Game Preview, 2/6: Utah Hockey Club vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

WHEN: 5:00 p.m. MT

WHERE: Nationwide Arena – Columbus, Ohio

TV: SEG+, UtahHC+, Utah 16 | RADIO: KSL Sports Zone 97.5 FM, NHL App

After a thrilling 3-2 overtime win on Tuesday to finish out a four-game homestand, the Utah Hockey Club (22-22-9) opens a three-game road trip tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets (26-21-7) at Nationwide Arena. Utah and Columbus last met seven days ago at Delta Center when Zach Werenski lifted the visitors to a 3-2 win in overtime. The Mountain Blue will face Columbus, the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Washington Capitals on the road trip before the 4 Nations Faceoff break.

ONE-TIMERS

• Dylan Guenther scored two goals, including the overtime winner, and an assist on Tuesday night in his return to the lineup after missing 12 games due to injury.
• Mikhail Sergachev tied a career high on Tuesday with his 10th goal of the season.
• The two wins against Philadelphia gave Utah its first season sweep of a team.
• Liam O’Brien and Jack McBain are tied for the team lead with four fighting majors each.
• Clayton Keller leads the team with 57 points (18G, 39A).

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP

Following a three-game win streak, the Blue Jackets have lost each of their last two games to the Dallas Stars and Buffalo Sabres. Bad luck has befallen Columbus, and a rash of injuries have struck an already injury-ravaged lineup. Top forward Kirill Marchenko suffered a broken jaw after a puck hit his face while sitting on the bench on Sunday against Dallas, and the Jackets’ top defense pair – Zach Werenski and Dante Fabbro – also experienced injuries in that game. All three missed Columbus’ last game against Buffalo.

Despite the pair of defeats, head coach Dean Evason’s team is just one point out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets score the eighth most goals in the league at 3.24 per game, but they also give up the seventh most at 3.30 per game.

WHO TO WATCH

UTAH: #11 DYLAN GUENTHER – After suffering a lower-body injury on Jan. 8 against the Florida Panthers, Guenther returned to the lineup on Tuesday and picked up his 10th multi-point and sixth multi-goal game of the season. Guenther is now tied with Clayton Keller for the team lead at 18 goals this season. The 21-year-old sniper now has two overtime-winning goals this season and three for his NHL career.

COLUMBUS: #90 KENT JOHNSON – After a goal against Utah on Jan. 31 and a beautiful backhanded goal two nights ago against the Buffalo Sabres, Johnson now has two goals in his last three games and points in eight straight contests (4G, 5A). The 22-year-old ranks fourth on the team with 35 points (16G, 19A) in 40 games.

LOOK BACK

Dylan Guenther stole the show on Tuesday when Utah took down Philadelphia 3-2 in overtime on the back of their young winger. After Rodrigo Abols scored his first NHL goal just two minutes into the first period, Guenther set up Mikhail Sergachev to tie the game at 1-1 in the second. 57 seconds later, Tyson Forrester tipped in a Claude Giroux shot to give Philly back the lead.

In the third, Guenther broke free after collecting a pass from Barrett Hayton and buried his first goal of the game to tie the score at 2-2. With the clock expiring in overtime, Guenther again broke free and fired a shot past Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson to win the game for Utah.

Sergachev finished with a goal and two assists, Hayton picked up two helpers, and Philadelphia’s Ersson was strong in net with 39 saves on 42 shots. Karel Vejmelka stopped 18 of 20 for Utah.

LAST MEETING

Utah held a 2-0 lead in the third period last Friday but could not hold off a late surge by the Blue Jackets and fell 3-2 in overtime. Zach Werenski scored the overtime-winner for Columbus after a couple of flukey bounces aided the Jackets’ comeback. Alexander Kerfoot and Nick Schmaltz scored the two goals for Utah, and goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped 20 of 23 shots. Utah outshot Columbus 33-23 in the game, and Utah held a 4.77 to 2.47 edge in expected goals according to Sportlogiq.

COMEBACKS

After the 3-2 overtime win against Philly on Tuesday, Utah now has 11 total comeback wins and seven third-period comeback wins. Utah trailed twice against the Flyers at 1-0 and 2-1 but overcame both to pull back to .500 and snap a five-game losing skid. Seven of Utah’s last nine wins have involved coming from behind.

Utah has 11 total come-from-behind wins this year; 10 of which have erased one-goal deficits, and one overcame a two-goal deficit. The seven third-period comeback wins this season are tied with the Anaheim Ducks for the second most in the league. Columbus is right behind Utah and Anaheim with six third-period comeback wins.

MIKHAIL SERGACHEV

Sergachev picked up his 10th goal of the season against the Flyers on Tuesday and has now tied his career high that he has reached twice previously with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019-20 and 2022-23.

The 26-year-old now has 34 points (10G, 24A) on the season, good for 16th most amongst all NHL defensemen. His 10 goals are tied for the sixth most amongst NHL rearguards. Sergachev is also tied for the second most game-winning goals by a defenseman (three) and the most overtime goals by a defenseman (two). His 25:45 time on ice per game is second in the league behind only Columbus’ Zach Werenski (26:48).

LOOK AHEAD

Utah faces the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. MT to continue the road swing. When Utah last met the Canes, Karel Vejmelka stopped 49 of 50 Carolina shots in a 4-1 win.