, the team had no problem absorbing any windfall they could get.

“It’s not that we don’t try at home – we try a little bit harder and sometimes grab the sticks to get a win,” Sergachev said. “But I’m just proud of the group because they came from behind.”

Utah needed a brave moment to get over the top, and the team has Sergachev to thank for that.

Sergachev is an all-rounder for the ice hockey club. He runs the power play, leads the penalty kill and has a deadly shot to boot. In short, he’s someone you want on the ice when the game ends three-on-three in overtime.

After he walked away with much rest on his arm, the team was unsure if he could return.

“He was a little injured,” said head coach André Tourigny. “We didn’t know if he could play in overtime. We knew he couldn’t start, but we told him as soon as you think you can give us a shift, you tell us.”

This moment came when there was just over a minute left of the OT session.

Sergachev joined Schmaltz and Logan Cooley on the ice and they battled through a long shift in the defensive zone. For nearly 50 seconds, the trio battled – Sergachev even went down and blocked another puck – as it looked like Vancouver would either find the winner or run out of time to send them to the shootout.

But Utah got one last chance in the end.

Vancouver’s Conor Garland sniffed a puck in front of the net and it bounced off the boards where Cooley was waiting. The young speedster raced quickly across the ice, followed by Sergachev.

“I just saw that we had the opportunity to win two on one,” Sergachev said. “Cools has the puck, so I’ll always score the goal.”

Cooley sent in the centering pass and Sergachev backhanded it in to give Utah the win in no time.

“A great finish from Sergy,” said Keller. “It’s not easy for the backhand to control it.”

However, Sergachev admitted that it was not just him.

“I kind of got lucky there — I think it hit the defender’s stick and went into the five-hole,” he said. “But I don’t care.”

Neither did the thousands who celebrated with him. The arena was packed after team owner Ryan Smith gave away all tickets for a single goal on Wednesday. After that goal, some new die-hard hockey fans were probably born.

“The atmosphere and the reaction of the fans tonight, from the first period, from the moment Keller scored until our return to the game, overtime – don’t tell me you didn’t have goosebumps,” Tourigny said. “Come on, that was cool.”

In fact it was. As for Sergachev’s arm?

“Yes, everything is fine,” he said.

A game winner certainly made everything feel better.