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
The Utah Hockey Club (35-30-12) hosts the Seattle Kraken (34-38-6) at Delta Center in the fourth game of Utah’s final five-game homestand. Utah is looking for its first win over Seattle this season as the Kraken visit the Beehive State for the first time.
For the first time this season, Utah stares down elimination tonight. A regulation or extra-time loss against Seattle this evening would eliminate Utah from playoff contention.
ONE-TIMERS
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
With 74 points on the season, Seattle has been eliminated from playoff contention and currently sit seventh in the Pacific Division. Despite this, the Kraken have won each of their last three games and have outscored the Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks, and Los Angeles Kings 12-2 across those two outings.
Seattle can score, and head coach Dan Bylsma’s group sits 13th in the league with 3.01 goals per game. Utah has found this out the hard way after a 5-2 loss on Dec. 30 and a 4-2 defeat on Mar. 14 at the hands of the Kraken. Eight different Kraken skaters have found the back of the net against Utah, including Eeli Tolvanen who has two goals against the Mountain Blue.
STANDINGS UPDATE
WC1: St. Louis Blues – 93 points
WC2: Minnesota Wild – 91 points
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WHO TO WATCH
UTAH: #8 NICK SCHMALTZ – Schmaltz is Utah’s second leading scorer with 59 points (17G, 42A) this season, two away from a new career high. The winger has a goal and an assist against the Kraken this season and leads all Utah skaters with four career goals against Seattle.
SEATTLE: #9 CHANDLER STEPHENSON – Stephenson has points in three straight games (1G, 2A) and goals in two of his last three appearances for Seattle to bring his season total to 13. The free-agent addition of the Kraken is second on the team in scoring with 51 points (13G, 38A) and is one point away from surpassing his point total last season with the Vegas Golden Knights.
LAST MEETING
Utah missed out on two points on Mar. 14 in a 4-2 regulation loss to the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena. Utah led 2-1 in the second period after goals from Nick Schmaltz and Kevin Stenlund, but a deflection off Brandon Montour’s skate tied the game at 2-2 for Seattle late in period two.
Halfway through the third, a Utah turnover led to a Kaapo Kakko goal to give the Kraken a 3-2 edge. Eeli Tolvanen scored twice for Seattle, including the empty-netter. For Utah, Stenlund finished with a goal and an assist while John Marino provided a helper on both Utah markers.
LOOK BACK
Utah knocked off the league-leading Winnipeg Jets on Saturday evening at Delta center in a 4-1 finale. The win moved Utah to 2-2-0 against the top-seeded Jets and marked the second win over Winnipeg at home.
Utah used two power-play goals from Clayton Keller and Barrett Hayton to take a 2-0 lead by the first minute of the second period. Kevin Stenlund beat Vezina Trophy favorite Connor Hellebuyck with a wrist shot later in the second period to extend Utah’s lead to 3-0.
Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele picked up his 800th career point with a power-play goal early in the third period, but a Nick Bjugstad empty-netter sealed the win for Utah. Goaltender Karel Vejmelka was sensational again with 32 saves on 33 Jets shots.
POWER PLAY COMES TO LIFE
Utah’s power play kicked into high gear against the Jets on Saturday at Delta Center. Utah finished with a 2-for-3 effort on the man advantage, and the two power-play strikes helped give Utah control of the game. Previously, Utah had been just 2-for-27 over its previous 11 games. Now, Utah has three power-play goals and is 3-for-6 over its last two contests.
The Mountain Blue power play ranks 15th in the league at 22.2% on the season. Saturday’s two power-play goal performance marked the ninth multi-power-play effort of the season for Utah. Dylan Guenther leads the team with 12 power-play goals while Clayton Keller ranks second with eight.
500 POINTS FOR CLAYTON KELLER
With a goal and an assist on Saturday evening, captain Clayton Keller reached the 500-point milestone, becoming the only player on Utah’s roster to have done so. Keller’s 82 points (26G, 56A) lead the team and place him in a tie for the 15th most in the NHL. His 56 assists are tied for the 11th most in the league. 34 of his assists have come on the power play this season, tying him for the sixth most such helpers in the NHL this season.
In his eighth full NHL season, Keller amassed his 500 points (192G, 308A) in 596 games with 86 of those points (37G, 49A) coming in his career-best 2022-23 campaign. This season, Keller hit the 50-assist mark for the first time in his career, and he is now just five points away from setting a new career high.
At 26 years and 250 days old, Keller became the fourth-youngest active U.S.-born player to reach the 500 point mark, behind only Auston Matthews (25 years, 108 days on Jan. 3, 2023), Matthew Tkachuk (25 years, 328 days on Nov. 4, 2023) and Patrick Kane (25 years, 341 days on Oct. 26, 2014).
LOOK AHEAD
Utah’s final home game of the 2024 regular season is Thursday, Apr. 10 against the Nashville Predators. To close the regular campaign, Utah will then hit the road to take on the Dallas Stars, Predators, and St. Louis Blues.
