WHEN: 5:00 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 (34-30-12) welcomes the league’s top team, the Winnipeg Jets (52-20-4) to Delta Center for a Saturday evening tilt at Delta Center. Tonight is the fourth and final meeting of the season between Utah and Winnipeg, and Utah holds a 1-2-0 record against the league leaders.
ONE-TIMERS
- Clayton Keller is tied for the ninth most assists in the NHL with 55.
- Utah has already surpassed last season’s Arizona Coyotes point total (77) with 80 points in the standings.
- Of the three NHL teams with over 100 points this season, two of them reside in the Central Division (Winnipeg, Dallas).
- Alexander Kerfoot skated in his 600th NHL game on Thursday against Los Angeles.
- Josh Doan’s father, Shane, was selected seventh overall by Winnipeg in the 1995 NHL draft.
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Jets have stood at or near the top of the league standings for the entire season, and they currently lead all NHL teams with 108 points. No team has earned more than Winnipeg’s 52 victories, and the Jets’ +84 goal differential is the best in the league by 13 goals.
Winnipeg scores the fourth most goals in the league at 3.42 per game thanks to two top-10 goal scorers in Kyle Connor (7th – 38G, 53A) and Mark Scheifele (9th – 37G, 45A). Yet, it’s not as much scoring goals as preventing them that is Winnipeg’s strong suit. The Jets allow the fewest goals in the NHL at 2.32 per game, thanks much in part to the world’s best goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck.
Hellebuyck is the front-runner for this season’s Vezina Trophy, and he leads the NHL in wins (43), goals-against average (2.02), save percentage (.924) and shutouts (7) amongst goaltenders with at least 20 appearances.
STANDINGS UPDATE
WC1: St. Louis Blues – 91 points
WC2: Minnesota Wild – 89 points
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- Calgary Flames – 84 points
- Vancouver Canucks – 81 points
- Utah Hockey Club – 80 points
WHO TO WATCH
UTAH: #22 JACK MCBAIN – McBain set a new career high with his 13th goal of the season on Thursday against Los Angeles. The burly forward now has 24 points (13G, 11A) on the campaign after a goal and a helper against the Kings. Jack’s father Andrew McBain was drafted eighth overall by Winnipeg in 1983 and played six seasons with the Jets before the franchise relocated to Arizona to become the Phoenix Coyotes. Andrew McBain skated in over 600 games during his NHL career and posted two 30-goal seasons with the Jets.
WINNIPEG: #91 COLE PERFETTI – Perfetti has goals in three straight games for the Jets and now has 18 on the season to rank fifth amongst all Winnipeg skaters. His 48 points (18G, 30A) are a career high, and he needs one more marker to tie the career best of 19 he set last season. When Utah last faced Winnipeg on Jan. 24, Perfetti notched his first career hat trick with three goals to lead the Jets.
LAST MEETING
Utah came up short against the Western Conference-leading Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 24 at Canada Life Centre in a 5-2 defeat. Utah answered Winnipeg’s first-period power-play goal with a special teams goal of its own from Nick Schmaltz early in the second frame to tie the game at 1-1.
Later in the second, an awkward bounce off the glass gave David Gustafsson and the Jets a 2-1 advantage. Barrett Hayton scored his fourth goal in three games to open the third frame and tie the game 2-2 before Cole Perfetti scored his second of the night to put Winnipeg back on top.
Perfetti would eventually score the empty-netter for his first career hat trick, assisted on the play by Nikolaj Ehlers’ 500th career point.
LOOK BACK
Utah fell to the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Thursday night at Delta Center. Utah dominated the first 40 minutes of action and led the Kings in shots 25-10 through two periods. In the second period, Adrian Kempe collided with Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka as the puck slid across the goalline, but it was deemed that Kempe was pushed into Vejmelka, and a goal was awarded to LA. Lawson Crouse answered back for Utah with his 11th goal of the season later in the second.
After Anze Kopitar and Kevin Stenlund were each given minor penalties in the third period, the game shifted dramatically at 4-on-4. Kevin Fiala intercepted a puck and capitalized in front of the Utah net, and 44 seconds later, Trevor Moore stole a puck at the Kings’ line and scored on a breakaway, giving Los Angeles a 3-1 lead.
Drew Doughty added an empty-netter for the Kings before Jack McBain scored a power-play goal with the game well in hand.
Darcy Kuemper was sensational in net for LA, stopping 28 of 30 Utah shots.
FUTURE OF UTAH
Utah’s lineup has been chalk full of young talent throughout the season. Leading the way are 20-year-old Logan Cooley (22G, 34A) and 21-year-old Dylan Guenther (26G, 26A). Cooley has the fifth most points in the league amongst players 21 or younger, and Guenther’s 26 goals rank him second amongst NHL players in that age bracket. On Sept. 20, Guenther signed an eight-year, $57.14 million extension that will begin next season. Cooley will be eligible for an extension next season.
General manager Bill Armstrong also re-signed several key pieces for next season. On Mar. 3, it was announced that defenseman Olli Määttä signed a three-year, $10.5 million contract that will begin next season. On Mar. 5, Alexander Kerfoot and Ian Cole both inked one-year $3 million extensions for next season. The next day, goaltender Karel Vejmelka signed a five-year, $23.75 million ticket to begin next season.
HOME
Delta Center has been one of the most energetic environments in the NHL this season, and the team on the ice has been taking advantage recently. After starting the season 6-11-4 at home, the Mountain Blue is now 10-4-3 in its last 17 games on home ice. Utah has been particularly good defensively at home recently and has allowed three goals or fewer in 14 of those last 17 home contests.
Utah is currently in the middle of a five-game homestand, the second longest homestand of the season. Utah’s longest home stretch came from Jan. 8 to Jan. 20 in which the team enjoyed seven straight games at home and ended the homestand with wins over the St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets.
LOOK AHEAD
Utah’s second to last home game of its Inaugural Season comes on Tuesday, Apr. 8 against the Seattle Kraken. The final home game of 2024-25 for Utah is Thursday, Apr. 10 against the Nashville Predators.
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