01232025_UHC_Utah at Minnesota HD originals 7914

The Utah Hockey Club moved closer to a Western Conference wild card spot with a dominant 4-0 win against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday. The win came despite the return of Wild star forward Kirill Kaprizov and defenseman Jared Spurgeon, two key pieces of the Minnesota lineup.

Barett Hayton had a pair of goals, Clayton Keller and Lawson Crouse scored, and Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves for his sixth career shutout and first with Utah.

With the win, Utah (49 points) moved within a point of Vancouver and St. Louis in the wild card race. Both the Canucks and Blues lost on Thursday. Calgary, which beat Buffalo on Thursday, holds the second wild card spot with 53 points.

"We've grown a lot as a team," Keller told the ESPN studio crew after the game. "We're just trying to focus on each day, getting better and being the best team that we can be. So that's definitely our goal as a group is to take that next step and get into the playoffs. That's where we want to go."

Hayton heating up: Barrett Hayton opened the scoring just 1:46 into the game with a nifty deflection of Nick DeSimone's shot from the point (DeSimone had two assists). Hayton added a goal on a backhand rebound early in the third period to raise his season goal total to 11. It's the second highest total of his career and eight off his career high.

It has been a good month for Hayton, who has made a habit of strong second halves. He has nine points (four goals) in 10 January games.

UTA@MIN: Hayton scores goal against Filip Gustavsson

You sure 'bout that snub? We already know that Clayton Keller loves playing against his hometown St. Louis Blues, but he's taken a recent shine to the Minnesota Wild. Keller scored his 17th goal of the season on a quick wrist shot late in the first period to give him four points (three goals) in three meetings with the Wild this season. He has a five-game point streak overall, and 15 points in his past 11 games.

It just so happens that Minnesota's GM, Bill Guerin, will be the GM for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off next month. Keller was left off that talented roster but he could still be added if injuries occur. Message sent?

Road warriors: Only six teams have more road wins than Utah's 13. That's normally a good sign for a team's playoff hopes when it can engineer success on the road. Utah has earned 29 of a possible 48 points away from home.

Player of the game, Karel Vejmelka: Entering Thursday's game, Vejmelka had lost seven of his past nine games and had allowed three or more goals in six of those games. It was an uncharacteristic run for Vejmelka, who has had a terrific season.

With net-mate Connor Ingram back, playing well, and pushing for the starting job that he grabbed last season, Vejmelka turned it up a notch, stopping all 26 shots he faced to post his first shutout in a UHC jersey, including 12 saves in the second period when Minnesota made a strong push. Credit the Utah defense for keeping Minnesota's shooters mainly to the perimeter. Natural Stat Trick had Minnesota with just six high-danger scoring chances, but Vejmelka stopped them all. Competition is a good thing.

“The boys played really well in front of me and they helped me a lot," Vejmelka said. "It’s a big team win tonight. We need to take pride and do it again tomorrow.”

Quotable: “I really liked our pace starting the game," Utah coach André Tourigny said. "I liked our composure as well. We’re in sync. We’re not complicating anything. We keep it simple and we still make plays.”

Up next: Utah faces the Winnipeg Jets on Friday in Winnipeg; the second meeting between the teams in five days. The UHC beat the Jets 5-2 on Monday at Delta Center to improve to 1-1 against them. Connor Ingram is expected to start in goal.

UTA at MIN | Recap