WHEN: 7:30 p.m. MT
WHERE: Delta Center - Salt Lake City Utah
TV: ESPN+, Hulu | RADIO: KSL Sports Zone 97.5 FM, NHL App
Following a successful eastern swing, the Utah Hockey Club (12-11-4) braces for the conference-leading Minnesota Wild (18-5-4) tonight at Delta Center. Utah racked up four points over the weekend with wins over the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers and now faces a Minnesota group that has won five of its last six. Minnesota’s 40 points leads the Western Conference, and Utah’s 28 points have the team four points out of a wild card spot.
ONE-TIMERS
- Logan Cooley has four goals in his last seven games.
- Captain Clayton Keller leads the team with 24 points (7G, 17A), including four in his last four games.
- Keller owns the fastest speed burst for Utah this season at 23.17 miles per hour, placing him in the 96th percentile of all NHL skaters’ top speeds this season.
- Utah’s penalty kill has been perfect in the last two games (5-for-5).
- Utah has won four of its last six games and has earned points in five of its last six.
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
A 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday snapped what was a five-game win streak for Minnesota. The Wild have only lost back-to-back games only twice this season, and have yet to lose consecutive games in regulation. While a solid offensive team, Minnesota’s calling card has been its lock-down defensive play. The Wild allow the fewest goals in the league, surrendering just 2.33 per game. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson has been marvelous for the green and cream this year and leads all qualified goaltenders with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. On the other side of the ice, Russian sensation Kirill Kaprizov is tied for the NHL scoring lead with 42 points (17G, 25A) in 26 games.
WHO TO WATCH
UTAH: #82 KEVIN STENLUND - Stenlund’s shorthanded goal on Sunday night against Philadelphia sealed a 4-2 win for the Utah Hockey Club and gave the Swede goals in back-to-back games. Stenlund now has three tallies this season after a career-high 11 last season with the Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers.
MINNESOTA: #97 KIRILL KAPRIZOV - Kaprizov is off to an electric start to the season, and the 27-year-old has three goals in his last four games. His 42 points (17G, 25A) are tied for the league lead, and he has not gone more than three consecutive games this season without finding the back of the net.
LOOK BACK
After a scoreless first period on Sunday night at Wells Fargo Center, Utah and Philadelphia traded goals in the second frame, and after 40 minutes the Utah Hockey Club led the Flyers 3-2. Michael Carcone tallied his second goal of the season, Juuso Välimäki scored his first, and Logan Cooley netted his seventh. On a crucial penalty kill late in the third period, Kevin Stenlund stole a puck in the offensive zone and scored Utah’s second-ever shorthanded goal to cement a 4-2 victory. Goaltender Jaxson Stauber moved to 2-0-0 this season after stopping 22 of 24 Philadelphia shots.
KAREL VEJMELKA
Goaltender Karel Vejmelka has been a key to Utah’s defensive prowess over the last several weeks. “Veggie” has three goals or fewer in regulation in each of his last 11 starts, and has allowed two or fewer in three of his last four. According to Natural Stat Trick, Vejmelka ranks seventh in the NHL with a goals saved above average of 7.97. Minnesota’s Filip Gustavsson leads the league at 15.34 according to the site. According to NHL Edge, Vejmelka ranks third in the league with an .857 save percentage on high-danger shots. The Czech netminder ranks highly amongst goaltenders that have played as much as he has: both his 2.35 goals-against average and his .917 save percentage rank fourth amongst goalies who have played at least 14 games this season.
HIGH-OCTANE
Utah has scored at least four goals in back-to-back games for the first time since Oct. 28 against the San Jose Sharks and Oct. 30 against the Calgary Flames. Utah’s 2.93 goals per game only ranks 20th in the NHL, but the team’s 56 5-on-5 goals rank 14th. Utah is one of the strongest teams in the league when playing at full strength, and Head Coach Andre Tourigny’s club’s 1.24 5-on-5 goals for/against ratio is the seventh-best in the NHL. Utah has scored four goals or more on 12 occasions this season, and is 10-0-2 when reaching the four-goal mark.
LOOK AHEAD
Utah crosses the mountains to meet the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, Dec. 12 for an important Central Division matchup. Currently, the Avs are directly in front of Utah in the Central standings with a four-point cushion. When the teams last met on Oct. 24, Colorado claimed a 5-1 victory at Delta Center.
