WHEN: 6:00 p.m. MT
WHERE: Enterprise Center – St. Louis, Missouri
TV: SEG+, UtahHC+, Utah 16 | RADIO: KSL Sports Zone 97.5 FM, NHL App
At the close of an unforgettable Inaugural Season, the Utah Hockey Club (38-30-13) concludes the 2024-25 regular campaign with a matchup against the St. Louis Blues (43-30-8) at Enterprise Center. Tonight will be the fourth meeting of the season between Utah and St. Louis, with Utah earning a 2-1-0 record through the previous three meetings.
ONE-TIMERS
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
Game 82 is crucial for St. Louis, which currently occupies the second wild card spot in the West with 94 points. The Calgary Flames, sitting just behind with 92 points and two games left, are still in striking distance. If St. Louis wins in regulation tonight, they will cement a trip to the postseason. Should they lose or win in extra time, Calgary could potentially steal the position outright or by virtue of tiebreakers.
To reach 94 points, the Blues went on the second-longest win streak in the NHL this season, racking up 12 straight victories from Mar. 15 to Apr. 5. Since the streak ended, St. Louis is 0-2-1, including a 4-3 shootout loss to the Seattle Kraken in their last contest on Apr. 12.
Since the 4 Nations Face-off break, the Blues are 18-4-3 with those 18 wins leading the NHL in that span. Robert Thomas leads the league with 30 assists and 38 points (8G, 30A) since play resumed following the break. His 79 points (21G, 58A) for the season lead the team and mark the second highest single-season point total of his career.
WHO TO WATCH
UTAH: #9 CLAYTON KELLER – Raised in the St. Louis area, Utah’s captain returns to his hometown tonight to face his childhood team. Keller is coming off a four-point effort (2G, 2A) against Nashville, and his 89 points are tied for the 11th most in the NHL.
ST. LOUIS: #89 PAVEL BUCHNEVIC – Buchnevic was held scoreless on Saturday at Seattle, snapping what was a four-game goal streak. The Russian has five goals over his last seven games after missing four games due to an illness in March. Buchnevic is fourth on the team in scoring with 54 points (19G, 35A).
LOOK BACK
Utah hung seven goals on the Nashville Predators last night in a 7-3 win at Bridgestone Arena- Utah’s first win of the season over Nashville.
After the Preds led off the scoring in the first, Michael Kesselring, Nick Bjugstad, Logan Cooley, and Nick Schmaltz scored four straight goals to put the Mountain Blue up 4-1 in the second. Nashville pushed back with scores from Luke Evangeslista and Michael Bunting. An ice delay late in the second period forced the teams to the dressing rooms early.
Leading 4-3 heading into the third, Clayton Keller assumed control for Utah and scored his 28th and 29th goals of the season, including an empty-netter, to seal Utah’s win. Kevin Stenlund added a tally with 25 seconds left for good measure.
Keller finished his night with four points (2G, 2A) in his 600th career game, but a big piece of the story was on the other end of the ice. Goaltender Matt Villalta made his season debut with Utah and earned his first NHL win with 27 saves on 30 shots.
LAST MEETING
A third-period pushback from Utah fell short in a 2-1 final against the St. Louis Blues at Delta Center on Feb. 2. Alexandre Texier scored the first goal of the game for the Blues in the first period, and eventually Utah’s Michael Kesselring scored early in the third to tie the game at 1-1.
3:46 after Kesselring scored his sixth goal of the season, Jordan Kyrou returned the lead to St. Louis’ hands with his 22nd goal of the campaign after a crisp feed from Robert Thomas.
Utah goaltender Connor Ingram was outstanding with 27 saves on 29 Blues shots.
CLAYTON KELLER
With 89 points (29G, 60A) this season, Utah’s captain has set a new career high in points and assists in his first season on the Wasatch Front. His previous high of 86 points (37G, 49A) with the Arizona Coyotes in 2022-23 tied an Arizona single-season scoring record with his former youth hockey coach Keith Tkachuk.
Keller’s 60 assists are tied for ninth most in the NHL, his 36 power-play points (9G, 27A) rank fifth, and his 27 power-play assists are tied for sixth.
The Chesterfield, Missouri native is the only Utah skater to record four points in a game, doing so three times this season, including last night.
MATCHING UP
With a win last night against Nashville, Utah now has wins over every Central Division team this season and is unbeaten in regulation through its last eight games against division foes.
Utah has primarily been chasing four teams for playoff positioning throughout the season: the Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, and Vancouver Canucks. While Utah won’t leapfrog enough of those clubs to reach a playoff spot, it has proven its superiority over that group of four teams in head-to-head matchups this season. The Mountain Blue is a combined 11-1-1 against those four teams combined, losing in regulation only to St. Louis in a 2-1 final on Feb. 2.
Utah is 4-6-1 against the top three teams in the Central: the Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars, and Colorado Avalanche.
LOOK AHEAD
Tonight is the final game of the season for the Utah Hockey Club. Coming up in the summer, the team will participate in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft from June 27 to June 28 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
