An announced attendance of 8,851 was at Sunday’s game at the arena, home of the Iowa Wild, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Minnesota Wild. When host Andrew Downs asked who was cheering on which team, the Blues fans were dominant, but Utah certainly had a significant vocal following.

Fans cheered vigorously at the start of the game as the announcer welcomed “the visiting St. Louis Blues and the first game in the history of the host, Utah Hockey Club.”

After Utah forward Dylan Guenther gave the go-ahead goal on a power play at 8:05 of the third period, fans behind the St. Louis goal started an audible “Let’s Go Utah” chant.

“It’s always fun to get back into game action,” Guenther said. “We’ve had some good practices. It’s exciting to see the team come together for camp and fun to get one game under our belts and move on to the next.”

Utah defenseman Robert Bortuzzo said the atmosphere was “really cool.”

“The ice rink was great, the turnout was great. I thought both teams fought really hard and then gave the fans a little shootout there,” Bortuzzo said of the multi-round shootout that followed the teams after the game. “We appreciate them coming out. Their support goes a long way in this League for all teams.”

Utah also generated interest with its equipment. Near Section 108, fans formed a long line to purchase Utah and NHL merchandise, from hats to sweatshirts to T-shirts.

“We actually know one of (Utah’s) coaches, so I’m following because of that connection,” said Brooke Vass of Lincoln, Nebraska, who bought a Utah T-shirt and sweatshirt. “We are (Pittsburgh) Penguins fans, but I don’t have a Western Conference team yet. So we’ll see.”

It has been a busy but exciting time for the Utah Hockey Club. The firsts are piling up and they’ve all been fun. Now playing in front of the home fans.

“It’s going to be pretty cool. We can say it when we’re done playing that we were the first team in Utah,” Guenther said. “It’s cool for us, cool for the players, cool for the fans and it will also grow hockey in the state.”