Just the facts

• The time: 9:30 PM EST
• The place: Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT
• Place to view: NESN, UTAH-16, ESPN+
• Place to listen: 98.5 The sports hub
• An opposing point of view: Uhhh… coming soon, I think? Locked In Utah might be the closest at the moment.

Know your enemy

• Utah has a record of 3-1-1, good for 7 points in the standings and 2nd place in the Central Division.
• Clayton Keller is the captain of this colorful group, and he has 7 points in 5 games. Good start for him!
• Dylan Guenther leads Utah in scoring, with 5 goals in 5 games.
• No one gets as many assists as Nick Schmaltz, who has six in five games.
• Connor Ingram is the starter for Utah; after starting four matches and winning three in regulation. Expect to score on him though, he only has an SV% of 0.868

Game example

The Coyotes are dead. For now anyway. Maybe they’ll come back if Meruelo is eventually left for dead somewhere in the desert, or if Houston gets a backer.

Until then, we turn our attention to a latter-day team; Utah H.C. A team with a temporary name and, as it turns out, a slew of exciting young prospects energized to know where their next check is coming from and in a building they won’t be laughed at for housing a college team with more prestige and sustainability good luck than the professional team.

It turns out that if you get lucky on an NHL team that has been used as a dumping ground and fuel for years, you accidentally pick up some decent players from the ordeal.

So yeah, Utah is a pretty tough stretch, at least initially. I wouldn’t go out of my way to call them contenders by any means, it’s still way too early for that kind of thing, but they’re playing hard and not giving up much, and at this part of the season that’s really all what you need to watch and play successfully.

Boston, meanwhile, is…pretty good! Definitely flawed, they definitely need to master their games a bit better, but still pretty good! So far they have been able to beat their non-Floridian opponents quite well, and a few days ago they had what I would consider one of their best games yet. However, they must be ready; Utah plays fast and so far this season isn’t afraid to get into boat races where Utah drops five goals on the opponent, or has to make a move when dropping five goals isn’t enough to stop the offense. Boston needs to limit their speed and break up their offensive zone time quickly.

If they can? That’s two points in the bag.

Must be a good one! Let’s go get a nasty soda and watch the fun!