Utah Starts Final Stretch of Regular Season
It’s the final stretch of the regular season as Utah has five games remaining on the schedule. This week, Utah will wrap a five-game homestand and hit the road. Let’s look ahead at the next seven days!
Upcoming Schedule:
Tuesday, 4/8: vs. Seattle
Thursday, 4/10: vs. Nashville
Saturday, 4/12: vs. Dallas
Scouting the Kraken: The Kraken enter Tuesday’s game on the second half of a back-to-back after facing the Los Angeles Kings Monday night. Heading into the week, Seattle is on a two-game win streak after picking up victories over the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks. In both those wins, Seattle’s offense exploded, outscoring their opponents 10-1. The Kraken are eliminated from the playoffs and are seventh in the Pacific Division.
Stats: Jaden Schwartz leads the Kraken with 24 goals while Jared McCann’s 38 assists and 58 points are team-highs. Seattle has three players with 20 or more goals this season: Schwartz (24), Eeli Tolvanen (22), and McCann (20). Joey Daccord, Seattle’s starting goaltender, has played 53 games this season and has a 26-20-5 record. He has a 2.63 goals against average, a .910 save percentage, 2 shutouts, and two assists this season.
Injury Updates: N/A
Season Series: This is the third and final matchup between Utah and Seattle with the Kraken winning the two previous meetings. In the first, on Dec. 30, Seattle beat Utah 5-2. In the second, on Mar. 14, the Kraken picked up a 4-2 win. This is the first game in Utah this season.
Scouting the Predators: Nashville is entering a busy stretch to end the regular season, competing in six games over 11 nights, starting Sunday, Apr. 6 against the Montreal Canadiens. When the Predators visit Utah on Apr. 10, it’ll be the visitors third game in five nights. As of Monday morning, Nashville is seventh in the Central Division with 62 points, and the Predators are eliminated from a postseason berth. In the first game of this busy stretch, the Predators lost 2-1 to the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday.
Stats: With 29 goals, 41 assists, and 70 points, Filip Forsberg leads the Predators in all scoring categories. Steven Stamkos is second with 25 goals and third with 47 points. Jonathan Marchessault’s 30 assists and 49 points are second on the team. Juuse Saros, Nashville’s starting goaltender, has a 18-30-6 record through 55 games. He’s averaging 2.97 goals against and has a .895 save percentage.
Injury Updates: Jonathan Marchessault (lower-body, day-to-day), Colton Sissons (lower-body, week-to-week, and Roman Josi (upper-body, IR) did not play for Nashville in Sunday’s game. Jeremy Lauzon and Adam Wilsby are on the IR and out for the remainder of the season.
Season Series: Thursday is the second of three meetings between the teams this season. The Predators won the first game, 4-0, on Nov. 9. The final game is on Apr. 14 in Nashville.
Scouting the Stars: Dallas is postseason bound and currently second in the Central Division. The Stars are in a busy stretch of eight games in 14 days to finish the regular season. Entering the week, the Stars are fresh off a back-to-back where they lost 5-3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday and fell in overtime, 3-2, to the Minnesota Wild. It’s the first time the team has lost back-to-back games since the middle of March where they lost the first game of a back-to-back in regulation, before falling in overtime on the second day.
Stats: Jason Robertson’s 34 goals lead Dallas and the forward’s 44 assists, and 78 points are third on the team. Mikko Rantanen, who joined Dallas on Mar. 7, has 31 goals, 53 assists, and 84 total points this season with three different teams: Dallas, Carolina, and Colorado. Matt Duchene’s 50 assists and 79 points are second in both scoring categories, and first out of players who have spent the entire season in Dallas. The Stars starter, Jake Oettinger, has a 36-15-4 record through 55 games played. He has a 2.45 goals against average, .912 save percentage, two shutouts, and one assist.
Injury Updates: Tyler Seguin (hip), Miro Heiskanen (knee), and Nils Lundkvist are all on the Long-Term IR. Lundkvist is out for the season while Seguin and Heiskanen are working to return.
Season Series: This is the fourth and final game between Utah and Dallas this season with the Stars winning all three previous meetings: Dec. 2, 2-1, Dec. 23, 3-2, and Jan. 4, 3-2.
*All statistics are from Monday morning
