Marino wasn't the only defenseman to step up with Sergachev out. Michael Kesselring was elevated to the top power-play unit and didn't take long to find success. Kesselring scored Utah's opening goal on the man advantage in the first period.

Utah Hockey Club’s Clayton Keller (9) and Winnipeg Jets’ Josh Morrissey (44) battle for the puck during their last match-up in Winnipeg Nov. 5. The Jets won that game 3-0. (Fred Greenslade / Canadian Press files)

The Winnipeg Jets will play the first of two road games tonight as they play in Utah for the first time. The Jets and Utah HC have met just one time this season, with the Jets coming out on top 3-0. Nino Niederreiter scored twice that night, improving the Jets' record to 11-1-0.

As mentioned, Kesselring took advantage of the chance to prove himself as a legitimate top-four defenseman; Jaxson Stauber showed that he can play in the NHL; Olli Määttä earned a spot on Finland’s 4 Nations Face-Off team — a chance he may not have gotten if he’d stayed in Detroit.

The Jets are hitting the road for the first time this calendar year, as the team just completed an eight-game homestand that began on Jan.2. Winnipeg's 4-2-2 record included a five-game points streak (4-0-1) and three-game winning streak that were both snapped by Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Calgary Flames.

Saturday night brought a huge win to the Delta Center for the Utah Hockey Club as they took down their division rivals, the St. Louis Blues, by a score of 4-2.

THROUGH GAMES OF SUNDAY, JAN. 19, 2025

Sergachev has played the second-most minutes per game of any skater in the league this year. If Kesselring can reliably take a portion of his workload, it would be a win-win-win for Sergachev, Kesselring and the team. Keller said he gave Kesselring some advice before the game.

The Utah Hockey Club recently lost one of its top forwards, Dylan Guenther, to a lower-body injury suffered against the Florida Panthers. The injury occurred when Guenther collided with Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov,

The Rangers engineered their first third period comeback in 19 tries, extending their point streak to six games with a 5-3 win over Utah.

Artemi Panarin scored two goals, Chris Kreider had the go-ahead goal off a defensive deflection with 9:38 to play, and the New York Rangers rallied for a 5-3 victory over the Utah Hockey Club.