SALT LAKE CITY – Despite a continued push of desperation for a playoff spot, the Utah Hockey Club was completely dismantled by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night in a demoralizing 8-0 loss. Unfortunately for Mikhail Sergachev, his special return to Florida was spoiled by an unforgiving effort from his former squad.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s brutal loss in Tampa Bay.
For the first time since he was traded from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Utah Hockey Club last summer, defenseman Mikhail Sergachev returned to the sunshine state to face his former squad.
Cool moment for Sergachev back in the city where he won 2 Stanley Cups.#GoBolts #UtahHC pic.twitter.com/H4DBfXKglV
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 27, 2025
Despite the unfortunate outcome, it was evident how much that city meant to No. 98, and how much he meant to Tampa as he received a standing ovation from the crowd.
“It’s tough right now, honestly. After a game like that,” Mikhail Sergachev said postgame.
“It was great. Thanks for the warm reception. The fans are great, everybody is great. That was supposed to be a special night.”
Standing Ovation for No. 98 in Tampa.
He met a lot to that fanbase and it’s pretty cool that he’s started a new chapter in SLC. pic.twitter.com/R3g6FNraMF
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 27, 2025
As Utah Hockey Club fans have come to learn, Sergachev is a talented, reliable, smart, no-nonsense type of defenseman who plays the game the right way.
After seven seasons with the Lightning and two Stanley Cup’s, Sergachev is also exactly what Utah needed to not only bolster their blue line, but to introduce their roster to a championship mentality.
“You can’t pinpoint one person when you win Stanley Cups, it’s kind of everybody’s involved,” Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper said.
“But he was a huge part of it. We have so many guys that got the attention and won a lot of the awards. But Sergachev could put his name right in the hat.”
Formerly the Arizona Coyotes, the Utah Hockey Club is just one of 10 teams to never win a Stanley Cup.
But after adding great players who know what it takes to reach the top of the mountain like Sergachev, it’s becoming very clear what General Manager Bill Armstrong is cooking up in Salt Lake City.
As Utah looks to emerge from the fourth year of a rebuild and make a legitimate push for the playoffs next season, No. 98 will help spearhead that effort with his invaluable experience acquired in Tampa Bay.
After allowing four unanswered goals to the Lightning in his 15th straight start for the Utah Hockey Club, goaltender Karel Vejmelka was benched in the second period and finally received some well-deserved rest.
While Vejmelka wasn’t at his best in Tampa Bay, one can’t help but acknowledge his willingness to start between the pipes every night as the team has desperately pushed for a playoff spot.
Since February 23, Vejmelka has started every game for the Utah Hockey Club and consistently put his team in a position to win games with eight victories.
That’s significant, especially down the stretch when a backup would generally relieve the starter every once and awhile to keep the top goaltender as fresh as possible.
But that hasn’t been the case for Utah, and despite an admirable effort, Vejmelka is clearly exhausted.
Unsurprisingly, Jaxson Stauber entered the game to relieve No. 70 during the second frame.
Karel Vejmelka has been pulled and Stauber is now between the pipes for #UtahHC
It was time. Vejmelka deserves a long rest.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 28, 2025
With the playoffs essentially out of reach following tonight’s loss, Vejmelka deserves a lengthy break after putting the team on his back for so long.
There’s no reason to start him against Florida, nor is there a reason to start him in Chicago.
Additionally, giving Stauber a handful of minutes to finish the season would only benefit the inexperienced NHL goaltender as Utah tries to figure out their backup situation moving forward.
It’s never over until it’s mathematically impossible, but after Utah’s brutal loss in Tampa Bay, the playoffs are essentially out of reach for the NHL’s newest franchise.
With only 10 games left on the schedule and currently 8 points (potentially 10 depending on the Blues game against St. Louis) out from the final wild card spot, Utah would likely need to win every remaining matchup and hope that the teams ahead of them completely collapse.
Not exactly likely.
To add some perspective however, this has still been a season of progress for the Utah Hockey Club.
While losing 8-0 is never acceptable, the goal this season was to play meaningful games, and Utah delivered that.
“We’re going to look like we’re going to win the Stanley Cup some nights, then other nights we’re not,” Bill Armstrong said earlier in the season.
For now, Utah needs to decide whether they feel comfortable waving the white flag or not.
“We just need to make a decision if we want to be in the playoffs. If we want to fight for the playoffs or not,” Sergachev said.
“This is kind of a punch in the face where we’ve got take a step back and see what we want really out of this season.”
If they do, Utah can use the final 10 games to develop some of their AHL skaters and give Stauber some quality minutes in net.
If not, they’ll need to maintain the next game mentality and quickly move on.
The Utah Hockey Club will now face the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday night. The game can be viewed on SEG+. Fans can also tune in on air on the KSL Sports APP or on 97.5 and 1280 The Zone. Click here for the full schedule.
