^{The depleted Penguins waddle into the Delta Center as Utah looks for a win}

Finally, a new opponent to write about!

The Pittsburgh Penguins waddle into town, depleted from both injury and suspension. Sidney Crosby, sustained an injury during the Olympics a few weeks ago, and is still out of the lineup. Meanwhile, tonight is the final game of Evgeni Malkin’s suspension before returning to face the Avalanche. He’ll be hungry for that game, but tonight he’ll need to be hungry for the $3 hot dog special.

The Crosby and Malkin-less Penguins are still one of the top teams in the Metro division, vying for the #2 seed. However, they have fallen to exactly average after Crosby went down. A 3-3-3 record in their past 9 games gives them a .500 points record. They have scored 3 goals a game, giving up 3 goals a game. Literally, the team is as average and even as they could be.

Without Crosby, treading water at 9 points in 9 games is good enough to remain in playoff contention, but not good enough to catch the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Penguins are one of the most pity-point heavy teams in the league, with 15 overtime loss points (5-15), tied with LA. Look for them to do everything they can to secure at least one point before heading to Colorado – even if they know they’ll struggle to get the 2nd.

To compare, Utah has just 6OT losses this year (8-6). We won’t talk about the last Mammoth overtime loss, though. Instead, let’s focus on what to expect.

No Crosby? No problem..?
Pittsburgh was one of the hottest teams headed into the Olympics. From January 1 until the Olympic break, Pittsburgh was 12-3-3, good to be tied for second best record in the entire NHL. Utah, meanwhile, was good for 4th best record, as the teams had similarly successful months. As mentioned above, since the injury, they’re still playing average level hockey – which makes them fairly dangerous for a Utah team dealing with struggles.

Crosby, at 38 years old, was producing at over a point per game pace for Pittsburgh, closing in on 30 goals and 60 points (27G, 32A, 59P) while still playing nearly 20 minutes a night. While it’s been hard to replace him, the team has leaned on their #2 point producer, Bryan Rust.

Rust has produced more than a goal per game over the last 9 games, despite missing his centerman. 4 goals, 6 assists in that 9 game span, Rust has not scored 20 goals and hit the 50 point plateaus for the third straight season. Rust is dangerous on the power play – 21 points year to date – and has contributed to 6 of the 7 power play goals since the break. Without Crosby, Rust is their clear main threat.

Egor Chinakhov, picked up around Christmas, didn’t play in the last Mammoth – Penguins matchup, but has also been a solid contributor to the team in Crosby’s absence. Chinakhov’s play has been elevated alongside Rust and Rickard Rakell on the top line. His offensive numbers surged after leaving the Columbus Blue Jackets, as he’s scored 11 of his 14 goals with Pittsburgh. He is pacing for a career year, and an 82 game trend would have him roughly 60 points, more than double his best previous showing.

Finally, Erik Karlsson on the back end is no longer the dominant force he used to be in his prime, but has been their best offensive defenseman all season, while also providing solid defense. Karlsson, at 35, is also taking on key minutes – nearly 24 a game – with 44 points. He’s a force for them on the power play, with 19 assists and 2 goals to boot. Oh, and at his age? He’s still posting a solidly positive plus on the plus/minus rating; though a flawed stat, it still gives a bit of indication of where he plays if you don’t watch him often.

Key points to secure a victory today:
Oil Spill During the past 9 games, Utah’s struggled with the penalty kill. Granted, some of the calls have been less than decent, but it doesn’t matter at the end of the day. When shorthanded, the Mammoth need to be able to kill penalties off at a minimum league average rate. Utah’s penalty kill after the Olympic break is sitting at 25th overall, good for just a 72% success rate.

Pittsburgh’s power play without Sidney Crosby is less potent, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still dangerous. At just 20%, the Penguins power play has slipped about 5% in conversions, but it’s not their rate that kills you – it’s the volume.

Pittsburgh has drawn 44 penalties in the last 9 games. That’s good for 3rd most in the league. For comparison, Utah has drawn a paltry 30.

Pittsburgh will draw penalties from wily veteran play causing teams to make mistakes. It also helps they’re a little more of a league darling, getting calls a little more favorably than other teams. As a result, Utah may end up a man short handed far too much for comfort.

Utah needs to play a game like they did against Chicago, though the referees there held whistles way more than any other game this year. Bad penalties – even borderline ones – tend to go Pittsburgh’s way. Utah needs to use their speed to outmaneuver the slower Penguins squad, and not get caught in the clutching and grabbing game that they’ll end up losing out on.

Red Light District The Mammoth are in a really rough patch lighting the lamp since the break. Utah’s 26th in the league in goals for per game in their last 9. The Mammoth have reached the golden 4th goal just once in March – a 5-4 overtime win against Columbus. They’ve also been shut out twice in that span.

Clayton Keller and Dylan Guenther have keep up their production over the past 9 games. Keller’s 2 goals and 8 assists (10 points) and Guenther’s 6 goals, 3 assists (9 points) lead the Mammoth scorers. Then… a precipitous drop.

Nick Schmaltz, coming off his big extension, has been quieter than he has been most of the year. 1 goal, 5 assists (6 points), he’s off quite a bit from his normal pace. Logan Cooley, returning from injury after the break, is second in scoring on the team (3 goals), but hasn’t had a lot of success finding linemates that can also score.

More needs to come from JJ Peterka as well, as his goal against Chicago was just his second since the break. Peterka’s hit 50 points in each of his last two seasons, but is still a ways away from getting to that level.

With the kid line reunited, Peterka, Cooley, and Guenther all need to work on that chemistry so Guenther’s success isn’t only limited to time with Keller.

Penguins in cages The Utah Mammoth, in 2025-26, are a top 5 team with team defense. For the year, they’ve given up just 2.79 goals a game. This is a far cry from the team last year, as the Utah Hockey Club ranked 17th overall, giving up more than 3.

The past three weeks the Mammoth have ranked 17th overall in goals against. When Utah struggled in November, they were giving up more than 3 goals a game, scoring just about 2 and a half. They fell well out of playoff contention during that stretch. The concern is that March Mammoth are also trending in a similar way – less than 2.5 goals a game, giving up 3.

While this is attributed in part to both Mikhail Sergachev’s injury to both offensive and defensive numbers, as well as some line chemistry adjustments adding MacKenzie Weegar, it’s still a concern. Sean Durzi is playing terribly lately. He’s turning the puck over a ton, making bad reads, and his plus/minus (again, grain of salt) is a team worst -6. Even with a solid defenseman like MacKenzie Weegar, Durzi has massively struggled.

Ian Cole has likewise struggled, in large part to Durzi’s play on that line. Cole is quite a but slower than Sergachev, so mistakes by Durzi are harder for Cole to adjust to. Cole, +20 on the year with a rotating third line pairing, is -3 in his past few games.

The Mammoth need to shore up their defensive problems, and do so quickly. Gifted to face a slower, less potent Pittsburgh offense without two of their top franchise players, the Mammoth need to make that turn around tonight. Lock Pittsburgh down to fewer than 3 goals – ideally fewer than 2 – and let Karel Vejmelka get back his confidence and return to his winning ways.

Projected Lineups:
No lineup changes as far as we can tell from morning skate.

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 — Mikhail Sergachev
Nate Schmidt — John Marino
Ian Cole — Sean Durzi

Karel Vejmelka
Vitek Vanecek

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

TUSKS UP!