The Dallas Stars look to rebound after two straight losses when taking on the Utah Hockey Club on the road. It’ll be the Stars second game in the new Utah arena and proved the change in altitude didn’t play a factor as they won 2-1 in regulation.
It was a surprisingly great showing from backup Casey DeSmith, who stood on his head in Oettinger’s absence with one of the best performances of his career with 36 saves on 37 shots. He will get the nod once again in this matchup and could very well face another 37 shots as Utah has been on fire lately with a 8-1-3 record over their last 12 games.
On the opposite end of the ice, Utah starter Karel Vejmelka will be entering Monday with a sizeable amount of momentum as he’s caught fire as well with a 8-4-2 record and 2.18 goals against average over his last 15 appearances.
It stacks up for what should be a low-scoring affair which will make every goal matter that much more. Dallas hopes that centre Roope Hintz plays a pivotal role as he’s recorded a point in 12 out of his 16 career games against the Arizona Coyotes/Utah Hockey Club, totaling eight goals and six assists for 14 points.
Utah Hockey Club’s offence has a 3.03 goals per game average that lands them middle of the pack but since getting hot they improved to a 3.58 average. Their offence can be lethal especially forwards Clayton Keller and rookie sensation Dylan Guenther are firing on all cylinders.
The pair have a combined 29 goals in 33 games and have continued to stay hot for their fans with 11 of those goals being scored in 14 home games. They will need to be kept at bay if the Stars want to prevail.
It’ll be a great game between two elite teams and if you want to check out the game at 8:00 CT on ESPN+ or Victory+ and you can also listen along on Sportsradio 96.7 and 1310 The Ticket. If you are in the Salt Lake City area, tickets are very affordable for Stars versus Utah HC with the lowest pair being sold for roughly $46USD.
