^{The Mammoth look to continue their undefeated road record in Columbus}

The Utah Mammoth enter tonight’s game in slightly familiar territory. Last year, in October, Utah occupied the top spot in the Central Division. Today, Utah is in position to take top spot in the conference… though it’s a tenuous lead one game in.

Tonight, Team Tusk makes their way through Ohio, the grey crayon of states, to play the tied-for-second-place Blue Jackets. Columbus has been a team in transition and turmoil for some time, however this hasn’t left them listless. They’ve been competitive enough in a mushy-middle Eastern Division, where a wildcard continues to be tantalizingly close.

After a crushing end to their 2025 season, the Blue Jackets had some big questions for big names this offseason. Adam Fantilli was in the wind for months, until he signed a long-term contract extension right before the season started. Trade speculation surrounded Zack Werenski for months, though he remains for now. Kirill Marchenko explicitly told management he would not sign a long-term extension, and ultimately got shipped to division rival, Toronto, for Matthew Knies. Boone Jenner, the Blue Jackets captain, sailed the free agent seas to land in the swamps of Washington DC. Elvis Merzlikins is no longer with the franchise after 7 years backstopping them.

Still, they prevail. The team has decided to collectively run themselves, foregoing a captaincy this year so far. Matthew Knies immediately took control of his new fate, potting two goals in his debut. Jet Greaves no longer split time with Merzlikins and was tasked with the starting goaltender role, stopping 23 of 26 shots, but kept the Sabres off the scoresheet on every penalty kill situation (including a 5 on 3).

Notably, the biggest weakness in Columbus’ game the previous few years was a strength against the Atlantic’s top seed, going 2 for 3 on the power play, along with the perfect penalty kill rate mentioned above.

Despite the win, Columbus showed vulnerability on the blue line due to the absence of Ivan Provorov. Provorov had never missed an NHL game over 10 years until being put on IR from his first NHL sidelining injury. As a result, the shuffle on the blue line caused some confusion and disarray. Ultimately, though, the Blue Jackets outlasted the Sabres for a 6-3 victory.

Game Preview:
Despite writing about the weakness to their defensive game above, the strength of the Blue Jackets team has remained their defensive play. Zach Werenski remains one of the best defensemen in the NHL, and his pairing with Denton Mateychuk proved effective in Buffalo.

The depth, however, is suspect. Columbus gave Carson Soucy a contract after Provorov’s injury. Soucy, having previously played for both the New York Rangers and Islanders, is a solid defenseman who eats shots and throws hits. However, his best role is in a bottom pair, so increased minutes could prove a bit difficult, especially if Columbus falls behind. Soucy is not a very offensively minded player, who should not be relied on for goal support.

It’s no secret that the Marchenko could have massively disrupted the Blue Jackets offensively, but this hasn’t materialized yet. Offensively, the Knies – Fantilli – Kent Johnson line was fantastic, netting 3 goals in the opener. They show a balance similar to the newly formed Dylan Guenther – Logan Cooley – Anders Lee line, with size, speed, and a good shot. Unfortunately for Columbus, their offensive depth deteriorates rapidly from here.

Valeri Nichushkin, Sean Monahan, and Conor Garland make up the second unit for Columbus. Nichushkin, long time Colorado Avalanche winger, made his debut on Thursday, contributing a power play assist. Monahan, scoring that power play goal, hasn’t contributed more than 20 goals since before we knew what COVID was. Garland has barely hit 50 points twice in his career; once after being traded from the then Arizona Coyotes, and again with Vancouver before they fell off a cliff.

Cole Sillinger, Charlie Coyle, and Mathieu Olivier make an odd line. Coyle had a good campaign last year and Sillinger has a good future ahead of him, but Olivier is the outlier here. He does forecheck extremely well, and does so heavily. He’s definitely a fighter and defensively sound, but despite an early season empty net goal, he’s not known for his offensive… anything.

In net, Jet Greaves has proven to be a competent starter, with 33 wins and a sub 2.50 GAA the past two years. He stopped 25 of 27 shots against Utah back in March at the Delta Center, winning in overtime against ex-Mammoth Vitek Vanacek.

Key points to secure a victory today:
Jetlag
Jet Greaves is going to be an interesting test for the Mammoth. Utah matches up well against him this year. Greaves is a small goaltender for this era, standing just 6 feet tall. This makes him vulnerable in two areas – up high over the shoulders, and cross-ice passes. Since he’s smaller, he needs to play out of the net slightly more than larger goalies. This leaves the backdoor and cross-ice passes especially dangerous for him

An opportunistic Utah group that seems more than eager to eat the crease up can take full advantage. Look for Daniil But, Anders Lee, Vincent Trocheck and Barrett Hayton to play close to the crease for redirects and tips.

D-pleated
Columbus’ playoff hopes and future ride on their solid defensive corps. However, with the Provorov injury, the pairings have been thrown off a but. Buffalo was unable to take full advantage, but Utah is in the ideal spot for this.

Columbus was successful on the power play, but actually struggled hard on even strength. Utah, historically, is best when they are 5 on 5. With the addition of Trocheck adding a speed element, the Mammoth can control a traditional style of speed and finesse at a higher level than last year.

Much of the defense for Columbus is played with a slower heavier game. If the Mammoth are drawn into this sort of a battle, a heavier presence with Lee, Trocheck, a bigger and meaner Daniil But, means the Mammoth can actually match up and take Columbus’ style of play to them in their own house. Look for them to take advantage in either of these two ways.

Fantilli Lace
The pretty bow on Columbus is Adam Fantilli. The Jackets offense lives and dies with the top line, and Adam Fantilli is – at least until proven otherwise – the heart of that offense.

Knies is an amazing addition to the team offensively, and likely will be their best alternative scoring option. The Mammoth need to focus their attention on these two, as this pairing is the most likely to cause some damage on the scoreboard. They contributed to three of the 5 goalie-in-net goals, with a power play goal and 5 on 5 goal scored less than a minute apart to open a 2 goal lead in the first period.

Projected Lineups:
It’s projected by the NHL team that Cossa will start in net for us tonight. Let’s see how well Seabass does!

Clayton Keller — Nick Schmaltz — Vincent Trocheck
Anders Lee — Logan Cooley — Dylan Guenther
Jack McBain — Barrett Hayton — Lawson Crouse
Michael Carcone — Kevin Stenlund — Daniil But

Mikhail Sergachev — MacKenzie Weegar
Nate Schmidt — John Marino
Dmitri Simashev — Andrew Peeke

Cossa
Vejmelka

Game time 5 PM local. Game available on Utah16, and on SEG+, so we’ll get quality content from our crew again. Thank god…

TUSKS UP!