Preview: Wild vs. Utah HC

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild hosts Utah Hockey Club tonight amid a few tough losses for the Wild as the team deals with injuries throughout the lineup. C Joel Eriksson Ek, D Jake Middleton and C Jakub Lauko all remain on injured reserve, while D Brock Faber and G Filip Gustavsson are day-to-day.

[Updated at 12:05 CT] Faber will play in tonight's match against the Utah Hockey Club.

Info for Tonight's Game:

• When: Friday, December 20 at 7:00 p.m. CT
• Where: Xcel Energy Center (St. Paul, Minnesota)
• Tickets: Buy Now
• Additional Ticket Offers: Locker Room Series: Captain Spurgeon Ticket Pack
• Watch: FanDuel Sports North
• Listen: KFAN 100.3 FM
• Gamecenter: Wild vs. Hockey Club

Wild Record: 20-8-4, 44 points, 2nd in Central Division

Panthers Record: 15-11-5, 35 points, 5th in Central Division

2024-25 Series Record: 1-0-0

All-Time Wild Record: 1-0-0 (0-0-0 at Xcel Energy Center)

This Season on Wild vs. Hockey Club

The Wild won the first-ever meeting between the two clubs, 5-4, in a shootout in Salt Lake City (12/10).

LW Marcus Johansson led Minnesota with three points (1-2=3). LW Kirill Kaprizov (1-0=1), C Marat Khusnutdinov (1-0=1) and C Marco Rossi (1-0=1) also scored for the Wild. LW Matt Boldy (0-1=1) secured an assist and the game-winning goal in the shootout. Gustavsson stopped 21-of-25 shots faced to earn the win.

.RW Dylan Guenther (0-2=2), RW Clayton Keller (2-0=2) and D Mikhail Sergachev (0-2=2) led Utah with two points each. C Kevin Stenlund (1-0=1) and D Juuso Valimaki (1-0=1) also scored for Utah. G Karel Vejmelka saved 34-of-38 shots faced for Utah.

Utah HC Leaders Against Wild

• Keller leads Utah in scoring against Minnesota with 22 points (12-10=20) in 28 career games
• C Nick Schmaltz owns 18 points (3-15=18) in 31 matches
• LW Lawson Crouse (5-4=9 in 28 games) and Sergachev (1-8=9 in 11 games) each have nine points

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

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
• D Dakota Mermis posted eight points (3-5=8) in 54 games across four seasons (2020-24) in the Wild organization
• C Logan Cooley played one season at the University of Minnesota (2022-23)
• C Jack McBain was selected by the Wild in the third round (63rd overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft
• Stauber is from Wayzata and played one game at Minnesota State University Mankato in 2019-20

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.