It's crunch time for Utah Hockey Club. With 19 games remaining in the season and a four-point deficit to make up in the race for the final Western Conference wild card spot, every game counts.
Other than center Nick Bjugstad, who is day to day with an upper-body injury, Utah is largely healthy as it heads down the stretch. The league announced on Sunday, however, that goaltender Connor Ingram will be unavailable to the team for an indefinite period while he receives care from the player assistance program of the NHL and NHLPA.
With Ingram out, the team recalled goaltender Jaxson Stauber from the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League.
Here's a look at the week ahead.
Upcoming Schedule
Monday, 3/10: vs. Toronto, 8 p.m. MT
Wednesday, 3/12 vs. Anaheim, 8 p.m. MT
Friday, 3/14 at Seattle, 8 p.m. MT
Sunday, 3/16: at Vancouver, 6 p.m. MT
Scouting the Maple Leafs: Toronto is in an all-too-familiar position of having another great regular season, only to face a playoff gauntlet in the Atlantic Division. If the Maple Leafs can't win the division, they are likely to face either Florida or Tampa Bay in the first round. Both of those teams loaded up at the trade deadline, but the Leafs added defenseman Brandon Carlo to pair with Morgan Rielly, and added third-line center Scott Laughton. It has been 58 years since Toronto won the Stanley Cup. That is the only measure by which this franchise is judged now.
Stats: Forward William Nylander leads the team with 35 goals. Forward Mitch Marner leads the team with 58 assists and 79 points. The Maple Leafs are 10th in goals per game at 3.21, and 10th in power play percentage at 24.1. Auston Matthews, who has only played 48 games this season due to injury, has a 12-game point streak (three goals, 15 assists).
Injury updates: Forward Max Pacioretty (undisclosed) and defenseman Jani Hakanpää (knee) are on long-term injured reserve. Defenseman Chris Tanev (upper body, IR) is day to day.
Season series: Toronto leads, 1-0. Forward Mitch Marner scored twice in three-goal second period as the Maple Leafs beat Utah, 3-2, on Nov. 24 in Toronto.
Scouting the Ducks: Anaheim stayed in the wild card race for a surprisingly long time, but the Ducks have since fallen seven points off the pace and will need a miraculous finish to leapfrog four teams and qualify for their first postseason since 2018. The Ducks made a pair of moves before the trade deadline, dealing defenseman Brian Dumoulin to New Jersey for forward prospect Herman Traff and a conditional 2025 second-round pick, and then adding defenseman Oliver Kylington.
Stats: Forward Frank Vatrano leads the team with 19 goals. Forward Troy Terry leads the team with 30 assists and 47 points. Goaltender Lukas Dostol has been a bright spot with a .912 save percentage that ranks eighth in the NHL.
Injury updates: Forward Brock McGinn (ACL surgery) is out for the remainder of the season. Forward Robby Fabbri (upper body) is on injured reserve. Goaltender John Gibson (lower body) is day to day.
Season series: Anaheim leads, 2-0. The Ducks beat Utah, 5-4, in overtime on Oct. 16 in Anaheim. They won, 5-4, in a shootout on Dec. 22 at Delta Center.
Scouting the Kraken: Seattle is out of the playoff picture and its trade-deadline moves reflected that reality. In all, the Kraken moved out four players — Yanni Gourde, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Brandon Tanev and Daniel Sprong — to receive two top-10 protected first-round draft picks, two second-round picks and a seventh-round pick.
Stats: Forward Jaden Schwartz leads the team with 19 goals. Forward Chandler Stephenson leads the team with 32 assists and forward Jared McCann leads the team with 45 points. Goaltender Joey Daccord has a .911 save percentage that ranks ninth in the NHL. Seattle's power play ranks 26th in the NHL at 18 percent. Its penalty kill is 19th at 77.1 percent.
Injury updates: No current injuries.
Season series: Seattle leads, 1-0. The Kraken beat Utah, 5-2, on Dec. 30 in Seattle.
Scouting the Canucks: Vancouver was a point behind the Calgary Flames for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference as of Monday. On the heels of an earlier trade of forward JT Miller to the New York Rangers, the Canucks did not move pending unrestricted free agents Brock Boeser, Pius Suter and Derek Forbort.
Stats: Forward Jake DeBrusk leads the team with 22 goals. Defenseman Quinn Hughes leads the team with 46 assists and 60 points. The Canucks' penalty killing unit ranks fifth in the NHL at 82.2 percent. Vancouver's 110 goals at 5-on-5 rank 28th in the NHL.
Injury updates: Hughes (undisclosed) is day to day. Goalie Thatcher Demko (lower body) is week to week. Defenseman Noah Juulsen (sports hernia surgery) is out for the season.
Season series: Utah leads, 2-0. Dylan Guenther scored a tiebreaking power-play goal with just under six minutes remaining in the third period as Utah beat the Canucks 2-1 on Feb. 23 at Delta Center. Mikhail Sergachev scored with 12 seconds remaining in overtime to lift Utah to a 3-2 victory on Dec. 19 at Delta Center.
Who's hot?
- Since the start of December, Utah captain Clayton Keller has 16 goals and 50 points in 38 games.
- Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka has won five of his past seven starts.
- Defenseman Mikhail Serhachev has a goal and five points in his past four games.
By the numbers
- Utah is 6-2-2 in its past 10 games at Delta Center.
- Utah's penalty killing unit ranks eighth in the NHL at 81.2 percent.
- Entering play on Monday, four teams were separated by four points in the race for the Western Conference's final wild card spot.
Quotable
“For Ingy, we’re supporting him. All of our heart is with him. We hope the best for him and we just hope everything will go well for him.”
— Utah coach André Tourigny on goaltender Connor Ingram, who will be unavailable to the team for an indefinite period while he receives care from the player assistance program of the NHL and NHLPA
