WHEN: 11:00 a.m. MT

WHERE: Lenovo Center – Raleigh, North Carolina

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

Dylan Guenther and the Utah Hockey Club (23-22-9) test their mettle against the Carolina Hurricanes (32-19-4) tonight at Lenovo Center in the second of a three-game road trip before the 4 Nations Faceoff. Guenther has provided the overtime winner in each of Utah’s last two games and now leads the team with 19 goals. Utah is six points behind the Vancouver Canucks for the second wild card position in the Western Conference.

ONE-TIMERS

Dylan Guenther has three goals in his first two games back from injury; two of them have been overtime winners.
Lawson Crouse scored his eighth goal of the season on Thursday in Columbus.
Utah has points in four of its last five games.
Utah’s penalty kill is sixth best in the NHL at 82.5%.
When Utah and Carolina last met on Nov. 13, goaltender Karel Vejmelka made a career high 49 saves in a 4-1 win for Utah.

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP

After a seven-game point streak, the Hurricanes have dropped their last three contests but remain in second place in the Metropolitan Division. Despite the recent slide, the Canes are one of the top teams in the NHL and are top 10 both offensively (3.22 goals per game – ninth) and defensively (2.71 goals against per game – sixth).

Head coach Rob Brind’Amour’s group has always been one of the darlings of the analytics community, and the Canes are the best in the NHL in both shot attempts with 69.3 per game and shot attempts against with just 48.8 per game according to Sportlogiq.

On Jan. 25, Carolina acquired Mikko Rantenen from the Colorado Avalanche and Taylor Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks in a three-way trade that rocked the hockey community. Since joining the Hurricanes, Rantanen has just two points (1G, 1A) in six games along with the 64 points (25G, 39A) in 49 games he had with Colorado earlier this season. Hall has one assist in five games with the Canes after 24 points (9G, 15A) in 46 games with the Blackhawks.

WHO TO WATCH

UTAH: #70 KAREL VEJMELKA – Vejmelka recorded the second most saves in an NHL game this season on Nov. 13 when he stopped 49 of 50 Carolina shots. His 4.24 goals saved above expected in that game is the fourth highest mark in a league contest this season according to Sportlogiq. In his last appearance on Tuesday at Delta Center, “Veggie” stopped 18 of 20 shots en route to a 3-2 overtime victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

CAROLINA: #96 MIKKO RANTANEN – Rantanen is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, and the Hurricanes are hoping they can re-sign the skilled winger to an extension. The 28-year-old Fin is coming off back-to-back 100-point seasons and can certainly record another if his production returns to the level it was at with the Avalanche. His 66 total points (26G, 40A) are the ninth most in the NHL this season.

LOOK BACK

Dylan Guenther played hero once again for Utah on Thursday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets when he scored his second overtime winner in as many games with 33 seconds left in the extra frame.

Earlier in the contest, Utah took a 2-1 lead in the second period thanks to goals from Lawson Crouse and Olli Määttä. Columbus tied the game at 2-2 late in the second with a shorthanded goal from Ivan Proverov, and neither team could pull ahead in the third. Utah came up with two crucial penalty kills in the third frame to send the game to overtime.

LAST MEETING

Karel Vejmelka piloted Utah to one of the team’s most thrilling wins of the season in a 4-1 final over the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 13 at Delta Center. Vejmelka posted a career high 49 saves on 50 Hurricanes shots to earn his first win of the season. Utah scored three goals in a span of 2:19 in the third period. Nick Bjugstad scored his first two of the campaign, Jack McBain provided the game-winner, and Mikhail Sergachev picked up his third of the season. Utah also successfully killed off 10:26 worth of shorthanded time during a wild third period.

OVERTIME

Utah played its 16th overtime game of the season on Thursday in Columbus, tied for the most in the NHL. Utah is 7-7 when a game is decided in overtime and 0-2 in the shootout. Dylan Guenther (three) and Mikhail Sergachev (two) have each scored multiple overtime winners for Utah. Utah has now scored five overtime goals in the final minute of overtime, which is the most in the NHL.

Guenther, who has scored the last two OT winners, became the second player in NHL history to score within the final minute of overtime in consecutive games, following Brent Burns (MIN: 3/11/07-3/13/07). He also became just the sixth player 21 or younger to record overtime goals in back-to-back games.

DYLAN GUENTHER

Now with 38 points (19G, 19A) in 42 games, Guenther has set new career high in goals, assists, and points. The Edmonton, Alberta native likes to score in bunches; he has now scored in back-to-back games six times this season, and he has scored in three straight games on three occasions. Never far from the spotlight, Guenther has come through in big moments for the Mountain Blue, and each of his last seven goals have either tied the game or given Utah the lead.

Guenther’s five game-winning goals are tied for the most on the team with Barrett Hayton, and his seven power-play goals are tied for the most on the squad with Logan Cooley. He has now posted 10 multi-point games in 2024-25, including a team-high six multi-goal outings.

LOOK AHEAD

Utah wraps up its season series with the Washington Capitals tomorrow at 10:30 MT. The Caps feature the future hall-of-famer Alexander Ovechkin, who is currently just 16 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky’s goal record.