WHEN: 7:00 p.m. MT
WHERE: Crypto.com Arena - Los Angeles, California
TV: SEG+, UtahHC+, Utah 16 | RADIO: KSL Sports Zone 102.7 FM HD 2, NHL App
The Utah Hockey Club (24-23-9) begins the final 26-game sprint to the end of the regular season tonight against the Los Angeles Kings (29-17-7) at Crypto.com Arena. Utah won three of its last four games before the 12-day 4 Nations Faceoff break, and the Mountain Blue is now six points behind the Vancouver Canucks for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. This evening is the first of a back-to-back for Utah; the team will return home tomorrow night to face Vancouver at Delta Center.
ONE-TIMERS
- Defenseman Sean Durzi is expected to return to the lineup tonight for Utah.
- Captain Clayton Keller is the first Utah player to reach 60 points (20G, 40A).
- Three of the last four and five of the last seven contests for Utah have reached overtime.
- Dylan Guenther has four goals in his last four games.
- Josh Doan has goals in back-to-back games.
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Kings have been one of the Pacific Division’s best squads since the start of the season, and Los Angeles is currently third in the Pacific table with 65 points. One of the best defensive clubs in the NHL, Jim Hiller’s team allows the fifth fewest goals at just 2.53 per game. Shot suppression is a key to LA’s defensive success, and the Kings allow the second fewest shots per game at 25.5.
Offensively, Los Angeles is led by one of the more underrated players in the league in Adrian Kempe with his 46 points (25G, 21A) in 53 games. Anze Kopitar ranks second on the team in scoring with 45 points (13G, 32A), and he is one of three holdovers from the Kings’ two Stanley Cup Championship teams in 2012 and 2014; Drew Doughty and Utah native Trevor Lewis are the other two.
WHO TO WATCH
UTAH: #11 DYLAN GUENTHER - Guenther missed 12 games due to injury from Jan. 10 to Feb. 2. In the four games since his return, the 21-year-old has totaled four goals and three assists, including two overtime winners and a goal and an apple in Utah’s last game against Washington.
LOS ANGELES: #22 KEVIN FIALA - Fiala is second on the team with 21 goals this season, and five of them have come within the last four games. His three-game goal streak was snapped in LA’s last contest against Anaheim on Feb. 8.
LOOK BACK
Prior to a 12-day break, Utah claimed a 5-4 shootout victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals on Feb. 9. Josh Doan and Michael Carcone scored within the first 1:42 of the first period to put Utah up 2-0 early. The Capitals pushed back, but twice Utah re-extended its lead to two goals, eventually leading 4-2 heading into the third period after two more strikes from Jack McBain and Dylan Guenther. Tom Wilson scored twice for Washington, including a goal with 1:31 left in the third to tie the game at 4-4. After a scoreless overtime, Karel Vejmelka, who had entered the game for an injured Connor Ingram in the first period, stopped all three Caps attempts in the shootout to secure the win. Nick Schmaltz provided the only shootout goal that Utah needed.
LAST MEETING
Utah lost its third straight game in a close match against the Kings on Oct. 26 at Cyrpto.com Arena. LA’s Joel Edmundson recorded his first-ever two-goal game, and Utah received goals from Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley. Connor Ingram stopped 20 of 23 Los Angeles shots in the defeat.
SEAN DURZI
Durzi has missed the last 52 games after he suffered a shoulder injury against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 14 but is expected to make his return to the lineup tonight. The defenseman posted two assists in four games prior to missing time, and he recorded the first fighting major in Utah Hockey Club history on Oct. 8 against the Chicago Blackhawks.
On June 30, Durzi signed a four year, $24 million extension with the Mountain Blue after leading the Arizona Coyotes in scoring by a defenseman last season with 41 points (9G, 32A) in 76 games. The 26-year-old from Mississauga, Ontario spent the first four years of his career in the Los Angeles Kings organization before he was traded to the Coyotes in 2023.
26 GAMES REMAINING
Including tonight, Utah has 26 games remaining in its Inaugural Season. 15 of the remaining 26 games are against teams currently in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoff picture, and nine of the remaining games are against Central Division opponents. 14 home games and 12 road games remain on Utah’s schedule, including a four-game homestand starting Feb. 23 and a five-game home stretch beginning Apr. 1. Utah has three contests left against the two teams directly ahead in the standings; two games against the Vancouver Canucks and one against the Calgary Flames.
LOOK AHEAD
A four-game homestand opens up for Utah tomorrow evening at Delta Center against the Vancouver Canucks with puck drop at 6 p.m. MT. When Utah last hosted Vancouver on Dec. 18, Mikhail Sergachev scored the overtime winner in a 3-2 victory to cap a two-goal third-period comeback.
