WHEN: 7:00 p.m. MT
WHERE: Delta Center – Salt Lake City, Utah
TV: SEG+, UtahHC+, Utah 16 | RADIO: KSL Sports Zone 97.5 FM, NHL App
A five-game homestand for the Utah Hockey Club (34-29-12) continues tonight against the Los Angeles Kings (42-23-9) of the Pacific Division. Including tonight, only four games remain on Utah’s home slate for the team’s Inaugural Season. Utah has won two games in a row entering tonight, including a 3-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday at Delta Center.
ONE-TIMERS
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Kings have been one of the NHL’s most consistent teams throughout the season and have been trending upwards over the last two months. Since the start of February, Los Angeles is 16-6-3 with win streaks of four and five games. The Kings have won their last two games by a combined score of 12-2 and currently sit second in the Pacific Division with 93 points.
Only the Western Conference-leading Winnipeg Jets allow fewer goals (2.35) than the Kings at 2.49 goals against per contest. Los Angeles has held the opposition to two goals or fewer in 10 of its last 14 games. Shot suppression is key for Jim Hiller’s squad; the Kings allow the second fewest shots at just 25.3 per game.
Los Angeles has beaten Utah twice this season: 3-2 on Oct. 26 and 5-3 on Feb. 22. Both of the previous engagements took place at Crypto.com Arena.
STANDINGS UPDATE
WC1: Minnesota Wild – 89 points
WC2: St. Louis Blues – 89 points
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WHO TO WATCH
UTAH: #56 KAILER YAMAMOTO – Yamamoto’s line with Barrett Hayton and Nick Schmaltz has been effective since the three have been placed together. Yamamoto is +1 in each of his last two games and scored his first NHL goal of the season on Sunday against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Spokane, Washington native has appeared in six NHL games this season while also leading the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners with 51 points (19G, 32A) in 51 games.
LOS ANGELES: #9 ADRIAN KEMPE – Kempe leads the Kings with 32 goals this season after three goals in his last two games. The 28-year-old has now hit the 30-goal mark in three of his last four seasons.
LAST MEETING
Utah held leads twice against the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 22 at Crypto.com Arena, but not for very long. Just 28 seconds after Barrett Hayton scored on the power play to put Utah up 1-0 in the first, Drew Doughty tied the game for LA with his first goal of the year. In the second, Hayton once again gave Utah the lead on the man-advantage, only for Kevin Fiala to tie the game 2-2 with a power-play goal of his own just 2:10 later.
Alex Laferriere put the Kings ahead later in the second before Utah native Trevor Lewis made it 4-2 in the third. Hayton capped off the hat trick with another goal in the third period, but Utah’s one-man rally fell short.
LOOK BACK
Utah pieced together a full 60 minutes against Calgary on Tuesday to win 3-1 at Delta Center and sweep the Flames in the season series three games to none. Calgary became the fourth team that Utah has swept in its Inaugural Season (Buffalo, Philadelphia, Vancouver).
Alexander Kerfoot set up Kevin Stenlund for the game’s opening goal late in the first period. Leading 1-0, Utah scored again in the second when Barrett Hayton netted his 18th goal of the season. Rasmus Anderson trimmed Utah’s lead with a seeing-eye wrist shot in the middle of the second period, but Utah withstood Calgary’s 12-shot push in the third frame to maintain the lead. Clayton Keller scored the empty-netter to seal the win.
Karel Vejmelka turned in one of his signature performances of the season in net with 33 saves on 34 Calgary shots.
600 FOR KERFOOT
Tonight will be Alexander Kerfoot’s 600th career NHL game. The versatile forward spent the first two seasons of his career with the Colorado Avalanche before joining the Toronto Maple Leafs for four seasons between 2019 and 2023. Last season was his first under Andre Tourigny with the Arizona Coyotes.
The Harvard product has played in 420 consecutive games, starting the streak on Nov. 30, 2019. His current stretch is the fourth-longest active ironman streak in the NHL behind Brent Burns (916), Ryan Suter (529), and Nick Suzuki (447).
An important penalty killer for Utah, Kerfoot has been on the ice shorthanded for 188:51 this season- the fourth most shorthanded time on ice by a forward this season in the NHL.
KAREL VEJMELKA
With 33 saves on 34 Calgary shots, Karel Vejmelka posted one of his best performances of the season to pilot Utah to victory. His 33 saves on Tuesday are tied for the fourth most in a game for Vejmelka this season, and the effort against the Flames marked the third straight games in which he held the opposition to two goals or less.
Vejmelka’s 18 straight starts are the most in the NHL since Darcy Kuemper started 22 consecutive games for the Arizona Coyotes in 2019. During his 18 straight starts, Vejmelka holds a 10-5-3 record, 2.54 goals-against average, and .899 save percentage.
The Czech’s 52 games played are tied for a career high while his 2.56 goals-against average and .905 save percentage this season are on pace for career bests.
LOOK AHEAD
Utah’s final homestand of the season continues on Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets at Delta Center. Saturday will mark the fourth and final game of the season between the Central Division foes, with Utah owning a 1-2-0 record against the Western Conference leaders.
