Utah heads into Sunday’s matinee in Philadelphia with a clear message from André Tourigny: get moving early, and do it fast.
The Mammoth are in the middle of an east coast swing, with this matchup against the Flyers serving as the second of five games on the trip. It’s also the first meeting of the season between the clubs, and Tourigny said Philadelphia has tightened things up lately.
“(Philadelphia) is a team who’s much improved in the last couple of games defensively,” Tourigny shared. “They’re pretty stingy so it’s important for us to build on our game in (Pittsburgh).”
That Pittsburgh game is the kind of result Utah wants to carry forward. The Mammoth beat the Penguins 4-3 in overtime on Saturday, with Logan Cooley stealing the show in his hometown.
He scored a hat trick, and his third goal came with one second left in regulation to force overtime. Mikhail Sergachev finished it off with the winner, while Sebastian Cossa turned aside 30 of 33 shots for his third win of the season.
Tourigny wants that same pace and urgency against the Flyers.
“I want us to attack really fast,” Tourigny shared. “...we want to be really quick in our counterattack, really quick in our attacking off our recovering in the o-zone.”
Utah also made a roster move earlier in the day, recalling Ben McCartney from Tucson. Tourigny, who knows McCartney well, was quick to point to the forward’s energy and edge.
“He’s doing good,” Tourigny shared. “(McCartney), I’ve been with him for six training camps and (have followed) his progression.
I (have) liked him since Day 1. I think he improved a lot, and our organization thinks highly of him.
I think he’s the kind of guy who can provide energy, physicality, he has that drive, he can drag you in the fight every given night, he’s playing fearless. So, I'm happy for him to have a crack at it.”
On the other side of that roster shuffle, Daniil But was reassigned to Tucson on Saturday. Tourigny said the move is about giving the young forward more time and a bigger role.
“He did a good job for us,” Tourigny said. “He showed he can play in that league, but it’s tough for young guys to develop at 10 minutes a night.
So, I think it’s an opportunity for him to have a little bit more ice time and to play in a different role, and his time will come again. He’s a ‘when’ player, he will be back.”
Utah enters the day at 9-5-0 and 6-4-0 over its last 10, sitting second in the Central Division with 18 points. Nick Schmaltz and Cooley are tied for the team lead with seven goals apiece, while Clayton Keller and Sergachev share the assist lead with 12 each. Keller and Sergachev are also tied for the team lead in points with 16.
In goal, Utah has leaned on Karel Vejmelka and Cossa. Vejmelka is 6-4-0 with a 3.13 goals-against average, a .881 save percentage and one shutout. Cossa is 3-1-0 with a 3.20 goals-against average and a .855 save percentage.
Philadelphia comes in at 3-8-4 and 3-5-2 over its last 10, good for eighth in the Metropolitan Division with 10 points. The Flyers dropped their last game 5-2 to the Washington Capitals, with Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov scoring. Michkov’s goal came on the power play.
Michkov leads Philadelphia with nine goals and ranks second on the club with 11 points. Trevor Zegras leads the Flyers with nine assists and 13 points. Joseph Woll stopped 25 of 29 shots in the loss.
Woll and Dan Vladar make up the Flyers’ goaltending tandem. Woll is 1-5-2 with a 3.13 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage, while Vladar is 2-3-2 with a 3.26 goals-against average and a .888 save percentage.
Sunday is the first of two straight home games for Philadelphia, which hosts Minnesota on Tuesday. Utah, meanwhile, heads to Toronto next for a Tuesday night game against the Maple Leafs.
Cooley has been Utah’s hottest scorer over the last five games, piling up seven points and six goals while recording points in four of those five outings. For Philadelphia, Zegras is riding a six-game point streak with three goals and seven assists, and he leads the Flyers over the last five games with seven assists and nine points.
There are also a few milestones on the horizon for Utah players. Barrett Hayton is two assists away from 100 career NHL assists.
Clayton Keller is three games shy of 700 career NHL games. Vincent Trocheck needs three assists to reach 400 career NHL assists.
Dylan Guenther is three assists away from 100 career NHL assists and four goals from 100 career NHL goals. Kevin Stenlund is five points away from 100 career NHL points.
This is the first of two meetings between Utah and Philadelphia this season, with the Flyers set to visit Utah on Mar. 13.
In Other News...
Former Coyotes Forward Ben McCartney Is Back In The NHL Spotlight
Ben McCartney is getting another look at the NHL level after the Utah Mammoth recalled the forward from their AHL affiliate in Tucson. It is his first call-up of the season, a deserved nod for a player who has been one of the Roadrunners more productive and reliable forwards and has kept himself in the conversation with steady work in the minors.
For Coyotes fans, McCartneys name still carries a little familiarity from his brief time in Arizona, when he reached the NHL with the franchise in 2021-22. He now gets a chance to re-enter the league through Utah, even if the next step in that story is still to be written. [Read more 🡒]
Coyotes Suddenly Have Another Lineup Issue To Sort Out
The roster shuffle kept coming for the club on Friday, with Michael Carcone coming off injured reserve and Daniil But heading to AHL Tucson as part of the latest round of adjustments. Ben McCartney was also recalled, giving the team another forward option as it tries to keep the lineup intact through an early stretch that has already required some juggling.
John Marinos move to injured reserve only adds to the uncertainty on the blue line, and Kailer Yamamoto is now listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Carcones return helps on the forward side after he missed a little more than three weeks, but the bigger question is how long the team can keep absorbing these absences without forcing more changes than it would like. [Read more 🡒]
Vejmelkas Struggles Have Utah Fans Watching The Crease Closely
The crease has become a real point of concern for Utah after another rough night from Karel Vejmelka in a loss to Philadelphia. He surrendered five goals on 20 shots, and the performance fit a troubling stretch that has left the Mammoth buried near the bottom of the league in both goals saved above expected and save percentage.
With the goaltending numbers trending the wrong way, the conversation is shifting toward whether Utah should give Sebastian Cossa a look in net to see what it has behind Vejmelka. The timing matters because the Mammoth need to know whether they can ride out this spell or if a change is needed before the season drifts further in the wrong direction. [Read more 🡒]