Utah Hockey Club vs Ducks Preview: Players To Watch, Starting Lineups, How To Watch

The Utah Hockey Club is set to close out a four-game road trip against the Anaheim Ducks tonight at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

The Utah Hockey Club came out of the gate rolling, winning three straight games against the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, and Islanders before losing their first game of the season to the New Jersey Devils.

The Anaheim Ducks had a much quieter first week of the season. They only played two games, opening their year up with a win against the San Jose Sharks before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights.

After Sean Durzi left with an injury in Utah's game against the Devils, coach Andre Tourigny has some lineup decisions and will have to adjust without one of his top defensemen.

Here is a preview of tonight's matchup between the Utah Hockey Club and Anaheim Ducks.

Utah Hockey Club vs Anaheim Ducks Preview, How To Watch & Key Players

The Utah Hockey Club and Anaheim Ducks are similar; both are young, fast, and offensively talented. However, the Utah Hockey Club is much higher than this Ducks team, which is still rebuilding.

It may appear that the Ducks have struggled offensively to start the season, scoring only three goals in their two games, but they have been creating chances and are averaging 3.43 expected goals per game. This could be concerning for Utah, without Sean Durzi, leaving only Mikhail Sergachev as the only guy on Utah's blueline who has been winning the expected goal share at five-on-five.

However, the Ducks are also averaging 4.01 expected goals against through their first two games, which is the second most in the NHL right now.

Utah is the sixth highest-scoring offence in the league, averaging 3.9 goals per game. They should be able to take advantage of the Ducks' poor defence but expect some growing pains defensively as Utah has to adjust to life without Sean Durzi in the foreseeable future.

Utah Hockey Club vs Anaheim Ducks: How To Watch

Utah Hockey Club Record: 3-1
Anaheim Ducks Record: 1-1
Location: Honda Center
How To Watch: Victory+, Utah16, KCOP-13

Utah Hockey Club Player To Watch vs. Anaheim Ducks

Barrett Hayton

Hayton has been one of the many bright spots across this Utah Hockey Club team throughout the season's first week. Hayton leads Utah in expected goals at five-on-five and leads all NHL skaters in scoring chances and high-danger chances at five-of-five. The Anaheim Ducks give up many chances and chances from high-danger areas. Hayton is going to be a key player if Utah is going to out-score the Ducks tonight without Durzi as he is the player on this team playing in those high-danger areas, most often on the top line with Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller as well as the top powerplay unit.

Utah Hockey Club Projected Starting Lineup

Clayton Keller - Barrett Hayton - Nick Schmaltz
Jack McBain - Logan Cooley - Dylan Guenther
Lawson Crouse - Alex Kerfoot - Josh Doan
Matias Maccelli - Kevin Stenlund - Liam O'Brien

Scratches: Michael Carcone, Kailer Yamaoto

Vladislav Kolyachonok - Mikhail Sergachev
Juuso Valimaki - Michael Kesselring
Ian Cole - Robert Bortuzzo (Patrik Koch)

Connor Ingram - Karel Vejmelka

via DailyFaceoff

Utah Hockey Club Projected Starting Lineup