Soderblom was playing for the first time since Jan. 29, a 6-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“Guys are happy for [Soderblom],” Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said. “The life of backup goalies, sometimes you get some tough games, and we’ve kind of hung him out to dry a few times, to be honest with you. I think everybody was really happy for him. He’s a great, great teammate, he’s a great professional, goes about his business and does his job, and so guys were eager on the bench to try to get that done for him.”
Teuvo Teravainen scored a power-play goal and a short-handed goal for the Blackhawks (23-28-9), who ended a three-game losing streak. Nick Foligno and Landon Slaggert also scored.
“I thought we played really good defensively overall,” Blashill said. “Coming out of the break, we’ve played pretty good. We’ve limited a lot of chances. The difference probably tonight was we broke the puck out really, really, really well, so then you don’t have to defend as much. I think that’s probably the biggest difference.”
Karel Vejmelka made 24 saves for the Mammoth (31-25-4), who have lost two of three since returning from the Olympic break.
“We need two points every night, and we’re in a [heck] of a race. That game has to be won,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “We need to take that game and learn, and that has to hurt big time so we make sure that doesn’t happen again. If that’s the purpose of that game, it is what it is, but there’s no reason for us to play like that.”
Teravainen gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 19:05 of the first period, collecting a rebound and beating Vejmelka on the blocker side.
Foligno scored his 250th NHL goal at 11:38 of the second period. He picked up a loose puck in front of the net and beat Vejmelka with a backhand deke to extend the lead to 2-0.
“[Foligno has] great hands around the net,” Blashill said. “What a great number for him, man. That’s a great job.”