When the Utah Hockey Club met the Minnesota Wild a little more than a week ago, it may have been a little intimidated. The Wild were the best team in the league and had won five of their last six games.
Now, as they meet again just 10 days later, the intimidation might go the other way.
Since that game, Utah HC has a perfect 3-0-0 record. In that same span, the Wild are 1-3-0. Utah has pulled within one point of a playoff spot while Minnesota has dropped to second place in the Central Division. Don’t get it twisted — the Wild are still in a much better position — but things are trending positively for Utah HC and negatively for its counterparts.
Although Minnesota came out victorious that time — a 5-4 shootout decision — Utah coach André Tourigny is not intimidated by them.
“They didn’t show us why they’re a top team in our conference,” he said of his next opponent after Utah’s overtime win over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday.
That said, Tourigny does not lack respect for them, nor does he assume it will be easy.
“They will be ready. We will be ready, too. It will be a good game,” he said. “They have size, toughness, they play hard. (I have) a ton of respect for them.”
Players to watch
Wild forward Marcus Johansson had his first three-point game in nearly a full calendar year against Utah HC, so look for him to try to extend that success.
Utah HC captain Clayton Keller scored two goals against the Wild after being left off the 4 Nations Face-Off roster by none other than Wild general manager Bill Guerin. He’s stayed hot, with four goals and six points in his last four games.
Kirill Kaprizov is the league’s second-highest scorer in both goals and points at the moment, with 22 goals and 48 points in 31 games. He scored a goal against Utah last game.
Logan Cooley didn’t score any points against the Wild, but he has had a pair of assists in each of the three games since. He shows flashes of greatness a few times a game and is starting to look like the third-overall-caliber player that he was projected to be.
Impacts on the standings
In the next eight games, Utah has the chance to largely determine its place in the standings. UHC exclusively faces Western Conference teams during this stretch, including pretty much every team it is racing for a playoff spot. Here’s the schedule:
- Minnesota Wild, Dec. 20
- Anaheim Ducks, Dec. 22
- Dallas Stars, Dec. 23
- Colorado Avalanche, Dec. 27
- Seattle Kraken, Dec. 30,
- Edmonton Oilers, Dec. 31
- Calgary Flames, Jan. 2
- Dallas Stars, Jan. 4
Utah could grasp not only a wildcard spot, but one of the three Central Division spots if it has enough success over the next two weeks. The Stars currently maintain a three-point hold on the third spot, but with two games head-to-head, that could change.
Aside from the Kraken, Utah HC has met all of these teams already this year. It lost just two of those games in regulation and were beaten by more than one goal just once.
“It’s a super important game — a divisional game — and we need to get ready and jacked up,” Tourigny said of Friday’s matchup with the Wild.
Where to watch Utah Hockey Club vs. Minnesota Wild
The game starts at 6 p.m. MDT and will be broadcast locally on both Utah HC+ and Utah 16.