^{Are you sick of reading about them? I’m sick of writing about them…}

The Chicago Blackhawks and the Utah Mammoth have become friends lately, with 3 games in the past 11 days. Tonight marks the merciful and final end to their season series.

While Utah got a point in Chicago a few days ago, they have already lost the season series to the Blackhawks with an 0-2-1 record in three games. Tonight is the final chance at retribution, 2 points, and the ability to not be laughed at for being swept by the Hawks of all teams.

Tonight, it’s expected Mikhail Sergachev should return, giving Utah Mammoth faithful at the Delta Center not only their first in-person look at MacKenzie Weegar since he joined the team, but the expected top pairing for years to come in Weegar-Sergachev.

Changes tonight for Chicago
Chicago sent lives Drew Commesso down to their AHL affiliate, meaning likely and expected starter Spencer Knight is on tap for the Blackhawks. Knight had been strong to start the season, giving Chicago a mirage of a playoff team, but his goaltending has returned to normal. He’s got just 1 win in his past 8 games (1-5-2), with a .885 save percentage and nearly 3 goals against (2.99) in that span.

He’s coming off 2 games of facing more than 30 shots, from the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche each, posting a .900+ save percentage in both games. However, that was more than a week ago, as he was battling a week-long illness that kept him out of the previous matchup between these two teams.

So, he may returning to form after a long absence, or he may be back where he was a week before his illness. Goalies are voodoo, so we’ll see what we get.

Key points to secure a victory today:

D-lightful A new face joins the Utah Mammoth for their first home game. Much ink has been spilled praising addition MacKenzie Weegar to the lineup. Unfortunately, his expected top-pairing linemate, Mikhail Sergachev, has been out.

It was reported that Sergachev was on the ice during practice today, and the assumption is he will be in tonight. However, he’s been a late scratch recently, so it may still be a game-time decision.

Still, the thought of combining Weegar, who is stout defensively, with offensive Sergachev, should finally balance out that line and give Utah a dual-threat blueline for the top pairing. Sean Durzi, in his last game, had a rough outing. Lowered duties for Durzi, with slightly less defensive responsibility falling on his shoulders, should also help his game.

A revamped Utah defense should be scary for opponents. Utah is already one of the top 5 defensive teams, so a healthy and beefed up blue-line should cause as the Mammoth try and stampede their way into the playoffs.

D-Cell The Mammoth have played flat, unenergetic hockey for most of the last 5 periods. Aside from overtime in Chicago on Monday, Utah’s been out-hustled, out-chanced, and out-played almost entirely their previous 100 minutes.

Tonight, as Utah returns to the Delta Center, the Mammoth fans should be rowdy and excited. Welcoming new star MacKenzie Weegar in his first game, and celebrating long-term extension for Nick Schmaltz, an electric crowd should be a solid foundation for the team to draw energy from. Additionally, sleeping in their own beds for a night couldn’t have hurt.

Utah needs to come out strong against a fast Blackhawks team. They can certainly use a boost from a little energizing at home.

Light it up This team has been on fire, but less Fall Out Boy and more dumpster the past two games. The first and foremost thing Utah needs to do is light the lamp, and light it often. With just 2 goals in their past 122+ minutes, Utah’s forwards need to get in the game.

Utah’s third line, in particular, has been terrible. The JJ Peterka, Kailer Yamamoto, Barrett Hayton line hasn’t performed since the March 1st game against Chicago. As a line, they’re -8 with just 2 goals and no assists in that time. That’s impressively bad for a line with three-time 20+ goal scorer Peterka on it, and Yamamoto whose 82 game pace would be the 2nd best season in his career.

Barrett Hayton’s turned the season around for himself since early January, with 13 points (4G, 9A) in just 19 games – up from 9 points in his first 35. He had a beautiful tipped goal against Chicago the other day, but for some reason the line is struggling. Granted, Yamamoto had a goal erased that would have given Utah a 1-0 lead against the Wild. That goal being taken off killed Utah’s momentum, and seemed to especially deflate that line.

Lineups haven’t been released at the time of writing, but I fully expect this line to be changed up. Perhaps a Michael Carcone swap in that line can help fuel it. Carcone has been great for an otherwise struggling team, with 2 goals and an assist in the last 6 games, or responsible for 25% of all of Utah’s points. That’s coming from a 4th line where Kevin Stenlund hasn’t produced much offense all year.

Hopefully the coaching staff notices and makes a change or two. Scoring 4+ goals only once in March and shut out twice should call for some adjustments.

Projected Lineups:
No lineup changes as of the writing of this article. Last lineups listed, however expect Kailer Yamamoto to move down a line with either Michael Carcone taking his place, or a full shift on the wing; Guenther playing with Cooley, Crouse on the top line, and Carcone getting additional minutes.

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 7 PM at the Delta Center or Utah 16 / SEG plus

TUSKS UP!