Mammoth getting hot at right time with visit to Canucks up next
The Utah Mammoth continue their quest for a playoff position looking to cap a perfect, and dominant, road trip on Saturday against the lowly Vancouver Canucks.
Utah (39-30-6, 84 points) has a firm grasp on the Western Conference's first wild-card spot, with a five-point edge on their closest competitors with seven games remaining.
Moreover, the Mammoth are on a roll as they head to the final clash of a three-game trek. They are coming off an impressive 6-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. Utah whipped the Los Angeles Kings by that same score in the first clash of the trip.
"We're in a really good spot right now and just have to keep pushing," forward J.J. Peterka said. "The road trip is really important for us."
Utah is 12 points back of Minnesota for the third spot in the Central Division, making the first wild-card spot its best opportunity.
Instead of coasting, though, the Mammoth are hitting a new gear of late. Against Seattle, they erased a two-goal deficit with six unanswered goals and twice won momentum-changing coach's challenges while receiving big performances from key players.
Logan Cooley scored twice to give him five goals in the last three games, while Dylan Guenther is coming off a three-point outing and Nick Schmaltz has scored in consecutive games.
Utah scored three power-play goals in Seattle. The Mammoth have netted eight goals with the man-advantages in the past four outings.
"We're doing a better job shooting the puck," Schmaltz said. "A lot of times, we look for the perfect play and it's not there. We're shooting pucks and then making plays off of that."
The Mammoth on Friday recalled center Kevin Rooney from the minors. Center Jack McBain was injured against Seattle.
The Canucks are on the other side of the ledger.
Due to a 5-2 loss at the hands of the Minnesota Wild on Thursday to end a four-game road swing, Vancouver (22-45-8, 52 points) is ensured to finish last overall and have the highest odds of winning the draft lottery.
Although the final score looked like a shellacking for Vancouver, the Canucks led 2-1 after the first period, but simply did not have the ability to hang with the Wild once the hosts started rolling.
"We had a great effort, especially back-to-back against two good teams like that," coach Adam Foote insisted. "The guys competed to the end."
Vancouver has lost seven of eight games, with the lone victory being a shocking win over the league-leading Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.
Sitting 16 points back of the 31st-place Chicago Blackhawks in the standings, the Canucks are playing out the string. So, they are grasping for any positives to find while playing out the season.
"There's lots of things we're trying to clean up a little bit," said forward Jake DeBrusk. "When we do it right, you see guys get rewarded. Last game (the 8-6 win over Colorado) was an outlier -- there was a lot of goals for both sides -- but we're playing against pretty good teams getting prepped up for playoffs. It's good for the young guys and more competitive. We've just got to keep grinding here."
Utah has won five consecutive meetings with the Canucks, including the first two clashes this season.