A line of veteran forwards led the way as the club rallied to defeat the Blues 5-3 Sunday night at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

Earlier in the day, Utah Hockey Club head coach Andre Tourigny said he wanted his veterans to be the leaders he knew they could become.

It was only fitting the lone line of veterans led his team to a comeback pre-season win.

Logan Cooley broke a late tie with a penalty shot with 1:17 left in the third period, and newly extended Dylan Guenther added a power-play goal as the Utah Hockey Club overcame an early 2-0 deficit to knock off the St. Louis Blues, 5-3, in their pre-season opener in Des Moines, Iowa, Sunday night.

"The guys worked really hard," Tourigny said. "It's sometimes tough the first game because you put a lot of teaching leading to that game, and then sometimes the guys arrive and can think too much."

Admittedly, some of it was on display; despite outshooting the Blues 15-5 in the first period, it was the visitors who struck first, including being gifted an own goal by Utah on a delayed penalty, leading to a 2-0 deficit after 20 minutes.

"We had a lot of chances we didn't score, me especially," Guenther said. "We've got to sharpen every game so that we peak on opening night."

The fans got a glimpse of how fast Utah can change the momentum early in the second period when Utah dented the scoreboard twice in less than three minutes to tie the game, eventually taking the lead on Guenther's power-play goal midway through the third period.

After St. Louis knotted the game, Logan Cooley potted a penalty shot after being hauled down by Blues defenceman Michael Buchinger. Utah forward Michael Carcone, who started the comeback with the first of his two goals, then dumped one into an open net to seal it just 17 seconds later.

"Both teams had their moments; it's the first pre-season game," Tourigny said. "There's a lot of teaching, a lot of growth for our team, but I like what I saw."