Game Recap: Utah 6, Wild 1

SALT LAKE CITY -- Clayton Keller tallied a career-high five points (one goal, four assists) and the Utah Hockey Club defeated the Minnesota Wild 6-1 at Delta Center on Thursday.

“[I’m] just trying to do the same thing every single night,” Keller said. “I think our line has done a good job lately. I think getting [Logan Cooley] back, too… I think each game since he's been back, we've been just getting a little bit better. And my line mates, everyone that was out there contributed to all the goals that we scored. And it's been a joy.”

Keller’s four assists were also a new career high for Utah’s captain.

“I liked the way he played,” Utah head coach Andre Tourigny said. “He played a responsible game, didn't take risks. He was engaged defensively, played a solid two-way game. Obviously a five-point game isn’t bad.”

Nick Schmaltz had one goal and two assists, and Karel Vejmelka made 15 saves for Utah (27-24-9), who have won four straight at home and six of their past eight games.

“I think we were consistent in the way we played,” Tourigny said. “When we got to 3-1, 4-1, it did not change. We didn't start to play differently or start to peel back. We stayed engaged and we stayed in the moment and we just kept going.”

Frederick Gaudreau scored and Marc-Andre Fleury made 25 saves for the Wild (34-21-4), who have lost two straight and four of their last seven games.

“I thought for large portions of the night tonight, we got outskated, we got out-competed,” Wild head coach John Hynes said. “We didn't do a lot. We had some stretches where we pushed and we played, but I thought they were faster, harder, more competitive, and made more plays, other than some pushes in the game that we had, and that was the difference.”

Barrett Hayton opened the scoring at 3:59 of the first period when he drove to the net on a power play and had a shot deflect in off the skate of Wild defenseman Brock Faber.

Dylan Guenther scored another power-play goal at 19:30, firing a one-timer off a cross-ice feed from Keller to make it 2-0.

Gaudreau cut the lead 2-1 at 16:02 of the second period, making a move around a poke check from Vejmelka and slipping the puck into an open net.

“We were there at some parts of the game and just needed to create something when it was 2-1, 3-1, but we didn't, Gaudreau said. “They were for sure more connected than us.”

Utah responded with four unanswered goals, scored by four different skaters.

Sean Durzi answered back at 17:50 with a wrist shot from the point that beat Fleury on the glove side to give Utah a 3-1 lead. It was his first goal of the season and his first goal since Apr. 17, 2024. Durzi returned to the Utah lineup on Feb. 22 after missing 52 games with an upper-body injury.

“It was special,” said Durzi. “I got my grandparents -- hopefully they're still up at home right now -- and I told them I would get them one last game and I didn't so hopefully they're watching. I got them one tonight so it was huge.”

Schmaltz made it 4-1 at 3:47 of the third period, scoring off a pass from Cooley on a 2-on-1 rush.

Keller pushed the lead to 5-1 at 9:30 when he collected a pass from Mikhail Sergachev and sent a backhander over a sprawling Fleury.

Cooley finished off a backdoor pass from Keller at 15:01 for the 6-1 final.

“Ever since the break, even the game against [Los Angeles], we've just had a different feel in our game,” Keller said. “We've had more confidence. We're playing for each other. We're playing the right way. And this is the time of year that you want to do that. So we'll enjoy this for a couple minutes and turn the page and be ready for the next one here.”

NOTES: Utah forward Michael Carcone was a late scratch and is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, per Tourigny. … Clayton Keller now has 47 assists this season, which is tied for the eighth most in a franchise’s inaugural season with Real Cloutier (Quebec Nordiques in 1979-80). ... Keller became the 10th different player since 1979-80 to register a five-point game during his franchise’s inaugural season. … Fleury made the 1,014th start of his career, tying Roberto Luongo for the second-most all-time among NHL goaltenders.