Preview: Wild at Utah Hockey Club

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- The Wild embarks on a two-game back-to-back road trip, beginning tonight in Salt Lake City where the Wild will challenge the Utah Hockey Club. The Wild is coming off of a close loss to the Red Wings in Saint Paul on Tuesday, falling 3-2 after defeating the Wings 4-3 in overtime in Detroit the previous Saturday. Now, the team heads West and hopes to end the season series with Utah on a win.

Info for Tonight's Game:

• When: Thursday, February 27th at 8:00 p.m. CT
• Where: Delta Center (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Watch: FanDuel Sports North
• Listen: KFAN 100.3 FM
• Gamecenter: Wild vs. Hockey Club

Wild Record: 34-20-4, 72 points, 3rd in Central Division

Utah HC Record: 26-24-9, 61 points, 5th in Central Division

2024-25 Series Record: 1-2-0

All-Time Wild Record: 1-2-0 (1-0-0 at Utah)

This Season on Wild vs. Utah HC

The Wild won the first-ever meeting between the two clubs, 5-4, in a shootout in Salt Lake City (12/10), Utah’s first shootout in franchise history. The Wild lost the second game, 2-1, in St. Paul (12/20) and the third meeting, 4-0, at Xcel Energy Center (1/23).

LW Marcus Johansson leads Minnesota with three points (1-2=3). LW Kirill Kaprizov (1-1=2) and C Marco Rossi (1-1=2) each own two points. G Filip Gustavsson owns a 1-1-0 record with a 3.88 GAA and a .852 SV% while after starting the first and third meetings. G Marc-André Fleury stopped 16-of-18 shots faced for the Wild in the second game.

RW Dylan Guenther (2-2=4) and RW Clayton Keller (3-1=4) lead Utah with four points each against the Wild this season. D Mikhail Sergachev (0-3=3) owns three points. G Karel Vejmelka is 2-0-1 with a 1.62 GAA, a .946 SV% and one shutout while starting all three games for Utah.

Last Time Out

Minnesota was defeated by the Detroit Red Wings in Saint Paul on Tuesday night. Marco Rossi and Jakub Lauko each scored for the Wild.

Utah Leaders Against Wild

• Keller leads Utah in scoring against Minnesota with 24 points (13-11=24) in 30 career games
• C Nick Schmaltz owns 19 points (3-16=19) in 33 matches
• Sergachev (1-9=10 in 12 games), LW Lawson Crouse (6-4=10 in 30 games) and C Barrett Hayton (4-6=10 in 12 games) each have 10 points

To view recent transactions, visit wild.com/transactions.

On the Mend

Joel Eriksson Ek: lower-body injury (one game missed)

Kirill Kaprizov: lower-body injury (eight games missed)

Connections

• C Nick Bjugstad is a Minneapolis native and played three seasons at the University of Minnesota (2010-13). He tallied 30 points (13- 17=30) in 101 games in two seasons with the Wild (2020-22)
• D Ian Cole collected eight points (1-7=8) in 52 games with the Wild in 2020-21
• C Logan Cooley played one season at the University of Minnesota (2022- 23)
• McBain was selected by the Wild in the third round (63rd overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft.

Fast Facts

• Iowa Wild Goaltending Coach Richard Bachman (Salt Lake City) is the only Utah native to appear in a NHL game as a goaltender

For more information on today's matchup, check out the game notes below.