Cooley’s One-Second Hat Trick Rescues Utah — Then Sergachev Stuns Pittsburgh in OT

Final — Thursday, October 29, 2026: Utah Mammoth 4, Pittsburgh Penguins 3 (overtime). For almost an entire game, Logan Cooley’s return to his hometown looked like a strong personal performance that might end in defeat. Then the final 25 seconds of regulation rewrote the result twice.

With 25 seconds left, Pittsburgh’s Ben Kindel put the Penguins ahead 3–2. Cooley answered with just one second remaining, batting a puck out of the air to complete his hat trick and force overtime. Mikhail Sergachev then scored at 3:27 of the extra period to give Utah a 4–3 road victory. The result and sequence are confirmed by the NHL’s official game report and Associated Press reporting.

Why the finish was so unusual

Cooley had scored twice in the opening period, giving Utah a 2–0 lead. Pittsburgh fought back through Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell, whose short-handed third-period goal tied the game at two. Kindel’s late goal seemed to complete the comeback, but Utah pulled even almost immediately. The league’s recap notes that the exchange of a go-ahead goal and an equalizer inside the final 30 seconds is rare in NHL history.

The winner came after Barrett Hayton’s shot produced a rebound, which Sergachev converted. Utah goaltender Sebastian Cossa finished with 31 saves; Pittsburgh’s Arturs Silovs stopped 30. The game was officially final in overtime, not a shootout.

A hometown storyline with a twist

Cooley grew up in Pittsburgh and participated in a youth hockey program associated with Sidney Crosby. That context made his three-goal night particularly striking: the player who once learned the game in the Penguins’ orbit delivered the tying goal against them with virtually no time remaining.

For Utah, the performance demonstrated how quickly one decisive shift can change a game. For Pittsburgh, it was a reminder that protecting a one-goal lead requires defending through the final horn. A dramatic finish should not obscure the earlier swings: Utah’s opening advantage and Pittsburgh’s third-period response both helped set up the final minute.

Watch the official highlights

The NHL’s official October 29 game report includes authorized clips of Cooley’s hat trick and Sergachev’s overtime winner. These are links to the rights holder’s coverage; no NHL footage has been downloaded, rehosted or embedded here because independent YouTube embed permission for the exact event was not verified.

Featured image: general ice-hockey illustration photographed by Chris Liverani / Unsplash. The image is not from the Utah–Pittsburgh game.