^{One last meeting against the Wild in Minnesota before the team heads home}

Note: Without ESPN+ and the inability to attend a watch party/bar at a decent time, tonight’s recap won’t actually be much beyond what I take from the radio. Sorry about that!

Tonight, Utah ends an already successful 5 game road trip in Saint Paul, Minnesota for the third and final meeting with division rival and unlikely 3rd place competitor in the Minnesota Wild. The Wild currently sit 12 points above the Utah Mammoth for 3rd place in a brutal Central Division with 18 games to play.

It’s generally safe to say that Utah’s best bet is aiming for the top wildcard position… but you never know. A win against the Wild tonight would put Utah 10 points back – a non-insurmountable lead – and the satisfaction of a series sweep of a rival they may see in the playoffs.

As has been customary in March, Utah is facing an opponent they played just a few games ago. To close out February, Utah took on Minnesota at home, beating them 5-2 in the confines of the Delta Center. Early in the year, Utah also beat Minnesota, 6-2 at the Grand Casino Arena.

Minnesota has slipped from a precarious second place position last week to behind the Dallas Stars for third. In a suddenly tight division race, they also sit just 9 points behind the Colorado Avalanche – who have been anything but the world-beaters they were to start the year.

A new look for the Wild?
Minnesota has been the most active trade partner in the NHL, with waves big and small. The Wild have made moves designed give themselves a chance to make it out of the first round – something they haven’t done in any of their past 8 playoff appearances over a 10 year span. The major trade for Minnesota, back in December, for Quinn Hughes was division changing, but the Wild have also made additions in the form of Bobby Brink from the Philadelphia Flyers, Nick Foligno from the Chicago Blackhawks, Jeff Petry from Florida, and Michael McCarron from Nashville at the trade deadline.

The new look shores up a lot of the Minnesota weaknesses. McCarron helps their faceoff ability on the 4th line, along with providing valuable penalty kill minutes. Brink brings a good defensive mindset and half a point per game from an unimpressive Flyers team. Petry is a good defensive option at the bottom of Minnesota’s D corps, and Nick brings some brotherly advice for Marcus, likely watching from the press box as a depth piece but locker room voice.

The recent moves haven’t negatively impacted Minnesota much, either. Pieces moving out? David Jiricek, who wasn’t impactful as a rookie with sheltered minutes on the bottom pairing is gone. Draft picks. Those don’t suit up for the playoffs. Future Considerations, the #1 most traded player in the NHL.

Since the deadline, they’ve beaten the Vegas Golden Knights in Nevada, and lost in a shootout to Colorado in Denver. Good results so far, with McCarron posting up a goal and an assist already, though his face-off value for them hasn’t proven itself yet. Brink has been getting limited minutes, but hasn’t shown to be a liability.

Key points to secure a victory today:
Conditioning An overtime game as the first game of a back to back isn’t ideal. An overtime game as the first game of a back to back where you need to leave immediately for another arena is even worse.

While Utah will be starting a rested Karel Vejmelka between the pipes, the Mammoth players will find a level of fatigue in their game. It’s inevitable. That level of fatigue, however, will directly impact how this game turns out.

Quinn Hughes is too good of a player not to take advantage of a tired team. The same can be said of Kirill Kaprizov. The Wild are dangerous, just a shade away from being a top 10 scoring team in the league. Giving them opportunities due to fatigue will likely happen, so counting heavily on Vejmelka to backstop them to victory is definitely part of the game plan.

Surging Sergy? The Mammoth have held the high powered Wild offense to just 2 goals against in each of their past two games, and the defense will be put to the test tonight. It’s a tall task for a defense coming off a back to back.

Additionally, The Utah Mammoth have been without top defenseman Mikhail Sergachev due to a lower body injury. The team has announced him as a game-time decision the past few games, indicating that the injury may be one he can play through, but one the team has been cautious with managing.

With rest – despite pain – Sergachev may be a hidden gem for Utah tonight. With fatigue going to play a factor, Sergachev’s fresh legs could potentially be a benefit for Utah. Getting Sergachev minutes with MacKenzie Weegar will also be important, to get their chemistry going.

As usual, nothing concrete from Andre Tourigny about the lineup, so we’ll see.

Up and Down The Mammoth can’t find consistency with special teams this year, with the power play struggling early in the season, with a perfect penalty kill. When the power play start surging finally – the penalty kill falters.

Tonight, the penalty kill will be far more important than the power play. The Wild boast the league’s 4th best power play unit – unsurprising considering the firepower they have. Kaprizov has 16 power play goals, Hughes has 17 assists in about half a season’s worth of games, and winger Matt Boldy is a 9 goal, 15 assist player good for 24 points.

Since the Olympic break, Minnesota’s got a nearly 29% success rate on the PP.

While I’m harping on fatigue, a penalty kill is one of the most draining aspects of the game. Adding the pressure of a high-octane power play to the mix, and it’s a dangerous concoction that Utah should do their best to avoid at all costs.

Tonight needs to be a squeaky clean game. No stupid penalties – delay of games, too many men, or things completely preventable need to be completely prevented. Offensive penalties? Offensively bad. Stick to simple hockey, stay out of the box, and don’t give the stripes a reason to ding you for anything.

Projected Lineups:
Maybe Sergy, maybe not. Maybe line changes, maybe not. Tourigny acting coy with lineups the rest of the year? That’s probably the only thing that’ll be consistent moving forward.

Clayton Keller — Nick Schmaltz — Dylan Guenther
JJ Peterka — Logan Cooley — Kailer Yamamoto
Jack McBain — Barrett Hayton — Lawson Crouse
Alexander Kerfoot — Kevin Stenlund — Michael Carcone

MacKenzie Weegar — Sean Durzi
Nate Schmidt — John Marino
Ian Cole — Nick DeSimone

Karel Vejmelka
Vitek Vanecek

Game start 6 PM on ESPN+ or Hulu. Or, if you’re me, on the NHL app’s radio.

TUSKS UP!