Can Utah HC Take Advantage Of Its Upcoming 7 Game Home Stand?

After coming away from its four game road trip with a 1-3 record, Utah now gets the benefit of playing in front of its fans. With only a 5-7-4 home record so far, Utah will need to shoot for five wins if it hopes to come out with a winning home record.

On Jan. 8, Utah Hockey Club (17-15-7) will kick off the first of its seven games in row at Delta Center against the Florida Panthers (24-15-2), the reigning Stanley Cup Champions. 

With a 5-7-4 home record, Utah will need to prove it can win at home if it wants to stay in the mix for one of the wild card spots. Currently, Utah has 41 points and is four points back of the last wild card spot, currently held by the Vancouver Canucks.

As all Utah fans have seen, it has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows for this Utah Hockey Club team. 

Generally, Utah has found more success on the road on the season as it has gone 12-8-3 on the road. Even with Utah only winning once in its recent four game road trip, the team has continued to have recent success on the road as it has gotten a franchise road win record. Since Nov. 26, Utah has gone 8-2-1 in all road games. 

However, it's a different story when looking at home games. Over its last ten home games, Utah has only managed to get a 2-5-3 record. 

On top of all that, Utah has gone 7-4-3 over the last 14 games in the strangest way possible.

In its first seven games, Utah went 6-0-1 with its only loss coming at home in a shootout against the Minnesota Wild. The hot streak gave Utah a 16-11-5 record overall along with a 13 point boost in the standings. 

However, Utah's next seven games would be the exact opposite as it managed to win only once as it went 1-4-2. Among the recent stretch of losses, Utah had lost three consecutive home games and saw its franchise road win streak end after losing to the Seattle Kraken 5-2. To make matters worse, Seattle had only won one of its previous six games.

So despite a great stretch of wins, Utah has been unable to consistently win on a regular basis. The highs have been really high while the lows have been equally low. 

So with a new stretch of seven games coming, the real question is what Utah team will show up? Will Utah continue to be the streaky team it has been over the last month or can it prove that it can be a fringe playoff team?

In its upcoming games, Utah will have a lot of manageable wins. It will face three teams with losing records: the San Jose Sharks (13-24-6), the New York Islanders (15-18-7) and the New York Rangers (18-20-2). Additionally, Utah will take on two teams with similar records: the St. Louis Blues (19-19-4) and the Montreal Canadiens (19-18-3).

Though no win is guaranteed, Utah can really take advantage of this schedule and can generate a lot of momentum at home with some wins. 

Meanwhile, Utah's other two games are its toughest games as it faces the Florida Panthers (24-15-2) and the Central division leading Winnipeg Jets (28-12-2). 

Both games will be worth watching due to their placement on the schedule, as the Florida game kickoff's Utah's home stretch, while Winnipeg serves as the final game. 

A win against the Panthers would be crucial for Utah as it would help build confidence during its seven-game home stand, setting the tone for success at home. Meanwhile, a win against Winnipeg would show that Utah can compete against top teams in the league. Along with that, ending a home stretch on a win is always good before traveling away from home

But with this being the longest stretch of home games for Utah all season, it will need to come out with wins if it wants to truly take advantage of its schedule. 

What do you think will happen these next seven games? Will Utah come out with more wins than losses? Let me know down below.