WHEN: 6:00 p.m. MT
WHERE: Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, Tennessee
TV: SEG+, UtahHC+, Utah 16 | RADIO: KSL Sports Zone 97.5 FM, NHL App
The Utah Hockey Club (37-30-13) continues its final road trip of the season tonight in the Volunteer State against the Nashville Predators (29-43-8). The teams met just four days ago on Apr. 10 at Delta Center when the Preds handed Utah a 4-3 shootout loss.
ONE-TIMERS
- Utah has won three of its last four, five of its last seven, and has points in four straight.
- Clayton Keller is two points away from surpassing his previous best of 86 that he set in 2022-23 with Arizona.
- Utah is 12-8-4 against the Central Division, which leads the league with three teams over 100 points (Winnipeg, Dallas, Colorado).
- Nashville lost their last game 5-3 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
Nashville took some big swings on free agents in the offseason and landed names that could light up a Broadway marquee: Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei. Despite the additions, the Predators are dead last in league scoring at just 2.55 goals per game and have the third fewest standings points in the league with 66.
Nashville has made 10 trades since the start of the season with six of them affecting the team’s salary cap. One constant for the Predators over the last 11 seasons has been Filip Forsberg. Forsberg leads the team in scoring with 73 points (31G, 42A) and has pieced together his fifth 30-goal season. Three of his 31 tallies this year have come against Utah, and he scored the shootout-winner last Thursday at Delta Center.
Utah lost to Nashville 4-0 on Nov. 9 at Bridgestone Arena and then again 4-3 in a shootout on Apr. 10 at Delta Center. The Predators could become the seventh team to sweep the season series against Utah in 2024-25 (Edmonton, Florida, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Ottawa, Toronto).
WHO TO WATCH
UTAH: #91 JOSH DOAN – Doan has goals in back-to-back games for Utah, including the game-winner on Saturday against Dallas. The 23-year-old from Scottsdale, Arizona has points in four of his last five games (2G, 2A).
NASHVILLE: #9 FILIP FORSBERG – Forsberg has torched Utah for three goals through the previous two meetings, not including his shootout-winner last Thursday. The 30-year-old has six points (3G, 3A) in his last six games and is Nashville’s all-time leader in goals with 318.
LOOK BACK
Utah earned its first win against the Dallas Stars on Saturday night in a 5-3 final at American Airlines Center. A 4-for-4 power-play effort piloted Utah to victory and set a team record for most power-play goals in a game.
The first four goals of the game all came on special teams with Utah striking twice on the man-advantage and Dallas scoring a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal. Tied at 2-2, Logan Cooley netted his 24th goal of the season at even strength to put Utah ahead in the second period. Josh Doan scored on the power play later in the second, and Utah cemented its win with another power-play goal from Nick Schmaltz in the third.
Utah outshot Dallas 34-24, and Karel Vejmelka earned his 26th win of the season with 21 saves.
LAST MEETING
Utah closed its 2024-25 home schedule with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators on Thursday night at Delta Center. The Mountain Blue finished with an 18-15-5 home record and points in 12 of its last 15 in Salt Lake City.
Nick Bjugstad and Josh Doan led off the scoring for Utah in the second period to put the hosts up 2-0. Nashville then tied the game at 2-2 with power-play goals from Nick Blakenburg late in the second and from Filip Forsberg 1:19 into the third. Ryan O’Reilly stashed a rebound for the Preds just 1:58 after Forsberg’s goal to give Nashville their first lead of the game.
Dylan Guenther scored his 27th goal of the season at the 5:42 mark of the third frame to knot things up at 3-3, but Utah fell in the shootout after Forsberg scored the only goal of the skills competition.
POWER PLAY
Utah set a new franchise record with four power-play goals on Apr. 12 against Dallas.
- Utah became the third team this season to have four different players score power-play goals in one game, joining Ottawa and Florida.
- Utah’s power play has multiple power-play goals in three of its last four games (9-for-15, 60.0%).
- Utah has now scored 23 power-play goals in the last 26 games (2/8-4/12: 23-for-78, 29.5%).
- Saturday against Dallas was the fifth instance this season that an NHL team scored four power-play goals in one game.
CAREER HIGHS
Several Utah skaters have experienced career bests while wearing Mountain Blue. 11 skaters have set new personal highs in a scoring statistic, and Karel Vejmelka is on pace to have a career year in net. Below are the new career highs set by Utah:
- Clayton Keller – assists (58)
- Logan Cooley – goals (24), assists (38), points (62)
- Nick Schmaltz – assists (42)
- Dylan Guenther – goals (27), assists (32), points (59)
- Mikhail Sergachev – goals (15)
- Barrett Hayton – goals (20), assists (25), points (45)
- Jack McBain – goals (13), points (27)
- Michael Kesselring – goals (6), assists (21), points (27)
- Kevin Stenlund – goals (13), assists (13), points (26)
- Josh Doan – goals (7), assists (12), points (19)
- Nick Desimone – assists (5), points (6)
- Karel Vejmelka (G) – wins (26), goals-against average (2.52), save percentage (.906)
LOOK AHEAD
Utah concludes its Inaugural Season tomorrow against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center.
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