Utah Needs Perfect Night to Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

The Utah Hockey Club needed just one season outside of Arizona to completely change the trajectory of their team. The 2024-25 season wasn’t perfect in Utah, but they played at a much higher level and boosted the morale of every player in that locker room.

As the season winds down, the Utah Hockey Club is still in the playoff race, but just barely. They’ll need a few certain outcomes to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

Moneypuck.com currently gives Utah a 2.2% chance of making the playoffs, but that could easily hit zero if things don’t go their way. Set for battle against the Tampa Bay Lightning, they’ll need a big win and a key loss from the St. Louis Blues to keep the wild card within reach.

The Blues are the hottest team in the NHL with a seven-game winning streak and quickly putting distance between them and the rest of the Western Conference playoff race. Even with their winning streak, the Blues are just in the second wild card spot.

The Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames are three and four points behind the Blues respectively, while Utah is eight points back.

A Utah loss paired with a Blues win would make it a 10-point gap, something just nearly impossible to make up in the final stretch of the season. If Utah can get a win and the Blues see their streak come to an end, then there is still a slight glimmer of hope in the Beehive State.

Heading into their first season in Utah, reaching the Stanley Cup Playoffs seemed like an extreme longshot for the Hockey Club. Thanks to better surroundings and a more stable situation, Utah shocked many and hovered around playoff positioning all season.

The odds are still long, but they’ve proven there is something special happening in Utah.

Only twice in their final decade did the Arizona Coyotes finish with a record over .500. Utah has a chance to finish their first year with a better than .500 record and are looking forward to many more to come.