“Veggie! Veggie!” chanted the crowd at the Delta Center at various points throughout the third period. That’s in reference to goaltender Karel Vejmelka — “Veggie” for short — who posted a career-high 49 saves and helped his team kill 11 minutes’ worth of penalties in the final frame.

Nick Bjugstad scored his second goal of the game to cap the Utah Hockey Club’s three-goal flurry in a 2 1/2-minute span of the third period in a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Karel Vejmelka made a career-high 49 saves for the Utah Hockey Club in a 4-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Delta Center on Wednesday. Nick Bjugstad scored twice, and Michael Kesselring had two assists for Utah (7-6-3), which had lost three of four.

Utah HC defenseman Ian Cole played for the Hurricanes in the 2021-22 season. In 75 games, he scored two goals and 19 points. He also added 83 penalty minutes — the second-highest number of his career. The team lost in game seven of the Conference Semi-Final to the New York Rangers that year.

Karel Vejmelka made a career-high 49 saves and the Utah Hockey Club scored three goals within a 2:19 span in the third period for a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday in Salt Lake City.

Karel Vejmelka skated back onto the ice, pumping his arms and whooping to a Delta Center crowd eager to give him a raucous standing ovation. The usually soft-spoken and reserved Utah Hockey Club goaltender was announced as the first star of the game and let his emotion break through after making a career-high 49 saves in Wednesday’s 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Nick Bjugstad scored his second goal of the game to cap the Utah Hockey Club's three-goal flurry in a 2 1/2-minute span of the third period in a 4-1 victory ove

Vejmelka saved 49 of 50 saves and helped kill off 25 penalty minutes, including over 10 minutes alone in the third period, to lift Utah to a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.