WHEN: 5:00 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 (21-21-9) meets the St. Louis Blues (23-25-4) tonight at Delta Center in the third game of a four-game homestand. Utah has won each of the previous two matchups between the two Central Division rivals and are looking to beat an opposing side three times for the first time in team history.
ONE-TIMERS
- Utah has points in four straight home games and five of the last seven contests overall.
- Captain Clayton Keller leads the team with 56 points (18G, 38A) in 50 games and is a St. Louis native.
- Defenseman John Marino has assists in four straight games.
- Utah has the sixth best goal differential in the first period at +14.
- Defenseman Ian Cole was drafted by St. Louis 18th overall in the 2007 NHL draft.
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Blues are in a spot of trouble after losing four straight and being shut out in two of those games. All four of St. Louis’ last four losses have come against teams either inside or just outside the playoff picture: Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, Colorado Avalanche. Nonetheless, the Blues need wins and are currently at sixth in the Central Division, just one point and one spot behind Utah.
Defensively, St. Louis has been porous recently, allowing four goals or more in five of its last six games.
The Blues get their scoring from a variety of sources, and seven players wearing the Blue note have double-digit goal totals this season with Jordan Kyrou’s 21 markers leading the team.
WHO TO WATCH
UTAH: #15 ALEXANDER KERFOOT - Kerfoot scored just 0:29 into the third period on Friday against Columbus and now has seven goals this season. The Harvard product has scored double-digit goals in each of his last three seasons and five times in his eight-year NHL career.
ST. LOUIS: #18 ROBERT THOMAS - Taken 20th overall by St. Louis in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Thomas has been one of the Blues’ most productive players for the last seven seasons. He missed 12 games due to injury earlier in the campaign, but he has 36 points (12G, 24A) in 40 games to lead St. Louis with 0.90 points per game.
LOOK BACK
Utah held a 2-0 lead in the third period on Friday but could not hold off a late surge by the Columbus Blue Jackets and fell 3-2 in overtime. Zach Werenski scored the overtime-winner for the Blue Jackets after a couple of flukey bounces aided Columbus’ comeback. Alexander Kerfoot and Nick Schmaltz scored the two goals for Utah, and goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped 20 of 23 shots. Utah outshot Columbus 33-23 in the game, and Utah held a 4.77 to 2.47 edge in expected goals according to Sportlogiq.
LAST MEETING
Utah took down the St. Louis Blues 4-2 at Delta Center on Jan. 20 at Delta Center. After Utah allowed a goal just two minutes into the first period from Tyler Tucker, Liam O’Brien dropped the gloves with Tucker in a momentum-changing tilt that sparked a three-goal outburst in the first frame. Michael Kesselring netted his fifth goal of the year to tie the game 1-1 on the power play, and two more goals from Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller brought Utah a 3-1 edge after 20 minutes.
The Blues’ Jake Neighbours trimmed Utah’s lead down to 3-2 in the second period, but Logan Cooley found the back of the net later in the period to make it a 4-2 contest. Keller factored into all four goals for Utah, picking up a goal and three assists. Goaltender Connor Ingram picked up the win with 22 saves on 24 shots.
POWER PLAY
Utah’s power play was 1-for-3 on Friday against Columbus thanks to a first-period goal from Nick Schmaltz. Utah now has power-play goals in back-to-back games, in four of its last five (4-for-12, 33.3%), and in eight of its last 10 (8-for-26, 30.8%). At a 22.7% conversion rate for the season, Utah ranks 12th across all NHL teams on the man-advantage.
Last game against Columbus, Utah was able to continue its production on the power play despite missing its top two goal-scorers on special teams: Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley. Guenther and Cooley are tied for the team lead with seven power-play goals each but are both currently out of the lineup with injury.
Clayton Keller leads the team with 22 points (5G, 17A) on the power play, and that total places him in a tie for the 10th most in the NHL. The Utah captain has recorded a goal or an assist on 17 of Utah’s last 20 power-play goals.
PLAYOFF OUTLOOK
Utah is currently six points behind the Calgary Flames for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. The Vancouver Canucks are also five points ahead of Utah and are the next team in line for a postseason berth. Utah is 3-0-0 against Calgary and Vancouver, but the club needs to focus on picking up points, regardless of opponent.
The analytics site Moneypuck.com gives Utah a 16.9% chance to make the postseason, but it should be noted that these percentages change dramatically game-to-game.
LOOK AHEAD
Utah wraps up the four-game homestand with a tilt against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, Feb. 4. Utah and Philadelphia previously met on Feb. 8, and Utah claimed a 4-2 win.
