WHEN: 7:00 p.m. MT
WHERE: Delta Center - Salt Lake City, Utah
TV: SEG+, UtahHC+, Utah 16 | RADIO: KSL Sports Zone 97.5 FM, NHL App
The Utah Hockey Club (17-15-7) continues a seven-game homestand tonight against the San Jose Sharks (13-24-6) at Delta Center. Tonight is the third and final meeting of the season between the two clubs, and Utah has earned three out of a possible four points against San Jose this season. Utah is currently five points out of the second wild card spot in the Western Conference, currently held by the Vancouver Canucks.
ONE-TIMERS
- Logan Cooley has three goals in his last five games and now ranks second on the team with 11.
- Clayton Keller leads the team with 39 points (14G, 25A).
- Mikhail Sergachev is the only defenseman to have scored multiple overtime winners this season.
- Utah will face the New York Islanders, Montreal, New York Rangers, St. Louis, and Winnipeg next during the seven-game homestand.
- Jack McBain ranks 12th in the league with 132 hits.
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
San Jose rests on the seabed of the Pacific Division, ranking eighth out of eight teams, but the Sharks have won two of their last three. The club from Silicon Valley is bottom-five in both goals for and goals against in the NHL, but San Jose has excellent young talent poised to create a bright future for the Bay Area. 2024 first overall pick Macklin Celebrini is third on the team in scoring with 28 points (13G, 15A) in 31 games and is the front runner for the Calder Trophy. Fabian Zetterlund has given Utah problems through the previous two matchups and scored three goals over the last two meetings between the teams. Mikael Granlund and Alexander Wennberg also both have a pair of goals against Utah this season.
WHO TO WATCH
UTAH: #92 LOGAN COOLEY - Cooley had Utah’s only goal on Wednesday against Florida and now has 11 this season. The 20-year-old former third overall pick is second in scoring for Utah with 35 points (11G, 24A). The power-play goal against the Panthers for Cooley was his sixth of the season, giving him the second-most for Utah.
SAN JOSE: #72 William Eklund - Eklund missed four games due to injury after the Holiday break and has three points (1G, 2A) in his last two games back in the lineup. Dating back to before the injury, Eklund has goals in three of his last five games and ranks second in scoring for the Sharks with 30 points (8G, 22A) in 38 games.
LOOK BACK
The defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers toppled Utah 4-1 at Delta Center on Wednesday. Two empty-netters from Florida at the end of regulation sealed the game after Utah’s third-period rally fell short. Logan Cooley scored on the power play with six minutes left to cut the Panthers’ lead down to 2-1, but that would be as close as Utah got. Jesper Boqvist netted a pair of goals for Florida, including an empty-netter and the game-winner in the second period.
LAST MEETING
Utah battled back to earn two points on Dec. 14 against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center. Trailing 3-2 midway through the third, Michael Carcone netted his third goal of the season after a timely setup from Kevin Stenlund to tie the game at 3-3. With less than a minute remaining in regulation, Clayton Keller lasered home a wrist shot to give Utah a 4-3 edge. Utah outshot San Jose 40-22 in the game, and power-play goals from Nick Schmaltz and Keller proved to make the difference.
POWER PLAY
Utah has scored 13 power-play goals in its last 14 games, going 13-for-41 in that span. The club’s 31.7% mark over the last 14 games is the fourth best in the NHL over that stretch. Dylan Guenther (7G, 9A) and Clayton Keller (4G, 12A) are tied for the most power-play points on the team with 16 each. From Dec. 8 to Dec. 22, Utah scored power-play goals in seven straight games and went 9-for-25 (36%) in that run.
LOOK AHEAD
The season-long seven-game homestand rolls on for Utah tomorrow night at Delta Center against the New York Islanders. When Utah and New York last met on Oct. 10, Dylan Guenther scored the overtime winner in a 5-4 extra-time win for Utah.
