^{Despite a loss to the Carolina Hurricanes yesterday, Utah still controls its WC1 fate}

Tonight is the second half of a back-to-back for the Utah Mammoth. Yesterday, the Mammoth lost at home to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first and only home game I’ll miss this season, so I guess that was a good one to be away from.

Calgary beat the Mammoth 2-0 in their last meeting up in the Saddledome all the way back in December. A goal against in the opening seconds was all it took, despite a very good goaltending outing by Vitek Vanecek.

Back in December, the Mammoth were coming off an abysmal November, falling from tops in the conference to 6th in point percentage. Meanwhile, Calgary had surged up from last place with points in 7 of their past 10 games. Both teams had a lot to still be hopeful for.

Fast forward to the last week of the regular season. Utah made it to the post season. Calgary’s been out of it in spirit since the Olympic break. The Mammoth are playing for WC1 – a win puts them there with Kings loss. The Flames are playing for pride and a shot to pick just a little later in the draft otherwise.

This is the first of a 3 game homestand for the Flames, who close out the season at home on Thursday vs. the Kings – a game that could potentially still impact the Mammoth.

Tonight is a special game for MacKenzie Weegar, returning to his home of the past nearly 4 years. Utah also gets a chance to say hi to old friend, Oli Maatta.

Game Preview:
Calgary doesn’t really have anything to play for, and it’s been fairly obvious since the start of April. 1-3-1 in their past 5 games, they won against the Anaheim Ducks 5-3 during the Ducks’ slide, and took Dallas to OT in Dallas, but have only scored 1 goal in each of their past 2 games. They’ve given up 3+ goals in each contest this month.

Morgan Frost is their sole 20 goal scorer this year, hitting the milestone with 3 goals in the last 5 games. Matvei Gridin, his winger, has performed well enough, with 3 assists in that span – a total of 4 points – and Joel Farabee rounds out an effective 2nd line that has overperformed for the Flames recently.

Utah alum Maatta has been a bright spot for Calgary, adding a lot of point production for a team that was struggling prior. His arrival has helped the Flames total scoring improve, though the defensive play has still been lacking.

The top 2 defensemen from the Flames have both moved on, with Weegar and Rasmus Andersson both traded this year. Since then, an already leaky defense went from giving up 3 goals per game to a shade under 4. The Flames have also given up 2+ shots more per game. Zayne Parekh remains a bright spot, but that’s for next year.

The Calgary goaltending situation since the start of the month has been shaky – a situation they’ve had most of the year. Dustin Wolf, tonight’s expected starter, has given up 4, 6, and 2 since his last win – surprisingly holding Colorado to just a pair of goals… in less than 10 minutes before being pulled. Wolf’s posting just .867 save percentage over those 3 and a 5.71GAA.

Devin Cooley hasn’t fared much better, though he did post a win and OTL point recently. However, he won’t likely be much of an issue unless Utah tries to put up a 9 spot against them like Colorado did the other day.

Key points to secure a victory today:
Maverick… but not Lamoureux
Dylan Guenther is now the “Top Gunner”, topping 40 goals as the first Utah player to hit that milestone. Now, he looks to pad that stat against a Calgary team that has been giving up nearly 4 goals a game. He should be able to take advantage of a weak goaltending situation, as well as more open shooting lanes.

Sima-check
The Calgary Flames have been going through the motions the past 3 games, despite having some strong showings earlier in the month. Dmitri Simashev didn’t have the most ideal game against the Hurricanes, but he played well enough for just his second game in 2026.

The game tonight should provide him a bit lighter of a matchup load, though likely still in sheltered minutes.

He got into a tilt late in the game after getting boarded by Charles Legault, which didn’t really amount to much, but it was his first NHL fight and shows that he’ll stand up for himself.

Having Simashev ramped up to be a fill-in for anyone come playoff times will only be a net benefit for the Mammoth. Ian Cole’s not the youngest player, and could do with a rest/maintenance day. Sean Durzi’s inconsistent play could require the team to look at a drastic option should things go sideways for the Mammoth in the playoffs.

Veg-zzz
Tonight, Vitek Vanecek plays the Flames for the second time this year. Last game, he had one goal against – early on from a massive defensive lapse in judgement. He’s played fairly well, though with a clunker or two since the calendar turned in January.

The biggest benefit, though, is highly overworked Karel Vejmelka will get a break tonight – albeit solely because of the back to back – but if Utah can clinch WC1, look for Vejmelka to get another game off before the end of the year.

Utah’s goaltending is one of the main focuses come playoffs. Vejmelka hasn’t been under the bright lights yet. His play will need to be top-notch, especially considering some of the high-scoring teams in the Pacific Division (or worse, against Colorado), so getting him mentally ready – and physically rested – is important.

Projected Lineups:
Marino still out, Simashev in for the 2nd straight:

Clayton Keller — Nick Schmaltz — Lawson Crouse
Kailer Yamamoto — Logan Cooley — Dylan Guenther
JJ Peterka — Alexander Kerfoot — Michael Carcone
Liam O’Brien — Kevin Stenlund — Brandon Tanev

Mikhail Sergachev — MacKenzie Weegar
Nate Schmidt — Dmitri Simashev
Ian Cole — Sean Durzi

Vanecek
Vejmelka

Game time 7PM local. Game available on Utah 16 and SEG+

TUSKS UP!