Game Preview, 2/8: Utah Hockey Club vs. Carolina Hurricanes
WHEN: 11:00 a.m. MT
WHERE: Lenovo Center – Raleigh, North Carolina
TV: SEG+, UtahHC+, Utah 16 | RADIO: KSL Sports Zone 97.5 FM, NHL App
Dylan Guenther and the Utah Hockey Club (23-22-9) test their mettle against the Carolina Hurricanes (32-19-4) tonight at Lenovo Center in the second of a three-game road trip before the 4 Nations Faceoff. Guenther has provided the overtime winner in each of Utah’s last two games and now leads the team with 19 goals. Utah is six points behind the Vancouver Canucks for the second wild card position in the Western Conference.
ONE-TIMERS
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
After a seven-game point streak, the Hurricanes have dropped their last three contests but remain in second place in the Metropolitan Division. Despite the recent slide, the Canes are one of the top teams in the NHL and are top 10 both offensively (3.22 goals per game – eighth) and defensively (2.71 goals against per game – seventh).
Head coach Rob Brind’Amour’s group has always been one of the darlings of the analytics community, and the Canes are the best in the NHL in both shot attempts with 69.3 per game and shot attempts against with just 48.8 per game according to Sportlogiq.
On Jan. 25, Carolina acquired Mikko Rantenen from the Colorado Avalanche and Taylor Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks in a three-way trade that rocked the hockey community. Since joining the Hurricanes, Rantanen has just two points (1G, 1A) in six games compared to the 64 points (25G, 39A) in 49 games he had with Colorado earlier this season. Hall has one assist in five games with the Canes after 24 points (9G, 15A) in 46 games with the Blackhawks.
WHO TO WATCH
UTAH: #70 KAREL VEJMELKA – Vejmelka recorded the second most saves in an NHL game this season on Nov. 13 when he stopped 49 of 50 Carolina shots. His 4.24 goals saved above expected in that game is the fourth highest mark in a league contest this season according to Sportlogiq. In his last appearance on Tuesday at Delta Center, “Veggie” stopped 18 of 20 shots en route to a 3-2 overtime victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.
CAROLINA: #96 MIKKO RANTANEN – Rantanen is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, and the Hurricanes are hoping they can re-sign the skilled winger to an extension. The 28-year-old Fin is coming off back-to-back 100-point seasons and can certainly record another if his production returns to the level it was at with the Avalanche. His 66 total points (26G, 40A) are the ninth most in the NHL this season.
LOOK BACK
Dylan Guenther stole the show on Tuesday when Utah took down Philadelphia 3-2 in overtime on the back of their young winger. After Rodrigo Abols scored his first NHL goal just two minutes into the first period, Guenther set up Mikhail Sergachev to tie the game at 1-1 in the second. 57 seconds later, Tyson Forrester tipped in a Claude Giroux shot to give Philly back the lead.
In the third, Guenther broke free after collecting a pass from Barrett Hayton and buried his first goal of the game to tie the score at 2-2. With the clock expiring in overtime, Guenther again broke free and fired a shot past Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson to win the game for Utah.
Sergachev finished with a goal and two assists, Hayton picked up two helpers, and Philadelphia’s Ersson was strong in net with 39 saves on 42 shots. Karel Vejmelka stopped 18 of 20 for Utah.
LAST MEETING
Karel Vejmelka piloted Utah to one of the team’s most thrilling wins of the season in a 4-1 final over the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 13 at Delta Center. Vejmelka posted a career high 49 saves on 50 Hurricanes shots to earn his first win of the season. Utah scored three goals in a span of 2:19 in the third period. Nick Bjugstad scored his first two of the campaign, Jack McBain provided the game-winner, and Mikhail Sergachev picked up his third of the season. Utah also successfully killed off 10:26 worth of shorthanded time during a wild third period.
OVERTIME
Utah played its 16th overtime game of the season on Thursday in Columbus, tied for the most in the NHL. Utah is 7-7 when a game is decided in overtime and 0-2 in the shootout. Dylan Guenther (three) and Mikhail Sergachev (two) have each scored multiple overtime-winners for Utah. Utah has now scored five overtime goals in the final minute of overtime, which is the most in the NHL.
Guenther, who has scored the last two OT-winners, became the second player in NHL history to score within the final minute of overtime in consecutive games, following Brent Burns (MIN: 3/11/07-3/13/07). He also became just the sixth player 21 or younger to record overtime goals in back-to-back games.
DYLAN GUENTHER
Now with 38 points (19G, 19A) in 42 games, Guenther has set new career high in goals, assists, and points. The Edmonton, Alberta native likes to score in bunches; he has now scored in back-to-back games six times this season, and he has scored in three straight games on three occasions. Never far from the spotlight, Guenther has come through in big moments for the Mountain Blue, and each of his last seven goals have either tied the game or given Utah the lead.
Guenther’s five game-winning goals are tied for the most on the team with Barrett Hayton, and his seven power-play goals are tied for the most on the squad with Logan Cooley. He has now posted 10 multi-point games in 2024-25, including a team-high six multi-goal outings.
LOOK AHEAD
Utah wraps up its season series with the Washington Capitals tomorrow at 10:30 MT. The Caps feature the future hall-of-famer Alexander Ovechkin, who is currently just 16 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky’s goal record.
UTA at CBJ | Recap
