^{The Mammoth remain in Florida, looking for 2 points in a revenge game versus the Panthers}

The Mammoth are looking to re-start a point streak tonight against the Panthers.

The last meeting between these two clubs saw a heartbreaking loss for Utah. Anton Lundell for Florida scored with under a minute remaining, breaking a tie and stealing at least a single point from the Mammoth. Tonight, the Mammoth are looking to get at least that point back, if not two.

Since that fateful day, however, Utah and Florida have seen similar success. The Panthers (13-8-1) and Mammoth (13-6-1) both gave 27 points over the 20+ games since December 10th, good for a tie for 10th best point totals in the league.

What’s giving the Panther’s their claws?
Honestly, Florida is quite the enigma since the last time these teams met. They’re not dominating games – in fact, in the 22 games they played, they’ve got a negative goal differential (63 goals for, 72 goals against). They’ve been on the end of both lobsided losses, like the 9-1 beating they got by the Carolina Hurricanes two weeks ago, and 5-1 beating in the Winter Classic, but also have won a number of tight games, like the Brother’s game against Ottawa – a 3-2 victory, and a pair of wins in bonus time last week against Winnipeg and Minnesota.

Florida is coming into this game after an extremely unusual schedule. A 6 game road trip, that saw the 9-1 beating, led to a single game at home. They then went out to Winnipeg, Minnesota and Chicago, and this is their first game back since. Overall, this is their 11th travel game in a row, even though 2 of those games were home games.

Can Utah take advantage? Well, the last three games have been won by Florida – two overtime games and then a 5-1 domination against the Blackhawks.

Key points to secure a victory today:
Litter Box Tonight basically comes down to a major variable; goaltending. Sergei Bobrovsky is a back-to-back Stanley Cup champion, but has been playing far from it since the last meeting. However, his backup – Daniil Tarasov – has basically usurped Bobrovsky’s powers. In January, the difference between the two is stark.

Bobrovsky’s stat line: 3-5-0 with an .828 save percentage and 4.04 GAA
Tarasov’s stat line: 4-0-0 with a .946 save percentage and 1.22 GAA

Tarasov recently played their last game, so it’s likely Bobrovsky’s in net. If so, the Mammoth will still face a legendary goaltender, albeit one that has been playing like he needs some kitty litter. The Mammoth need to get on the better side of that goals against average – putting up more than 4 is not a guaranteed win against Florida, but their lack of scoring lately isn’t going to give them confidence in a high-scoring tilt.

Declawed The Mammoth were shut out against Tampa last night, and this has all the makings of a bad back to back for Utah. With travel, and a playoff level game yesterday, the boys left it all on the ice. While losing a game is never ideal, the fact remains that Utah is a fantastic even strength team, giving up just 31 goals in 20 contests. The only team better is Colorado, by a single goal. Florida, however, is middle of the pack, giving up 45 in 22 games.

On the flip side, Florida is not scoring on 5v5 – just 38 goals for, versus 47 for the Mammoth. Again, Utah has a massive edge. The goal differential (+7 for Utah, -7 for Florida) is huge in just 20/21 games.

The difference here, though, is effectiveness of power plays. Florida isn’t exactly lighting it up, but they are quite a bit better than the Mammoth.

To keep Florida on their heels, keeping them away from any special teams advantages will help curb their advantage. If Utah can keep their energy up on 5v5, the Mammoth give themselves a great chance to win.

The Cat’s Meow Dylan Guenther had a great game against Florida last time out, with 2 goals and a +2 rating. He was one of two Mammoth players with a positive rating night, with Daniil But the other. Unfortunately, three other lines saw problems.

Utah’s top line – Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, and JJ Peterka at the time, were terrible. Keller, unfortunately, is historically bad against the Panthers, with a -15 all time rating. Likewise, Schmaltz goes as Keller goes, recording only 2 points in his last 10 games against them and a -6 in his last three games with Utah.

The burden tonight, then, is to either have the Keller line finally cast away the demon known as Florida, with the help of Lawson Crouse on the top line (who is even in his career vs. Florida), or have Guenther once again put the team on his shoulders and carry them to a victory.

It’s a great time for Utah to break the Kitty Cat Curse, and get back into the win column.

Projected Lineups:
As per Cole Bagley:
Per Tourigny, there’s “a lot of game time decisions today.”

Dmitri Simashev called up, so even the defensive pairings are in flux. However, it’s safe to assume that Vitek Vanecek will start against his old team.

Game time 5PM; game available on Utah 16 and SEG+

TUSKS UP!