Utah's Clayton Keller has just set a huge milestone in his career. Feb 8, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Utah Hockey Club center Clayton Keller (9) looks on against the Carolina Hurricanes during the second period at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/a5e327f5-4528-4c3e-a29e-62bb09435933.jpeg] Feb 8, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Utah Hockey Club center Clayton Keller (9) looks on against the Carolina Hurricanes during the second period at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images Midway through Utah's 4-2 over the Detroit Red Wings, Keller tallied his 300th assist of his career. It was also Keller's 48th assist of the season, the most on the team, with Nick Schmaltz's 35 assists being the next highest. The assist was Keller's 24th in 25 games in 2025, trailing only Tampa's Nikita Kucherov, whose 26 assists in 2025 are most in the league. To make the stretch Keller has been on even more impressive, just two games ago in Utah's 6-1 win over Minnesota [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/utah/game-day/utah-hc-has-six-different-players-score-goal-in-6-1-blowout-win-over-minnesota-wild], he also set a career-high in points by recording four assists and his 22nd goal of the season. In this game, Keller's assist came in the second period on a power-play goal by Nick Schmaltz, with Utah trailing 2-1. As Barrett Hayton got open on the right side of the goal and received a pass from Keller, Detroit goalie Alex Lyon and defenseman Ben Chiarot leaned right in an attempt to take away any opening for a shot on the goal. But with Schmaltz on the opposite side of the goal, Hayton wisely passed through the middle of the ice, past Chiarot's stick, to Schmaltz, who scored on the wide-open net. The goal tied the game and was the first of Utah's unanswered three-goal run that would win it the game. It was Keller who drew the penalty in the first place, as he forced Detroit's Albert Johansson to hold his jersey, causing Keller to spin around while trying to race down the ice and retain the puck. With a game against the Chicago Blackhawks less than 24 hours away, Utah will hope its captain can continue tallying assists.
