Mammoth ascending, while rival Avs try to hold down top spot
The NHL season resumes with what promises to be an exciting Central Division rumble between the Colorado Avalanche and the Utah Mammoth Wednesday in Salt Lake City.
It marks the fourth and final regular-season meeting between Colorado and Utah. The Avalanche won the two previous meetings in Colorado, and the Mammoth won 4-3 when they last hosted Nathan MacKinnon and company.
Speaking of MacKinnon, players from both teams who participated in the 2026 Winter Olympics are expected to be active for Wednesday's game. Avalanche forward Brock Nelson and Mammoth captain Clayton Keller, who were part of Team USA's gold medal victory against Canada, are also expected to be in the lineup on Wednesday.
Utah will aim to recapture the dominant play it exuded ahead of the Olympic break. The Mammoth won two straight heading into the mid-February hiatus, upending the Vancouver Canucks 6-2 and stymying the Detroit Red Wings 4-1. Keller collected four points (one goal, three assists) over those two games, and Nick Schmaltz had six points (four goals, two assists), including a hat trick against Vancouver.
The Mammoth were 8-1-1 over their last 10 home games following the win against the Red Wings. Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves for his NHL-leading 27th win of the season.
"It was a huge win for us," Mammoth head coach Andre Tourigny said after defeating Detroit. "I think everybody contributed. I think our fourth line was key ... Every time they were on the ice, they got on the forecheck, got the puck deep. I think they gave us some energy, so that was really good."
Meanwhile, the Avalanche are looking to maintain their post atop the league standings. Colorado has a five-point lead in the Western Conference, but is 4-5-1 over their last 10 games overall.
The Avs did get into the win column before the break, however, with a 4-2 victory against the San Jose Sharks. In that game, the Sharks rallied in the third period to tie the game 2-2, but Josh Manson scored the go-ahead goal with 7:16 remaining in regulation.
At Tuesday's practice, Bednar said he would not "load-manage" any players that are returning from Olympic duty.
"The five in seven nights is probably the toughest part of this," Bednar said of Colorado's upcoming schedule. "But if we're fighting for first place, they need to play. Our guys are gonna have to play. Otherwise we're gonna be chasing first place instead of in it, in my opinion."
MacKinnon tallied two assists in that San Jose game, the 700th and 701st of his NHL career. He is the 63rd player in NHL history to reach 700 assists and the second in Nordiques/Avalanche history to do so.
The Avalanche flipped defenseman Samuel Girard and a second-round draft pick in 2028 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for defenseman Brett Kulak on Tuesday. Kulak has one goal and eight assists in 56 games split between Edmonton and Pittsburgh this year.