Cooley and Kerfoot each score twice to lead Utah past Lightning 6-4

SALT LAKE CITY -- — Logan Cooley had two goals and an assist and Alexander Kerfoot also scored twice to lead the Utah Hockey Club to a 6-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.

Josh Doan and Nick Schmaltz also had goals, and Karel Vejmelka made 22 saves for Utah.

Brayden Point had two goals for the Lightning, and Anthony Cirelli and Jake Guentzel also scored. Brandon Halverson made 19 stops in his first career NHL start.

Doan and Cooley — who has 21 goals this season and 41 over two NHL seasons — both scored to put Utah up 2-0 with 2:28 left in the first.

The Lightning made it 2-1 a minute later on Point's power-play goal.

Cirelli and Guentzel both scored second-period equalizers for Tampa Bay, but Utah countered with rapid go-ahead goals each time.

Kerfoot tipped in the puck 36 seconds after Cirelli evened it at the 5:22 of the second. Then, Cooley put Utah ahead again with 2:07 left in the second, tipping in his second goal 30 seconds after Guentzel’s equalizer.

Schmaltz’s backhander put Utah up 5-3 only 70 seconds into the third.

Kerfoot's short-handed empty netter with 55.9 seconds left restored a two-goal cushion after Point made it 5-4 earlier in the period.

Takeaways

Lightning: Tampa Bay had allowed 2.66 goals per game entering Saturday before surrendering six in Halverson's first start.

Utah: Vejmelka made his 13th straight start, surpassing a 12-game run by the Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin for the most consecutive starts by a goaltender in the NHL this season.

Key moment

Kerfoot and Cooley each generated crucial go-ahead goals following a pair of second-period equalizers from Tampa Bay.

Key stat

Utah has registered a point in 12 of its last 14 home games (9-2-3).

Up next

Tampa Bay is at Vegas on Sunday. Utah hosts Detroit on Monday.

------

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl