Overview
- Utah ruled Karel Vejmelka out with an upper-body injury less than an hour before puck drop in Colorado.
- Vítek Vaněček got the start, with 21-year-old Park City native Colten McIntyre signed to an ATO to serve as backup.
- McIntyre most recently played for the EHL's Connecticut Roughriders after two seasons in Tier III junior with the Long Beach Sharks.
- The move is the NHL's second emergency backup signing this month, following San Jose's ATO for Justin Kowalski on Dec. 9 when Yaroslav Askarov was ruled out.
- Vejmelka has a 16-10-2 record in 29 games, while Utah is 18-17-3 and holding the West's second wild card, with no return timeline announced.