WHEN: 6:00 p.m. MT

WHERE: Rogers Arena – Vancouver, British Columbia

TV: SEG+, UtahHC+, Utah 16 | RADIO: KSL Sports Zone 1280 AM, NHL App

In the most important game of the season to date, the Utah Hockey Club (29-26-11) faces the Vancouver Canucks (31-24-11) tonight at Rogers Arena while both teams jockey for the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference. Utah is four points behind Vancouver in the standings but could pull within a game of the Canucks with a regulation win tonight. Utah is 5-3-2 since the 4 Nations Face-off break while Vancouver is 5-6-0 in that span.

ONE-TIMERS

• Clayton Keller is 12th in the NHL with 74 points (23G, 51A).
• Alexander Kerfoot is a Vancouver native.
• Michael Carcone spent three seasons with the Canucks’ organization.
• Utah has the 13th best power play (23.4%) and 13th best penalty kill (80.6%) in the NHL.
• Vancouver has three players named Pettersson on the roster, none of whom are related.

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP

Tonight’s game carries significant implications for the wild card race, with a potential four-point swing resulting from a regulation finish. The Canucks have won four of their last six games, including a 6-2 dismantling of the Chicago Blackhawks last night.

Arturs Silovs started in net last night for Vancouver, so it is likely that Utah will face the Canucks’ No. 1 goaltender, Kevin Lankinen, tonight. Lankinen is 23-12-7 with a 2.55 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage.

Defenseman Qiuinn Hughes will also be in the lineup for Vancouver tonight. Hughes missed the last meeting with Utah due to injury, and his presence makes the Canucks a far more dangerous team. The blueliner ranks third amongst all defensemen with 62 points (15G, 47A) despite missing 14 games to injury this season.

STANDINGS UPDATE

WC1: Minnesota Wild – 79 points

WC2: Vancouver Canucks – 73 points

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3. Calgary Flames – 71 points
4. St. Louis Blues – 71 points
5. Utah Hockey Club – 69 points
6. Anaheim Ducks – 65 points

WHO TO WATCH

UTAH: #82 KEVIN STENLUND – Stenlund notched his first multi-goal performance of the year with a goal and an assist on Friday in Seattle. The forward is now up to 17 points (9G, 8A) on the year, marking a new career high after he posted 15 points (11G, 4A) last season with the Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers.

VANCOUVER: #40 ELIAS PETTERSSON – Elias Pettersson has found a scoring groove recently and now has four goals in his last five games after a tally against Chicago last night. The two-way centerman is now tied for second on the team with 15 goals this season.

LOOK BACK

Utah missed out on two points Friday night in a 4-2 regulation loss to the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena. Utah led 2-1 in the second period after goals from Nick Schmaltz and Kevin Stenlund, but a deflection off Brandon Montour’s skate tied the game at 2-2 for Seattle late in period two.

Halfway through the third, a Utah turnover led to a Kaapo Kakko goal to give the Kraken a 3-2 edge. Eeli Tolvanen scored twice for Seattle, including the empty-netter. For Utah, Stenlund finished with a goal and an assist while John Marino provided a helper on both Utah markers.

LAST MEETING

Utah picked up a massive win after knocking off the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 at Delta Center on Feb. 23. Vancouver’s Jake DeBrusk opened the scoring in the second period, but Logan Cooley found the back of the net just 2:08 later to tie the game at 1-1. With 5:53 left in the third, Dylan Guenther capitalized on Utah’s fourth power play of the night.

Utah outshot Vancouver 32-15, marking the second-fewest shots allowed in a game by Utah this season. Goaltender Karel Vejmelka earned the win, stopping 14 shots.

Notably, Vancouver’s top defenseman Quinn Hughes was not in the lineup, leaving the Canucks to play without their leading scorer.

CLOSE GAMES

Many of Utah’s recent games have been significant for playoff implications, but they’ve also been tightly contested on the ice. Utah has played 32 one-goal games this season- the second most in the NHL. 11 of Utah’s last 18 games have been decided by just one goal, and 16 of Utah’s last 18 contests have been decided by either one or two goals.

Utah is 14-7-11 in games decided by one goal while Vancouver is 15-4-11.

AGAINST WILD CARD HOPEFULS

Utah is trying to chase down three teams in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference: the Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, and St. Louis Blues. The Mountain Blue has a combined record of 6-1-0 against those teams this year, with another opportunity to gain ground coming tonight against the Canucks. In those seven contests, Utah has outscored the opposition 24-13 while averaging 3.43 goals for and 1.86 goals against.

Utah has beaten Vancouver twice by one goal, posted five goals against Calgary twice, and scored four times against St. Louis twice. The team has not allowed more than three goals in any of the games against these three Western Conference foes.

LOOK AHEAD

Utah concludes a three-game road trip on Tuesday with a matchup against the Edmonton Oilers. The team returns home to face the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, Mar. 20.

Coming off a 6-2 victory on Saturday night, the Vancouver Canucks turn their attention to the Utah Hockey Club for the second game of a weekend back-to-back.

It’s a big game on the calendar as these two clubs fight for a wild card position in the Western Conference. Utah is coming off a 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Friday night and has been in Vancouver preparing for the Canucks since they flew into town on Friday.

Utah sits with 69 points in the standings and is nipping at the heels of the Canucks with under 20 games remaining in the season. They have gone 5-3-2 since the 4 Nations break and have been dangerous over that stretch.

They rank number one in the league in controlling scoring chances at five-on-five since the break. Utah has had 255 scoring chances while giving up 183 over their last 10 games. That gives them a league-leading 58.2% control of on-ice scoring chances.

Quick Hits on the Competition

• Clayton Keller leads Utah with 74 points this season. He is one of the two 20+ goal-scorers for Utah. Keller has 23 goals through 65 games, while Dylan Guenther has 24 through 54 games.

• Keller has a goal and three assists against the Canucks through two games.

• Guenther has been the driving force on the power play, scoring 11 goals on the man-advantage. He also leads the team with eight game-winning goals.

• On defence, Mikhail Sergachev is averaging 25:25 of ice time per game. The 26-year-old has 11 goals and 32 assists this season.

• Utah’s power play is tied for 11th in the league at 23.4%, while their penalty kill is 13th with an 80.6% kill rate.

• Kevin Stenlund is one of the league’s top players in the faceoff dot. He has won 58.9% of his draws this season.

• Jack McBain is 7th in the league for hits with 228 through 66 games.

• Karel Vejmelka has started 40 of Utah’s 69 games this season. He has a 18-17-6 record with a .908% save percentage, a 2.49 goals-against average, and has one shutout on the season.

The Story: Preparing for Night Two of a Back-to-Back

Elias Pettersson spoke about learning from their mistakes on Saturday night and wanting to continue scoring goals on Sunday in a big game for the standings.

Head Coach Rick Tocchet liked that the ice time was quite balanced on Saturday night and believes that can help his team with the second game of the back-to-back. He spoke about how the team is turning the page immediately after Saturday’s game and is already focused on Utah.

“You got to treat every game like a playoff game,” said Tocchet. “They’re delicious off the rush, and we know it’s a quick turnover. We got to really dial in on how we’re going to defend that rush because if we can defend the rush, we’ll be okay.”

Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games

Elias Pettersson: 4g-2a-6p
Filip Hronek: 1g-5a-6p
Pius Suter: 2g-2a-4p
Conor Garland: 1g-3a-4p
Nils Höglander: 0g-4a-4p

When and Where to Watch

Sunday’s game is a 5:00 p.m. PT start, and you can watch it on Sportsnet or listen along to the radio call with Brendan Batchelor on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.

SALT LAKE CITY — Volunteers across Utah spent their Saturday morning collecting food donations from doorsteps as part of the annual Feed Utah food drive for the Utah Food Bank.

Molly Conroy, a Salt Lake City resident, was among those lending a helping hand, but she says the real teachers in this effort were her daughters and their friends who were volunteering at the Utah Food Bank’s Salt Lake City headquarters.

“The kids are teaching me. I really want to be clear about that,” Conroy said. “I feel like this next generation is leading the way.”

The event, held statewide, brings together thousands of volunteers who distribute door hangers ahead of time, pick up food donations, and transport them to 90 different food banks and pantries across Utah.

Utah Food Bank spokesperson Heidi Cannella says this drive makes a massive impact.

“This is the largest single-day food drive we have throughout the year,” Cannella said.

Last year’s drive collected enough food to provide roughly 2 million meals for Utah families in need. This year, organizers feel the demand for food is even higher.

“We’re seeing an increase in need from high cost of living, inflation, people just can’t get on their feet, they can’t make all their ends meet,” Cannella explained.

For West High School senior Lillian Conroy, volunteering was an easy decision.

“When you think of basic necessities, food is so essential,” she said. “If we can help people with this, why not?”

She convinced her mother, Molly, to join in to show that the fight against hunger is a collective effort.

“They are teaching me about how to be engaged,” Molly Conroy said with a smile.

As bags and boxes of food poured into the Utah Food Bank’s collection sites, Lillian said seeing the overwhelming community response was inspiring.

“It makes it so much more encouraging to see people bring trailers of food here from people’s communities,” she said. “I think it’s great we can get out here and do this.”

Utah Food Bank officials say donations from the Feed Utah food drive will be distributed across the state in the coming weeks.

Those who missed the pickup can still drop off non-perishable food items at Utah Food Bank locations.

For more information or to make a monetary donation, visit utahfoodbank.org.