When two squads fresh from scoring seven goals each collide, they'll square off on Thursday as the Nashville Predators take on the Utah Hockey Club in Salt Lake City.
Utah's 7-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday stood as their most impressive display this season. With a record of 36 wins, 30 losses, and 12 ties for a total of 84 points, Utah managed to score the highest number of goals in any single game throughout the team’s first year. They also dominated with an overwhelming shot count of 41 compared to the Kraken’s 19.
Mikhail Sergachev (scoring one goal and providing two assists) along with Dylan Guenther (who notched three assists) were key contributors on the scoreboard. However, it was a comprehensive team performance for Utah. A total of seven distinct players found their way onto the score sheet, while 12 different individuals recorded at least one point each.
As seen in every match, our offense can originate from various sources, just like last night," remarked Utah’s coach Andre Tourigny. "Our power play performed exceptionally well, but we also saw goals coming from different lines. This versatility proved crucial.
Utah remains in contention for a spot in the West Division wildcard race; however, they would be out of playoff consideration by Thursday evening should the Minnesota Wild defeat the San Jose Sharks.
Over their last three games, Utah's power play unit has been successful six times out of twelve attempts, following a tough stretch where they managed only one success in twenty-four tries during their preceding ten games.
Despite leading throughout their game against Seattle, Utah saw a more challenging contest as Nashville fell behind multiple times during their 7-6 victory in overtime against the New York Islanders on Tuesday. Trailing 6-4 entering the last 2:07 of regular time, Nashville managed to turn things around when Steven Stamkos netted a power-play goal, followed closely by Michael Bunting scoring another power-play tally with only 40 seconds left on the clock.
Fedor Svechkov then found the back of the net 1 minute and 56 seconds into overtime, securing Nashville’s most thrilling win of their challenging season (28-42-8, 64 points).
Sort of a wild evening, reminiscent of old-school matches filled with numerous scores," remarked Stamkos, noting his contribution of two goals and two assists. "It’s been quite some time since we’ve experienced something like this... I believe (Predators assistant coach Todd Richards) joked that the hockey gods hadn’t been particularly generous to us when it came to scoring. So, getting some tonight felt fantastic.
The Predators are managing an impressive 29.4 shots per game, placing them among the top teams in the NHL in this category. Nevertheless, their scoring drops significantly with only 2.54 goals per game on average, which ranks amongst the poorest in the league.
The victory on Tuesday prevented the Predators from setting an embarrassing record for their franchise. After losing six consecutive games, another defeat against the Islanders could have tied them with their longest-ever losing streak of seven games set during the 2012-13 season.
Filip Forsberg tops Nashville with 30 goals and 42 assists.
In Utah, Clayton Keller leads across all categories with 27 goals and 57 assists. He is just two points shy of tying his personal high of 86 points, which he achieved during the 2022-23 season.
Karel Vejmelka has played in every one of Utah’s past 21 matches and boasts an outstanding 2.41 goals-against average along with a .903 save percentage throughout this demanding stretch. Should Utah opt to grant Vejmelka some much-needed time off, backup goalie Matt Villalta would step up for his second-ever NHL appearance.
It’s probable that Juuse Saros will start as the goalkeeper for the Predators on Thursday. Over recent weeks, Nashville has predominantly alternated their goaltenders, which suggests that Saros should expect to play this time around because Justus Annunen was the one who faced the Islanders previously.
In the previous matchup between Nashville and Utah on November 9th, Saros made an impressive 27 saves for a clean sheet as the Predators won 4-0. Following this game, these two teams will face each other one final time in Nashville on Monday to wrap up their season series.
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