The Utah Mammoth appear to have escaped what looked like a scary situation with Mikhail Sergachev.
Sergachev was forced out of Tuesday night’s 5-3 win over the New Jersey Devils after taking a puck to the helmet in the second period and did not return. The defenseman had already piled up three assists and was giving Utah a major lift before the play that sent him to the locker room.
The concern was easy to understand. MacKenzie Weegar was trying to clear the puck out of the offensive zone when it struck Sergachev directly in the helmet, and the team offered no update on his condition after the game. The timing only made it feel worse, coming roughly two weeks after a similar incident involving Brock Faber, who suffered a fractured skull and is out indefinitely following surgery.
But the early signs on Wednesday were far more encouraging for Utah. According to Cole Bagley of KSLSports, Sergachev was on the ice for morning skate in Boston.
Bagley also reported that head coach Andre Tourigny said Sergachev will play tonight.
That’s a huge relief for a Mammoth team that leans heavily on the defenseman’s offense from the blue line.
There was also another note out of Utah’s goaltending picture: Sebastian Cossa appears set to make his second start of the season. Cossa allowed one goal in last Saturday’s 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, and technically he enters the night leading the league in goals allowed per game.
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The lingering part for Arizona followers is not the admiration, but the old familiar question it stirs up. Schmaltz has made a habit of turning heads again, and with the way he has started this season, it is impossible not to revisit how much of that player the Coyotes once had in their own building before he moved on. [Read more 🡒]
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The wrinkle for the Coyotes pipeline is that none of the five had appeared in a game for Tucson this season, so the assignments are more about positioning than a demotion after a long run in the lineup. For a team that is always juggling development and depth, the next step for these prospects will be worth tracking once the Roadrunners get through their first road tests and the organizational picture starts to settle a little more. [Read more 🡒]
Utah Mammoth Face A Road Test That Could Stress Their Depth
The Utah Mammoth head into their Oct. 8 road date with Boston facing a simple but meaningful early test: can they keep their blue line and lineup steady when the schedule starts asking for answers? The Bruins will be missing defenseman Charlie McAvoy, which changes the look of the matchup, but Utah has its own health questions to manage, with Maveric Lamoureux out long term after surgery and Mikhail Sergachev listed day-to-day.
For a team still sorting out its identity, the trip puts a spotlight on depth as much as talent, especially with goaltending choices and recent performance trends part of the conversation. It is the kind of game that can reveal whether Utah can absorb losses on the back end and still play with structure, or whether the lineup squeeze starts to show against a disciplined opponent on the road. [Read more 🡒]