Now that the Utah Hockey Club has figured out how to win games at home, it’s hitting the road again. Up first are the Minnesota Wild. The Wild are 1-3-0 in their last four games, but they’re still the second-placed team in the Central Division and the fourth-best team in the Western Conference overall.
Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season, Barrett Hayton scored twice and Utah beat the Minnesota Wild 4-0 on Thursday night for its third straight victory. Clayton Keller and Lawson Crouse also scored,
At first glance, the Utah Hockey Club played a perfect game on Thursday. But the stats suggest there was lots of room for improvement.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season, Barrett Hayton scored twice and Utah beat the Minnesota Wild 4-0 on Thursday night for its third straight victory. Clayton Keller and Lawson Crouse also scored, and defenseman Nick DiSimone assisted on both of Hayton's goals.
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The Utah Hockey Club will face the Minnesota Wild in this NHL matchup at the Bell Centre on Thursday, January 23rd. WATCH: Utah Hockey Club vs Wild Live | Strea
Kaprizov returns for Minnesota, which has lost 4 of 5 ST. PAUL, Minn. – Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season, and the Utah Hockey Club defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-0 at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday.
BOTTOM LINE: Central Division opponents meet when the Minnesota Wild play the Utah Hockey Club. Minnesota has gone 28-15-4 overall with a 10-6-2 record in Central Division play. The Wild are 26-2-2 when scoring three or more goals.
After receiving an inadvertent puck to the face from teammate Michael Kesselring, Clayton Keller immediately went to the locker room. When he checked back in at 4:40 in the second period, Utah's offense would come to life and score four goals in a row on route to its 5-2 victory.
Kaprizov had a couple scoring chances for the Wild (28-16-4), who were delighted to get their superstar back after he missed the last 12 games with a lower-body injury. Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves for Utah (21-19-7) in what was just their second shutout win of the season.
Playing in front of USA's Four Nation Face-off general manager Bill Guerin (whose day job is being the GM of the Wild), Keller delivered a beauty of a goal, skating across the offense zone before whipping a shot short side to beat Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson in the first period.
Utah entered Minnesota with plenty of momentum after playing a complete game in its 5-2 win over Winnipeg. Scoring a goal in just 1:46, Utah came out fast and never looked back.