The Utah Mammoth are back home tonight with a simple task in front of them: shake off a 6-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers and get right against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Puck drop is set for Oct. 19 at 7:00 p.m. MT, with the game available on ESPN+, Hulu, and Disney+.
Utah comes in at 6-3-0, while Pittsburgh arrives at 3-5-1 after dropping three straight. The Penguins have stumbled through that skid in rough fashion, and the article notes that a win is probably coming sooner rather than later. But that likely won’t be tonight if Utah handles business the way it needs to.
The biggest key for the Mammoth is the start. Utah has not put together back-to-back losses this season, and getting out of the gate cleanly has to be part of why. In defeats, Utah has been outscored 7-0 in the first period, so jumping on the Penguins early could set the tone for the whole night.
There’s also a clear opportunity for Utah’s offense to make life difficult on a Pittsburgh team that has struggled to score. Erik Karlsson leads the Penguins with nine assists and no goals, while Evgeni Malkin leads the club with five goals. The source points out that Utah should be able to shut that down pretty easily.
The expectation here is a much sharper showing from the Mammoth after facing a strong Oilers team on Saturday. The prediction has Utah winning 5-2, with a solid night from its goalie and its scorers. If that holds, the Mammoth would be looking at wins in four of their last five games.
In Other News...
Former Coyotes Pick Is Finally Getting The Chance Arizona Never Could
The latest bit of movement involving Tucson has a familiar name at the center of it. Utah recalled defenseman Artem Duda from the Roadrunners, giving the blue-liner a chance to make his NHL debut after carving out a solid run in the AHL. For those who followed the Coyotes final drafts before the franchise relocation, Duda is one of the prospects who once passed through Arizonas pipeline and kept developing after the organization moved on.
There is a particular kind of what-if attached to players like Duda, especially when they start getting real traction elsewhere. Arizona selected him in the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft, but the first NHL call-up of his career is happening under a different banner, with Utah and Tucson now connected in a new way. It also arrives as the first recall of a Roadrunner to the NHL this season, a small but meaningful marker for a prospect whose path has taken a long time to reach this point. [Read more 🡒]
Coyotes Draft Pick Suddenly Has A Chance To Change His Outlook
Artem Dudas strong stretch with Tucson has earned him a real opening at the NHL level, and the timing could hardly be better for a defenseman still working his way back from a knee injury. Utah called him up from its AHL affiliate, giving the young blueliner his first taste of NHL camp life after he has steadily settled in with the Roadrunners.
The recall comes with the Mammoth dealing with a rash of injuries, so the move has the feel of added depth as much as added opportunity. Whether Duda gets into the upcoming game is still unsettled, but for a player trying to shift the conversation around his development, even being part of the conversation is a meaningful step. [Read more 🡒]
Coyotes Could Get Pulled Into A Much Bigger Goalie Shakeup
A run of goaltender injuries has left the Rangers scrambling, with Joonas Korpisalo and Igor Shesterkin both sidelined and Dylan Garand suddenly pushed into the starting job. As New York looks for help, the market around it has started to widen, and teams with established netminders are getting dragged into the conversation whether they asked to or not.
Karel Vejmelka is among the names being mentioned as a possible fit, which is enough to make this a storyline worth watching from Arizonas side. The ripple effect gets even more interesting because the Rangers are not just searching for a stopgap, they are being linked to a much bigger goalie shakeup that could involve several clubs, and the Coyotes could wind up in the middle of it if those talks gain real traction. [Read more 🡒]