Utah Hockey Club (15-11-5, 35 pts) at Minnesota Wild (20-8-4, 44 pts)
Venue: Xcel Energy Center
Date: Friday, December 20
Time: 6:00 MST / 7:00 pm CST
TV: ESPN+ / Utah16 / FDSN / FDSW
Radio:
Utah Hockey Club – The KSL Sports Zone 1280 AM / 97.5 FM
Minnesota Wild- KFAN 100.3 FM
DraftKings Sportsbook Betting Lines:
Utah Hockey Club +1.5 ML +110
Minnesota Wild -1.5 ML -130
O/U 5.5
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Utah Hockey Club News & Notes:
Utah has been playing great hockey of late, with wins in four of their last five games and three in a row the Hockey Club is making a push for playoff position. Currently, Utah is three points out of the second Wild Card spot but they have three games in hand against Colorado. The Hockey Club is 10-6-2 on the road this season and is 7-1-2 in their last ten games overall.
Minnesota Wild News & Notes:
The Wild has hit a bit of a rough patch recently dropping three of their last four games including 7-1, and 6-1 defeats to the Oilers and Panthers. Minnesota is 8-6-1 at home this season and is 6-4-0 in their last ten games. The Wild have a +13 goal differential but that’s been skewed by a few lopsided losses recently.
Utah Hockey Club Projected Lines:
Keller-Hayton-Schmaltz
McBain-Cooley-Guenther
Maccelli-Bjugstad-Crouse
Carcone-Stenlund-Kerfoot
Sergachev-Maatta
Cole-Kesselring
Valimaki-Kolyachonok
Vejmelka
Stauber
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Minnesota Wild Projected Lines:
Kaprizov-Rossi-Zuccarello
Johansson-Hartman-Boldy
Foligno-Gaudreau-Jones
Gaunce-Khusnutdinov-Shore
Brodin-Faber
Chisholm-Spurgeon
Merrill-Bogosian
Fleury
Gustavsson
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Players To Watch:
Utah Hockey Club
Mikhail Sergachev is having a bounce-back season for the Hockey Club. A year ago, the defenseman was injured and only appeared in 34 games for the Lightning, which led to an offseason trade to Utah, where the 2016 first-round pick has flourished. Sergachev leads all Utah defensemen in scoring with 23 points (8g, 15a) in 31 games and the 26-year-old blueliner is on pace for the second 60-point season of his career. The 6-foot-3 Russian has been a great pickup for Utah and is just starting to enter his prime.
Minnesota Wild
Brock Faber has been a tremendous addition to the Wild since his trade from the Kings for Kevin Fiala. The 22-year-old is back in his home state of Minnesota and has been playing with the poise and confidence of a 10-year veteran. Faber leads all Wild defensemen in scoring with 17 points (3g, 14) in 32 games as well as being a +12.
Injury Report:
Utah Hockey Club
D Robert Bortuzzo – IR
D Maveric Lamoureux – IR
G Connor Ingram – IR
D Sean Durzi – IR
D John Marino – IR
Minnesota Wild
C Joel Eriksson Ek – IR
C Jakob Lauko – IR
D Jake Middleton – LTIR
Next Game:
Utah Hockey Club – December 22 vs. Anaheim Ducks
Minnesota Wild – December 21 at Winnipeg Jets
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