Game Preview, 10/28: Utah Hockey Club vs. San Jose Sharks
Game Preview, 10/28: Utah Hockey Club vs. San Jose Sharks
WHEN: 7:00 p.m. MT
WHERE: Delta Center – Salt Lake City, Utah
TV: SEG+, UtahHC+, Utah 16 | RADIO: KSL Sports Zone 97.5 FM, KZNS 1280 AM, NHL App
The Utah Hockey Club (4-4-1) returns home tonight to face the San Jose Sharks (0-7-2) at Delta Center. Utah seeks to return to its winning ways after three straight losses, and San Jose remains the only NHL team without a win to start the season entering tonight.
ONE-TIMERS
- Tonight is the second of four consecutive games against teams from the Pacific Division.
- Logan Cooley scored his first goal of the season on Saturday against Los Angeles.
- Captain Clayton Keller leads the team with nine points (5G, 4A).
- Four of Utah’s games have ended in overtime this season- the most of any NHL team.
- Center Nick Bjugstad made his Utah Hockey Club debut on Saturday against Los Angeles.
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The San Jose Sharks are looking for their first win of the season entering tonight. The Sharks have fallen just short in several of their games so far, with six of their nine defeats coming by two goals or less. San Jose has been playing mostly without the number one pick of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, Macklin Celebrini. Celebrini tabbed a goal and an assist in the Shark’s season opener on Oct. 10 but has not played since. He is considered week-to-week with a lower body injury.
WHO TO WATCH
UTAH: #92 LOGAN COOLEY – Cooley scored his first goal of the season in Saturday’s third period against Los Angeles. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native registered 20 goals last season in his rookie campaign with Arizona, and he now has seven points (1G, 6A) to his ledger in 2024-25. Cooley was selected third overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.
SAN JOSE: #64 MIKAEL GRANLUND – A longtime member of the Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators, Granlund leads San Jose in scoring in his second campaign with the club. The native of Oulu, Finland has 10 points (4G, 6A) through nine contests so far with all four of his goals coming in the last three games.
LOOK BACK
Utah lost its third straight game in a close match against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday afternoon at Cyrpto.com Arena. LA’s Joel Edmundson recorded his first-ever two-goal game, and Utah received goals from Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley. Connor Ingram stopped 20 of 23 Los Angeles shots in the defeat.
NICK BJUGSTAD
The Utah Hockey Club welcomed Nick Bjugstad into the lineup on Saturday for the first time this season after the centerman missed the first eight games with an upper body injury. Bjugstad recorded 22 goals last season with the Arizona Coyotes, marking the second-highest total of his career. The 32-year-old from Minneapolis, Minnesota played consistently with Lawson Crouse and Matias Maccelli last season in Arizona, and the trio was reunited on Saturday for Utah.
FIRST-ROUND PICKS
Utah’s lineup on Saturday featured nine first-round picks from the NHL Draft. The most recent selections to have appeared with Utah are Logan Cooley (2022 – 3rd overall) and Maveric Lamoureux (2022 – 29th overall). Both were selected by Arizona. The Sharks had six former first-round picks in their last game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
LOOK AHEAD
The Utah Hockey Club is back at Delta Center on Wednesday against the Calgary Flames (5-2-1) for the first-ever meeting between the two teams. Entering tonight, Calgary sits in third place in the Pacific Division after losses in each of their last two games.
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