WHEN: 8:00 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 (14-11-5) returns home to face the Vancouver Canucks (16-9-5) at Delta Center with vital standings points on the line. The Canucks are currently four points ahead of Utah for one of the two Western Conference wild card spots. Utah has earned points in five straight games and has won four of its last five while Vancouver has earned points in three of its last four.
ONE-TIMERS
- Utah has scored four or more goals in five straight games.
- 21-year-old Dylan Guenther leads the team with 29 points (13G, 16A) and is the second-youngest player in the NHL to currently lead his team in scoring (Connor Bedard).
- Goaltender Karel Vejmelka has the third-best high-danger save percentage in the NHL at .852.
- Utah’s nine points in the last five games marks the most productive five-game stretch of the season for the squad.
- Each of Utah’s last five losses have come by just one goal, and each of Utah’s last seven losses have come against teams currently occupying playoff spots.
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
Rick Tocchet’s Canucks are right in the middle of the playoff entering tonight with 37 points, good for fourth place in the Pacific Division and the top wild card spot in the Western Conference. Defenseman Quinn Hughes leads the team in scoring with 35 points (7G, 28A) which ranks second amongst all NHL rearguards. Up front, the Canucks boast a dangerous top line with Brock Boeser (8G, 11A), Conor Garland (8G, 17A), and J.T. Miller (6G, 13A). Boeser and Miller have each missed chunks of the season, but when together, the trio provides a dangerous scoring threat. Goaltender Thatcher Demko missed the start of the season due to injury, but the reigning Vezina Trophy runner-up stopped 30 of 31 shots against Colorado on Monday and looks to be rounding back into form.
WHO TO WATCH
UTAH: #9 CLAYTON KELLER - Utah’s captain scored the game-winner late in the third period of Saturday’s win over San Jose, and he now has three goals in his last three games. Keller has indeed been ‘Captain Clutch’ and leads the team with three game-winning goals.
VANCOUVER: #44 KEIFER SHERWOOD - In Vancouver’s last game on Monday against the Colorado Avalanche, Sherwood scored all three of his team’s goals in a 3-1 contest, recording a natural hat trick to power the Canucks to victory. Sherwood now has 11 tallies on the season, already marking a career high for the 29-year-old.
LOOK BACK
Utah battled back to earn two points on Saturday 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’s power play has scored in four straight games for the first time this season and now ranks 17th in the NHL at 21.2%. Through the last four games, the man-advantage is 6-for-14 including mult-power-play-goal games on Dec. 10 against the Minnesota Wild and on Saturday against San Jose. Utah had three multi-power-play-goal games in the first 27 contests of the season, and now the group has accomplished the feat twice in the last three appearances. Dylan Guenther leads the team in goals and points on the power play (5G, 8A) and has recorded a point on 13 of Utah’s 18 power-play goals this season. Utah had three multi-power-play-goal games in the first 27 contests of the season, and now the group has accomplished the feat twice in the last three appearances.
FOURTH LINE
The fourth line for Utah has been a key ingredient to the team’s success over the last several games. The line of Kevin Stenlund, Michael Carcone, and Alexander Kerfoot has registered nine goals in the last eight games and has allowed only five goals all season. Stenlund has points in each of his last five games, including a career-long four-game goal streak from Dec. 7 to Dec. 12. Carcone has points in four of his last five games. All three skaters have recorded multiple goals in the last eight-game span.
LOOK AHEAD
Utah hits the road again to seek revenge against the Minnesota Wild at 6 p.m. MT on Friday, Dec. 20. Utah has won six straight games on the road and fell 5-4 in overtime at home to Minnesota on Dec. 10.
