The Nashville Predators (28-42-8, 64 points) visit Salt Lake City for the first time to take on the Utah Hockey Club (36-30-12, 84 points) Thursday at Delta Center.
Head coach Andrew Brunette will be back behind the Predators’ bench after missing Nashville’s last two games while attending to a family matter, which he revealed Thursday morning was a medical emergency with his father.
Both Nashville and Utah have been eliminated from playoff contention. The Predators have secured a lottery pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, while Utah is projected to finish between 12th and 16th place in the draft order.
This is the second of three meetings between the Central Division rivals this season. The Predators beat Utah 4-0 on Nov. 9 at Bridgestone Arena, and the two teams will play again in Nashville on Monday.
How the Predators Lined Up vs. Utah
Bunting-O’Reilly-Evangelista
Forsberg-Stamkos-L’Heureux
Vrana-Svechkov-Marchessault
Smith-McCarron-Wood
Skjei-Blankenburg
Del Gaizo-Barron
Englund-Oesterle
Saros
Annunen
Extra: Sissons (week-to-week, lower-body)
IR: Lauzon, Josi, Wilsby
Predators vs. Utah Hockey Club: Live Updates
First Period (NSH 0, UTA 0)
Both teams played a tight defensive game in the first 20 minutes. Utah had more scoring chances, but Predators goaltender Juuse Saros was sharp early.
Late in the first period, Predators rookie Matthew Wood nearly scored his first career NHL goal off a nice pass from Cole Smith, but Karel Vejmelka came up with the save.
Shots at the end of the period were 11-5 in favor of Utah, but the score remained tied at 0-0 after the first 20 minutes.
Second Period (NSH 1, UTA 2)
Nick Bjugstad broke the scoreless tie for Utah early in the second period when he lifted a shot over the shoulder of Saros to give Utah a 1-0 lead at the 4:49 mark.
Josh Doan doubled Utah’s lead with a goal off the rush at 13:54 of the period. Vejmelka made a massive save on a scoring attempt by Filip Forsberg to kickstart the rush heading the other way, and Doan cashed in on a rebound opportunity to score.
Nick Blankenburg cut the deficit in half on the power play at the 17:21 mark of the second period, beating Vejmelka on a shot from the point to give the Predators their first goal of the game.
Trailing by a goal after 40 minutes, Nashville held a 13-11 shot advantage in the second period.
Third Period (NSH 3, UTA 3)
The Predators went from down a goal to up a goal in less than four minutes at the start of the third period.
Opening the period on the man advantage after a Sean Durzi hooking penalty at the end of the second, Nashville quickly capitalized with a power-play score from Filip Forsberg at the 1:19 mark to tie the score at 2-2.
Less than two minutes later, Ryan O’Reilly gave the Predators their first lead when he capitalized on a Utah turnover and scored on his own rebound to make it 3-2 at the 3:17 mark.
The lead wouldn’t last long, though, as Guenther scored in transition by depositing the rebound of a Logan Cooley shot to tie the game back up at 3-3 at the 5:42 mark.
Read the full article here
