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

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — 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.

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.

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

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

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

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

Utah Hockey Club center Barrett Hayton controls the puck during an NHL hockey game, Feb. 22, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jayne-Kamin-Oncea, File)

Utah Hockey Club center Jack McBain controls the puck during an NHL hockey game, Feb. 22, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jayne-Kamin-Oncea, File)

Utah Hockey Club defenseman Michael Kesselring takes a shot on goal during an NHL hockey game, Feb. 22, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jayne-Kamin-Oncea, File)

Utah Hockey Club left wing Lawson Crouse (67) skates during an NHL hockey game, Feb. 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

Utah Hockey Club's Logan Cooley (92) celebrates after his goal against the Vancouver Canucks with teammates during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney lamented Canada’s lost friendship with the United States as he visited the town that sheltered thousands of stranded American airline passengers after the 9/11 attacks.

Carney's visit Monday to Gander, Newfoundland on the second day of a national election campaign comes against the backdrop of a trade war and sovereignty threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump’s almost daily attacks on Canada’s sovereignty have left Canadians feeling betrayed.

"In this crisis caused by the U.S. president and those who are enabling him, we lament a friendship lost," Carney said. “In Gander Canadians did extraordinary things for Americans when they needed it. Now, we need to do extraordinary things for ourselves.”

Gander opened its arms to nearly 6,600 airline passengers diverted there when the U.S. government shut down airspace during 9/11.

In a matter of a few hours, the town population 10,000 in 2001 was overwhelmed by 38 planeloads of travelers, yet locals went to work in their kitchens and cleaned up spare rooms to offer space and food to the newcomers.

When more than 200 flights were diverted to Canada following the attacks on the United States, the Canadians shunted the traffic away from Toronto and Montreal to the eastern seaboard.

Obscure, little-used Gander got to relive its glory days as a stopover point for trans-Atlantic aviation before long-distance flights became possible. Built in 1938 in anticipation of the coming world war, it had the world’s longest runway, and on 9/11 it was the second busiest, taking in 38 flights to Halifax, Nova Scotia’s 47.

Flight crews quickly filled Gander’s hotels, so passengers were taken to schools, fire stations, church halls. The Canadian military flew in 5,000 cots. Stores donated blankets, coffee machines, barbecue grills. Unable to retrieve their luggage, passengers became dependent on the kindness of strangers, and it came in the shape of clothes, showers, toys, banks of phones to call home free of charge, an arena that became a giant walk-in fridge full of donated food.

Once all the planes had landed or turned back to Europe, Gander’s air traffic controllers switched to cooking meals in the building nonstop for three days.

On Monday, Carney visited the home of Beulah Cooper, who opened her home and comforted many including Dennis and Hannah O’Rourke, an elderly couple whose New York firefighter son, Kevin, went missing at the World Trade Center and was later confirmed to have died there.

The O’Rourkes remained friends with Cooper long after and went back to Gander, saying they felt eternally indebted.

“More than 6,000 passengers. Overnight, the town’s population almost doubled," Carney said during a speech to residents. “You showed friendship to people who were fearful. In a crisis, you showed your character. When people needed help, you gave it."

Carney noted the story of that day became legend, immortalized in the Canadian-made Broadway hit musical “Come from Away.”

“It became yet another example of the unbreakable bond between Canadians and Americans. Because when Americans are in need, Canadians have always shown up,” Carney said.

Carney noted Canadians have always been by Americans' side whether it was during the Iranian hostage crisis, or more recently during the California wildfires or in Afghanistan, where Canada lost 158 members of the armed forces and seven civilians.

Trump has declared a trade war on his northern neighbor and continues to call for Canada to become the 51st state, a position that has infuriated Canadians. The American president has threatened economic coercion in his annexation threats and suggested the border is a fictional line.

Trump put 25% tariffs on Canada’s steel and aluminum and is threatening sweeping tariffs on all Canadian products — as well as all of America’s trading partners — on April 2.

Carney said Canadians are over the shock of the betrayal but now have to look out for themselves. He said Canadians and Americans have been traditionally been like brothers.

"But that’s changed. And it wasn’t us who did the changing. Unfortunately, President Trump’s actions have put that kinship under greater strain today than at any point in our storied history,” Carney said.

Carney and his Conservative opponent, Pierre Poilievre, said Trump must respect Canada’s sovereignty as they kicked off their election campaigns on Sunday. Carney announced a five-week election campaign before the vote on April 28.

Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney gets a hug from Beulah Cooper as he arrives at her house in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada, Monday, March 24, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)