Dallas, TX
Game Preview, 4/12: Utah Hockey Club vs. Dallas Stars | Utah Hockey Club
WHEN: 7:00 p.m. MT
WHERE: American Airlines Center – Dallas, Texas
TV: SEG+, UtahHC+, Utah 16 | RADIO: KSL Sports Zone 97.5 FM, NHL App
The Utah Hockey Club (36-30-13) matches up with the Dallas Stars (50-23-6) tonight at American Airlines Center in the Lone Star State. Tonight is the first of Utah’s final three-game road trip to conclude the 2024-25 regular season. The Mountain Blue is looking for its first win of the year against Dallas. Both of Utah’s losses to the Stars have been by a narrow 3-2 margin.
ONE-TIMERS
- Clayton Keller is two points away from passing the career high (86) he set in 2022-23.
- Jack McBain has a career best 13 goals this season.
- Ian Cole leads the NHL with 205 blocked shots this season.
- Utah is 18-15-5 on the road.
- Three of the six teams in the NHL with 100 points are in the Central Division.
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
Despite four consecutive losses, Dallas has been one of the NHL’s best squads all season. The Stars rank fourth in the league offensively with 3.38 goals per game and third defensively with 2.61 goals against per contest. After a 4-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, the Stars are almost cemented into second place in the Central Division and will likely face the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The last four games for the Stars have constituted their first and only four-game losing streak this season. Dallas has given up an uncharacteristic 18 goals over those four losses- the most they’ve given up in a four-game span this season. The recent downturn for the Stars comes after a seven-game win streak from Mar. 22 to Apr. 3.
Dallas is spearheaded by Matt Duchene and his team-best 81 points (30G, 51A). Jason Robertson leads the club with 34 goals and has two hat tricks since the 4 Nations Face-off.
WHO TO WATCH
UTAH: #17 NICK BJUGSTAD – After leading off the scoring on Thursday against Nashville, Nick Bjugstad has two goals in his last three games and is now up to seven for the season.
DALLAS: #53 WYATT JOHNSTON – In March, Johnston was one of the hottest players in the NHL. The 21-year-old scored goals in six straight games from Mar. 24 to Apr. 3 and now is up to 31 on the campaign.
LOOK BACK
Utah closed its 2024-25 home schedule with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators on Thursday night at Delta Center. The Mountain Blue finished with an 18-15-5 home record and points in 12 of its last 15 in Salt Lake City.
Nick Bjugstad and Josh Doan led off the scoring for Utah in the second period to put the hosts up 2-0. Nashville then tied the game at 2-2 with power-play goals from Nick Blakenburg late in the second and from Filip Forsberg 1:19 into the third. Ryan O’Reilly stashed a rebound for the Preds just 1:58 after Forsberg’s goal to give Nashville their first lead of the game.
Dylan Guenther scored his 27th goal of the season at the 5:42 mark of the third frame to knot things up at 3-3, but Utah fell in the shootout after Forsberg scored the only goal of the skills competition.
LAST MEETING
Utah earned a point in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars on Jan. 4 at American Airlines Center. After a scoreless first, the two teams erupted for a four-goal second period, including a goal from Dallas’ Jamie Benn just 16 seconds into the frame.
Utah’s Matias Maccelli responded 1:14 later with his first of two goals on the night. Maccelli’s second came three minutes after Oskar Bäck gave the Stars a 2-1 lead. After a scoreless third, Thomas Harley banged in the overtime-winner to conclude the contest. Utah outshot Dallas 33-29 in the loss.
UTAH ANNOUNCES 2024-25 HONORS
The Utah Hockey Club announced its 2024-25 honorees after Thursday’s game against Nashville at Delta Center. Below are the recipients of the team awards who were recognized for their contributions on and off the ice during this NHL season.
- Team MVP – Goaltender Karel Vejmelka: Vejmelka was selected by his teammates as the player with the most valuable contributions to the team’s success. He has had a career-best season, posting a 25-21-8 record with a 2.51 goals-against average (GAA), .906 save percentage (SV%) percentage (SV%) to win Team MVP as voted on by the players. The 28-year-old goaltender has established career highs in games played (58), starts (53), wins (25), GAA (2.51) and SV% (.906). Vejmelka has also posted a 12-6-4 record in 22 consecutive games dating back to Feb. 23, marking the longest streak of starts by any NHL goaltender since 2018-19.
- Three Stars Award – Forward Dylan Guenther: Guenther was recognized with the Three Stars Award for receiving the most postgame star honors throughout the season. He has been selected as one of the Three Stars16 times this season, with nine First Star recognitions. The 22-year-old forward was named First Star in each of Utah’s first two games (Oct. 8-10) and also earned three First Star selections in a six-game span from Feb. 4-23, with game-winning goals in all three contests. Guenther ranks tied for the team lead in goals (27), fourth in points (57) and first in power-play goals (12) this season. He also sits tied for third in the NHL in game-winning goals (9) and tied for sixth in overtime goals (3), and his 15 total go-ahead tallies are tied for the fifth-most of any NHL skater in 2024-25.
- Leading Scorer Award – Forward Clayton Keller: In recognition of finishing the season with the team’s highest point total, earning 27-58-85 in 78 games, Keller received the Leading Scorer Award. Utah’s first-ever captain ranks top-15 in the NHL in both assists and points, and he needs just two points over the final four games to set a new single-season career-high scoring total. Keller has already established new career highs in power-play assists (26) and power-play points (35) this season, and he leads the league with 8-22-30 on the man-advantage since Dec. 8. The 26-year-old forward has been held without a point in back-to-back games just once this season, and he posted the only five-point game (1-4-5) in franchise history against Minnesota on Feb. 27.
- Community-Obsessed Award – Forward Alexander Kerfoot: Selected as the player who is most active in the community, Kerfoot focused heavily on growing the game of hockey in the area by offering unique access and experiences to the sport, especially for young girl hockey players. Also the Club’s King Clancy Memorial Trophy nominee, Kerfoot has touched many aspiring players throughout the inaugural 2024-25 season by providing tickets and experiences, as well as community appearances for teams and organizations such as Ogden Lady Mustangs, Utah Olympic Oval Wildcats, Lady Grizzlies, Primary Children’s Hospital, Make-A-Wish, Granite Education Foundation, Utah Hockey Club Learn to Play and Utah Hockey Club Youth.
- All-In Award – Forward Barrett Hayton: Hayton has been selected by the fans as the first-ever winner of the All-In Award, given to the player who leaves it all on the ice, from the opening puck drop to the final buzzer. One of only six skaters to appear in all 79 games for Utah this season, the 24-year-old forward has matched his career highs in goals, assists and points while setting new career-best marks in power-play goals (6), power-play points (12) and game-winning goals (7). Hayton sits second on the team with a career-high 53.8% faceoff win percentage and ranks tied for sixth among Utah forwards in blocked shots (42). He also scored the first hat trick in franchise history at Los Angeles on Feb. 22.
LOOK AHEAD
Utah continues its final road trip of the season on Monday against the Nashville Predators. Utah’s final game of the 2024-25 regular season comes on Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues.
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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For a moment, it looked like FC Dallas was on its way to another statement win at home tonight.
Petar Musa scored two first half goals, to extend his Golden Boot leading tally to nine goals. But after Dallas grabbed control, the Galaxy found a way back before halftime with goals from Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil.
The second half brought more chances and more frustration for Dallas, which finished the night with 13 shots to LA’s nine. In the end, the point stretched Dallas’ unbeaten run to five games, though just like last week, it felt like another match where Dallas left points on the table.
Key Moments
7’ – GOAL! After a poor pass back by a LA defender, Petar Musa was free to go one-on-one with the LA goalkeeper. After a touch to get ahead of a defender, Musa slotted home his eighth goal of the season from outside the penalty box.
21’ – Offside! Joaquin Valiente sent a floating ball over the Galaxy defense, where Musa was able to get behind the defense and make an easy play for what appeared to be his second goal of the night. The play was called offside despite a fairly lengthy review period.
38’ – GOAL! This one counts! Musa gets his second of the night off a great ball from Chris Cappis. Logan Farrington picked off the ball in the midfield. He then played Cappis wide to the left of the penalty area. Cappis immediately played a ball back across the goal for Musa to slide in and finish for his ninth of the season.
43’ – Goal LA. Lucas Sanabria got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He took a couple of touches to get outside the penalty box before firing a shot that beat Michael Collodi at the near post.
45+4’ – Goal LA. Gabriel Pec got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He pulled the ball back a bit, which caught a pair of Dallas defenders. This allowed Joseph Painstil to get free behind the Dallas defense as Pec played him through inside the penalty area. Pec immediately smashed home a shot above Collodi to tie the game.
75’ – Another offside goal. This time on a corner kick for Dallas, after a scrum in the penalty box, Kaick hammered home what looked to be the go-ahead goal. But after a few seconds the flag was raised due to a deflection on Osaze Urhoghide, who was in an offside position.
Instant Reaction
Yeah, this is another disappointing result for this team. In a real way, it felt like the first half against Houston from last month. Dallas grabbed the lead, looked in control, but some defensive miscues opened the game up for the visitors to climb back.
With a double-game week coming up, this will certainly be another game where Dallas will wonder ‘what if’ more than anything else…especially when you factor in the two goals called off for offside.
About the Subs
Eric Quill went to his bench for the first time in the 66th minute, as he brought on Santiago Moreno for Logan Farrington. Quill went to his bench again 81st minute with Ran Binyamin and Nolan Norris coming on for Sebastien Ibeagha and Deedson. The final sub came during stoppage time with Herman Johansson and Joaquin Valiente coming off for Sam Sarver and rookie Nick Simmonds, who made his MLS debut.
Man of the Match
No question about it tonight, it has to be Musa.
Where does this fit into the season
As of this writing, the draw puts Dallas into a three-way tie for 5th place with Real Salt Lake and Seattle. Both are in action right now and look firmly in control of their games. I’d expect Dallas to be in 7th place by the end of the night.
What’s next for FC Dallas
Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand next Wednesday night as they host Minnesota United.
Dallas, TX
Akheem Mesidor selected by Cowboys by Blogging The Boys in SB Nation’s community mock draft
Akheem Mesidor, Edge, Miami
Pass rush has been an issue since the Micah Parsons trade. The Rashan Gary trade helped, but Dallas still needs an injection of talent. Akheem Mesidor fits here because his body size allows for some versatility inside and out, something DC Christian Parker utilizes. Mesidor is also a high-motor player with a deep bag of pass rush moves.
His last season at Miami was full of disruption in the offensive backfield and he shows an all-around game, not just a bend-around-the-edge pass rusher. Yes, he’s a little older than you’d like in a rookie (25), but his motor, pass rush toolbox, and ability to play the run matches up with a need and makes him a quality pick at number 20.
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