^{Another familiar face in the opposing lineup today in Beantown}

It occurred to me last night that more than half of the teams we’ve played this past week have contained former Mammoth players. Ian Cole with the Chicago Blackhawks. Sean Durzi with the NY Rangers. Nick Bjugstad with the NJ Devils (though out on LTIR). While the Mammoth had no former friends playing in Columbus, tonight marks another team with Team Tusk ties.

JJ Peterka and his new team host the Mammoth at TD Garden in Boston. Andrew Peeke, meanwhile, will have a chance to reacquaint himself with the area in his first game back in Massachusetts.

Peterka was acquired by the Boston Bruins for 2 first round picks right before the 2026 draft. Peterka was a great pickup for Boston, adding needed secondary scoring to complement David Pastrnak and surprise breakout year by Morgan Geekie.

While Boston ended up making the playoffs, underlying statistics weren’t very good for the Bruins. Their 5 on 5 play was poor, with their expected goals for (xGF) well below the league average. The Bruins poor play was masked by highly efficient shooting percentages, especially from their top-heavy forwards. Buffalo exposed this weakness in the playoffs; containing the Pastrnak line was their key, as the other 3 lines produced a total of 4 goals in the 6 game series.

Defensively, and expected goals against (xGA) was well above the league average. Jeremy Swayman played lights out, placing in the top 10% of all goalies for saves in mid-range and high-danger chances against. He ended the year with an astonishing .924 save percentage at even strength play; he was a finalist, losing out to Andrei Vasilevskiy – but his overall underlying stats were actually better, and nearly top in the league. Swayman’s play kept Boston in games they otherwise should have lost.

This year, some of their woes continue, even with Peterka in the lineup. The Bruins have scored just 9 goals this year, and their 2.25 goals per game has them near the bottom of the league. To put that in perspective, the Mammoth have 8 power play goals in that same span. Boston’s power play, meanwhile, has been shut out in 10 attempts to start the season.

A large part of this is due to Charlie McAvoy’s continued suspension. McAvoy, not available for tonight’s game, is one of the better puck moving defensemen in the league. He’s also a great shutdown defender, a key staple on their penalty kill unit – a unit that’s running just 73% without him. Hampus Lindholm and Will Borgen lead the blue line on paper without McAvoy. They have held their own so far, with 3 points between them on an otherwise struggling offensive team. Nikita Zadorov splits top line minutes while his elbows remain a threat to opponents heads.

Swayman remains a top goaltender, posting a shutout against the NY Rangers, and already running a .914 save percentage. Their goals against average – even without McAvoy – remains right about league average.

Key points to secure a victory today:
Man oh man
Solving Jeremy Swayman early can put this game to bed for the Mammoth before it even starts. The Bruins are struggling offensively, so any deficit they find themselves in could feel insurmountable.

Swayman is the rock the team is pinning their hopes on to weather the storm until McAvoy returns. Swayman has been taking a bit of a beating, too, facing more shots than all but a few goalies so far this year.

Utah has been one of the best shooting volume teams in the NHL right now; the Mammoth have the most shot attempts in the NHL (by a decent margin, too!) and second most getting through, averaging 24 shots on net per game.

If Utah can keep up decent shot volume, and quality shots, they should be able to beat Swayman enough to outpace the Boston offense.

Gluten Free
While the Bruins offense still runs through Pastrnak, the Czech has not registered a goal yet this season. Covering his lack of production so far, rookie James Hagens and Peterka lead Boston with 2 goals each.

Pastrnak is still the heartbeat of the Bruins. The Peterka trade was a fairly big gamble on Don Sweeny’s part, as the speedy winger is supposed to complement the first line by offering a legitimate scoring threat on the 2nd line. However, Pastrnak’s top threat last year – Geekie – has been ice cold, and their center from last year – Pavel Zacha – was tasked with a line centering Peterka and Hagens.

The Bruins have broken up the Hagens – Zacha – Peterka line (the only one with significant scoring upside to date) in favor of last year’s Geekie – Zacha – Pastrnak line. That line had tremendous success last year, and the Mammoth need to focus on that trio.

With their best scoring line scattered across two other lines, Boston’s scoring depth has been spread thin. Since Utah rolls 4 really solid lines, they should be able to limit too much damage elsewhere so focusing their shutdown attention on the top line forces the other 3 Bruins lines to match up against a superior Utah line.

Moah Powah
Special teams have been night and day for the Bruins and Mammoth. The Mammoth just gave up their first PPG this season on a 5 on 3, and remain perfect 5 (and 6) on 4. Meanwhile, the Bruins penalty kill is struggling without key players mentioned above.

The Bruins also have been unable to score with the man advantage this year. Meanwhile, Utah continues to lead the NHL with 8PPGs and a staggering 61.5% efficiency. Their efficiency is tied with the efficiency of two teams’ penalty kills (LA Kings and Detroit). Take a minute to digest that insane fact.

Swayman is hard to beat, as noted above, but the Mammoth have been playing lights out a man up. Look for them to try and keep their hot streak going, taking advantage of a Boston team without their #1 defenseman, while looking to keep up their strong PK ways.

Projected Lineups:
Sebastian Cossa first off the ice tonight, tapping him as the likely starter. No other notes about changes to the lineup otherwise:

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

Early game tonight, so take off work early and head to your favorite viewing space. Puck drop at 5PM on SEG+ and Utah16.

TUSKS UP!