The San Jose Sharks took a quick trip to Utah today to play the Utah Hockey Club. It’s a short there and back trip that marks the first of back to back games for the Sharks. San Jose will be back home tomorrow night to play host to the Minnesota Wild.
This is the second game of a seven game homestand for Utah HC. Game one was a 4-1 loss to the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers on Wednesday. Utah is in a slump after the team’s hot start to the season. The team is 3-5-2 in its last 10 games and is five points out of the second wild card spot as of this writing.
Utah’s leading scorer is Clayton Keller, who has 40 points in 39 games. He was recently called by Team USA and told he could be used in the Four Nations Tournament if there’s an injury, according to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. Utah’s Olli Määttä and Juuso Välimäki will represent Finland at the Four Nations Tournament.
Utah’s leading goal scorer is Dylan Guenther, who has 16 goals, but it sounds Guenther is injured and won’t be playing tonight. Karel Vejmelka is the team’s top goaltender with a 9-11-3 record. He has a .915 save percentage and a 2.43 goals against average.
This is the third and final meeting of the season between these two teams. The Sharks won 5-4 in overtime on Oct. 28, and lost 4-3 in regulation on Dec. 14.
San Jose Sharks lines tonight
According to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng, Alexandar Georgiev will get the start tonight. We imagine that because it’s the first night of back-to-back games, it means that Yaroslav Askarov will start in the net tomorrow night.
It also sounds like Nikolai Kovalenko is a healthy scratch and Ty Dellandrea will have another chance. With that change, the lines are getting a bit of a mix.
Forwards
William Eklund – Mikael Granlund – Fabian Zetterlund
Luke Kunin – Macklin Celebrini – Will Smith
Collin Graf – Alexander Wennberg – Tyler Toffoli
Barclay Goodrow – Ty Dellandrea – Klim Kostin
Defense
Henry Thrun – Cody Ceci
Mario Ferraro – Timothy Liljegren
Shakir Mukhamadullin – Jan Rutta
Goaltenders
Alexandar Georgiev
Yaroslav Askarov
Utah Hockey Club lines vs. San Jose Sharks
Beat writer Brogan Houston of the Desert News says there are many changes in the lineup. Not only is Guenther out, but former Sharks prospect Nick DeSimone will make his debut with the Utah Hockey Club today.
These appear to be the defense pairings. I believe Nick DeSimone is making his Utah HC debut tonight.
— Brogan Houston (@houston_brogan) January 10, 2025
Sergachev – Määttä
Cole – Kesselring
Välimäki – DeSimone
Kolyachonok/Lamoureux – Marino#UtahHC
Forwards
Clayton Keller – Logan Cooley – Nick Schmaltz
Matias Maccelli – Barrett Hayton – Josh Doan
Liam O’Brien – Nick Bjugstad – Lawson Crouse
Jack McBain – Kevin Stenlund – Alex Kerfoot
Defense
Mikhail Sergachev – Olli Maatta
Ian Cole – Michael Kesselring
Jusso Valimaki – Nick DeSimone
Goaltenders
Karel Vejmelka
Connor Ingram
How to watch San Jose Sharks at Utah Hockey Club Jan. 10, 2025
The puck drops at 6:00 p.m. PT/7:00 p.m. MT at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Sharks fans can watch the game on NBC Sports California or listen on the Sharks Audio Network.
Utah fans can watch on SEG+, UtahHC+ or Utah 16. The radio call is on KSL 97.5 FM or on the NHL App.
