The stage was set for a showdown between two playoff hopeful teams in Utah Hockey Club (25-24-9) and the Vancouver Canucks (26-20-11).
For Utah, a regulation win would put it only four points out of the final Wild Card spot currently owned by Vancouver. Plus, a win would secure the season series due to a 3-2 win over the Canucks back on Dec. 18.
But with a regulation loss, not only would Utah find itself eight points out of the final wild card spot, but it would fall back behind both the St. Louis Blues and the Anaheim Ducks in the standings.
But after Utah's Nick Schmaltz pass flew under the legs of Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers to a wide-open Dylan Guenther, it was Utah that would take the lead for good.
"I mean, just a really nice play by Schmaltzy [Nick Schmaltz]," said Guenther. "I didn't even really see it, to be honest, but I was just kind of posted up there and he gave me a nice pass."
Once again, it was Guenther who delivered for Utah on the power play, adding a ninth goal to his team-leading total in power play goals.
With Hayton, coming off of his first ever hat trick , adjacent to Guenther, Vancouver goalie Arturs Silovs was put in the tough position of having to save the shot from whoever got the puck.
Silovs elected to lean toward Hayton, probably knowing that all three of Hayton's goals against the Kings came from within the blue paint. But with Hayton's body temporarily blocking Silovs's vision, Schmaltz smartly made the pass to Guenther, earning an assist on his birthday.
With the Guenther goal, Utah lead 2-1 with just under six minutes on the clock and its sight on securing that four-point swing in the standings.
But in order to do that, Utah would have to keep up the stifling defense it held against the Canucks all night.
While Vancouver ended up pulling Silovs twice, due to a center-ice faceoff caused by a referee taking an inadvertent puck to the groin, the extra-man advantage caused no problems for Utah's defense.
Utah's defense would allow only one shot on goal in that final six minute stretch. Considering the Canucks ended the night with only 15 shots on goal compared to Utah's 32, it's safe to say that Utah's defense put on a dominance performance.
"It's (the) effort of everybody," said head coach André Tourigny. "We blocked shots, we were stingy in our neutral zone, stingy in our (defensive) zone. So there's a lot of positive (in) the way we played without the puck today."
Along with Utah getting an important win, it also was able to get a goal from Logan Cooley, who was back on the ice for his first game since Jan. 29.
With defenseman Sean Durzi having just returned from his own injury and playing in only his second home game of the season, Utah can now say it's the healthiest it has been all year with Cooley's return.
"It's awesome. Obviously you play so many games, it's tough to have a healthy lineup all the time," said Cooley. "But (Sean Durzi) has been unbelievable for us. He's such a vocal guy, leads by example, and the team kind of rallies behind that."
With only 24 games left in the regular season, getting healthy now is crucial for Utah as it makes a push to make the playoffs in its inaugural season.
Next, Utah will play the Chicago Blackhawks in the second game of its four game homestand. Catch it live Tuesday, Feb.25.