The Utah Mammoth are back at the Delta Center after a five-game trip out east, and the schedule does not ease up. Utah has three games on deck in Week 3, including a visit from Toronto on Tuesday and a home-and-home set with Edmonton later in the week.
The Mammoth came home with a 3-2-0 record from that road swing, stacking up wins over the Columbus Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres. The two losses came against the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins. Even so, Utah is putting together a dangerous start through six games, fueled by a power play that’s leading the NHL at 40 percent and by a group that keeps spreading the offense around.
That man-advantage unit has already produced 10 power play goals, most in the league, and it was sharp again against Buffalo with two more. Utah is also scoring at a strong clip overall, averaging the fifth-most goals per game at 3.67, while allowing the 10th-fewest at 2.50.
There’s plenty working in the faceoff circle, too. Vincent Trocheck owns the fifth-highest faceoff win percentage in the NHL at 61.9, and Utah as a team has won 53.2 percent of its draws, good for sixth in the league.
The depth has been just as important as the star power. Every one of Utah’s 19 skaters to appear this season has recorded at least a point.
Fourteen have at least two, and six have reached five or more. Captain Clayton Keller and center Nick Schmaltz lead the way with eight points apiece.
Toronto is up first on Tuesday, and it’s the lone meeting at the Delta Center this season. The Maple Leafs come in after a 6-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche, a game in which six players hit the scoresheet.
William Nylander did most of the damage with five points, tying a single-game career high with two goals and three assists. That performance pushed him past the 700-point mark for his NHL career.
He now leads Toronto with five goals and 11 points, while his six assists are tied with captain Auston Matthews for the team lead.
The Leafs have also been excellent on special teams. Their penalty kill sits at the top of the league at 95 percent, and their power play has been humming as well, with the ninth-most power play goals in the NHL at 26.3 percent. Toronto has picked up points in three straight games and arrives in Salt Lake City wrapping up a three-game road trip before heading home for games against Buffalo and the New York Islanders.
Later in the week, Utah and Edmonton begin a home-and-home series that opens Thursday in Edmonton and continues Saturday night in Salt Lake City. These are the first two meetings between the Western Conference clubs, with a third scheduled for Dec. 19 in Utah.
Edmonton enters the week sitting fourth in the NHL at 4-0-1, and its stars are already piling up numbers. Captain Connor McDavid leads the league with 13 points, including 10 assists.
Defenseman Evan Bouchard is tied for second in the NHL with 12 points, and center Leon Draisaitl is tied for eighth with nine. Fourteen Oilers skaters have at least one point, 11 have two or more, and four have gone past five points to start the season.
The Oilers open their week in Los Angeles on Tuesday against the Kings, the final stop on a three-game road trip. Thursday will be Edmonton’s third home game of the season, though it also marks the club’s seventh game of the 2026-27 campaign.
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The bigger question for Arizona fans is how long this pace can last, because Utah is not the only club on an early roll. The Rangers have also started well, leaning on a defense that has been stingy and a penalty kill that has done its job, while Alexis Lafreniere is off to the best start of his NHL career and Dylan Garand has held up in goal with Igor Shesterkin sidelined. For a league that often settles into a rhythm before Halloween, these former Coyotes are helping create an early test for everyone else. [Read more 🡒]