The Carolina Hurricanes visit the Utah Mammoth on Saturday afternoon at the Delta Center, where Utah will skate for the first time since clinching its first-ever playoff berth. The puck is set to drop at 3:00 p.m. MT, with the Mammoth riding a five-game winning streak and Carolina arriving on a four-game road trip.
Utah enters at 42-30-6 and has already secured the first Western Conference wild card spot with 90 points, including a five-point cushion over the Los Angeles Kings in the second wild card position. The Mammoth beat the Nashville Predators 4-1 in their most recent game, with Kailer Yamamoto, Nick Schmaltz, Lawson Crouse and Dylan Guenther scoring and Karel Vejmelka stopping 29 of 30 shots. Guenther leads Utah with 39 goals and 71 points, while Clayton Keller has 57 assists and 83 points, Schmaltz has 31 goals and 72 points, and Mikhail Sergachev leads Utah defensemen with 47 assists.
Vejmelka has handled most of the crease work for Utah, appearing in 61 games with a 37-19-3 record, a 2.71 goals-against average and a.898 save percentage. Vítek Vaněček has appeared in 20 games and is 5-11-3 with a 2.87 goals-against average and a.886 save percentage. Utah will head to Calgary on Sunday in the second half of a back-to-back.
Carolina enters at 51-22-6, also 7-3-0 in its last 10, and has already secured both a playoff berth and the Metropolitan Division title. The Hurricanes beat the Chicago Blackhawks 7-2 in their most recent game, with Logan Stankoven and Mark Jankowski scoring twice each, and Sean Walker, K'Andre Miller and Taylor Hall adding goals. Frederik Andersen made 23 saves on 25 shots.
Seth Jarvis leads Carolina with 32 goals, Sebastian Aho has 53 assists and 79 points, Andrei Svechnikov has 30 goals and 69 points, and Nikolaj Ehlers leads the team with 42 assists. Brandon Bussi has a 30-6-1 record with a 2.52 goals-against average and.892 save percentage, while Andersen is 15-14-5 with a 3.11 goals-against average and.871 save percentage.
Saturday's game is the second stop on Carolina's four-game season-closing road trip, which continues next week against the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders. For Utah, the remaining question is how much it can still tighten its hold on the West's first wild card. Schmaltz's nine game-winning goals are tied for third-most in the NHL, and Keller is tied for second in overtime goals, which gives the Mammoth a top-end edge if this turns into another tight game.
The timing matters for both teams. Utah has already checked the biggest box of its season and now has only two home games left to sharpen its form, while Carolina is using the final week to keep its game sharp before the playoffs begin.
