The Hockey Club And Red Wings Can Light The Lamps

Utah vs. Detroit, 7:00 ET

Well… that was ugly. I had two games yesterday on the hardwood - three if you could the NBA play I had - and all three were losers. I was dead wrong about Michigan coming out with intensity and looking to get right after a bad loss. I don't know if people are just different than me, or if I care too much about basketball, but when I lose, I can't wait to get back on the court and adjust. I would've written about the NCAA games tonight, but there really isn't any game that stands out to me so I'm shifting to hockey where Utah takes on Detroit.

Utah, the uniquely named Hockey Club, is putting together a nice campaign, but they aren't really going anywhere special this season. They are sitting at 27-25-9 for the season which is a strong record, but not amazing. They are playing about the same on the road as they are at home. Their road record is 15-12-3 for season. Clayton Keller has been great for the squad with 69 total points for the season, leading his team in points, goals, and assists. The Hockey Club has won three of its past five games, but four of those were on their home ice. They are only scoring about 2.80 goals per game, and they are allowing 2.93 goals to opponents each game. They do take more shots on average than their opponent, but it isn't a substantial amount. One good note for them is that in the three wins, they were staunch on defense, allowing just three total goals in those games. Tonight they are likely to have Connor Ingram in the net. He has struggled for the team with a 9-8-4 record and a 3.27 goals against per game average. He also has a .882 save percentage this season. Both of those numbers put him in the bottom half of second-string goalies.

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 18: John Marino #6 of the Utah Hockey Club, Nick DeSimone #57 of the Utah Hockey Club and Michael Kesselring #7 of the Utah Hockey Club skate off the ice after a win against the St. Louis Blues on January 18, 2025 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.  (Photo by Hunter Dyke/NHLI via Getty Images)

Detroit comes into tonight's game with a 30-25-6 record overall. While they are doing better than Utah, they aren't substantially better, and their home/road splits aren't significant. They are just 16-14-3 on their home ice. Overall, Detroit has struggled in their past five games. They lost three of their past five games and lost three in a row. In two of those games they allowed give goals, and the other, they kept it close, but still lost 2-1. For the year, the Red Wings are scoring 2.85 goals per game, but they are allowing 3.16 goals against per game. One thing I really don't like about teams is when they allow more shots than they take. For the year, Detroit has allowed 29 shots, and are only taking 27 shots each game. They are looking to start Alex Lyon in the net tonight. Lyon is 11-7-1 for the season with a 2.71 goals against per game average, which is good for 20th in the league. He also has a strong .903 save percentage which is tied for 25th. His numbers are worse at home than on the road, which is slightly surprising.

This game should be fairly competitive between two teams that are not great, but also not bad. Average teams have to win games too though. Neither team is playing great, but I'd say Utah is probably better right now. I think the best bet for this game is actually based on the total though. I think the goalies aren't good enough to keep the teams scoreless. I think we get over 5.5 goals in this one. 

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