The Utah Hockey Club travels to Bridgestone Arena to take on the Nashville Predators on Monday night. The game starts at 8:00 PM ET. Both teams have been eliminated from playoff contention, but Utah is finishing strong while Nashville tries to avoid ending the season with another home loss.
Utah lost to Nashville in a shootout just four days ago, but bounced back with a 5-3 win over Dallas on Saturday. The Predators gave up two late goals in a 5-3 loss to Vegas their last time out. This will be the final home game of the season for Nashville before they close out the schedule later this week.
NSH Preview – Looking for a Better Finish
Nashville comes in with a 29-43-8 record and just 66 points in the standings. The team started slow and never recovered after two long losing streaks early in the season. Injuries and underwhelming play from key additions like Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault have also hurt them.
Marchessault leads the team with 54 points while Stamkos has 27 goals. Filip Forsberg has been one of the few consistent players all season. The Predators were 19-17-3 at home entering this one but have dropped five of their last seven games overall.
Goaltender Juuse Saros is expected to start. He has faced a high shot volume all season and will try to contain a Utah team that’s clicking on the power play. Nashville has hit the under in 51 of 88 games this season and has struggled to generate steady offense.
UTAH Preview – Power Play Surging to the Finish
Utah enters with a 37-30-13 record and 87 points. The first-year team has gone 3-0-1 in its last four games, including a strong win over Dallas where they scored four power-play goals. They’re 10 for 18 on the power play over the last five games.
Logan Cooley leads the team with six points in the last three games, while Dylan Guenther has assisted on six goals during a four-game point streak. Barrett Hayton recently reached the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career. The team is getting scoring from multiple lines and has nine players with points in the last outing.
Goalie Karel Vejmelka has started 23 straight games and posted a 13-6-4 record in that run. He’s been steady in net with a .902 save percentage and 2.45 goals-against average. Utah has played hard down the stretch despite being out of the playoff race.
Betting Prediction
Utah is a slight road favorite with the momentum edge. The total is likely to close around 6. Utah’s power play is red hot and Nashville is struggling to keep pucks out of the net. Utah has more recent scoring depth and solid goaltending to lean on.
With nothing to play for but pride, Utah looks more motivated. They’ve been the more consistent team and should close out with a road win. The total could sneak over if special teams are a factor again like in recent Utah games.
Pick: Utah ML
Take Utah to top Nashville on Monday. Enjoy the game and best of luck!
