The Week Ahead: Dec. 15-21

The Utah Mammoth enter the final full week of games before the holiday break with some momentum on their side. Let’s take a look at the storylines surrounding the team!

Main Storylines – Utah

• Utah enters the final week before the holiday break on a roll with two-straight wins. The Mammoth beat the Seattle Kraken (5-3) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (5-4 OT) in their most recent games.
• As of Monday morning, Dylan Guenther is on a four-game goal streak (5G) and the forward has scored some key goals for the Mammoth this season. In addition to being tied for the league-lead in overtime goals (3) and game-winning goals (5) in the 2025-26 campaign, his nine go-ahead tallies trail only Cole Caufield (MTL: 10) (per Mammoth PR).
• The Mammoth’s special teams units have stepped up in recent games. Utah’s power play has scored five goals in their last seven games, including in back-to-back games. The Mammoth’s penalty kill has been consistent all season. As of Monday, Utah has killed off 83.9% of their penalties which is seventh-best in the league.
• Last Thursday, General Manager Bill Armstrong announced that forward Logan Cooley is “expected to miss a minimum of eight weeks with a lower-body injury.” The forward is second in on the team with 14 goals and fifth on the team with 23 points.
• Forward Alexander Kerfoot and defenseman Juuso Välimäki both have participated in recent practices in non-contact jerseys.

Injury Updates – Utah

• F Logan Cooley – lower-body injury, out minimum eight weeks
• F Alexander Kerfoot – lower-body, IR
• D Juuso Valimaki – lower-body, injured non-roster
• G Anson Thorton – lower-body, injured non-roster

Let’s take a look at the upcoming matchups for the Mammoth this week.

UTAH AT BOSTON

DEC 16 | 5:00 P.M. MT

WATCH: Utah16, Mammoth+

LISTEN: KSL Sports Zone (97.5FM/1280AM), KSL Sports App, NHL App, NHL.com

This is the second of two games between the Mammoth and Bruins this season. In the first game, Utah’s top players stepped up and Vítek Vaněček’s solid performance led the Mammoth to a 3-2 win.

Season Series

• Oct. 19: BOS vs UTA – Game Recap
• Dec. 16: UTA vs BOS

Main Storylines – Boston

• Boston enters the week with a 6-4-0 record in their last ten games and four wins in their last six contests. The Bruins are fourth in the Atlantic Division with 38 points and are in the second wild card spot in the east.
• Morgan Geekie is off to a strong start this season. Through 33 games he has 22 goals, which is the second most goals in the NHL. He’s second on the Bruins with 35 points.
• The Bruins are a top-10 team when it comes to scoring. Currently, Boston is averaging 3.24 goals per game which is ninth-best in the NHL. Part of their scoring comes from their sixth-best power play, which has capitalized on 25.5% of their opportunities.
• Boston will start a five-game homestand with Tuesday night’s game against the Utah Mammoth.

Injury Updates – Boston

• F Viktor Arvidsson – lower-body
• F Matej Blumel – lower-body, IR
• D Jonathan Aspirot – upper-body
• D Michael Callahan – lower-body, IR
• D Henri Jokiharju – undisclosed, IR
• D Jordan Harris – ankle, IR

UTAH AT DETROIT

DEC 17 | 5:00 P.M. MT

WATCH: TNT, truTV, HBO Max

LISTEN: KSL Sports Zone (97.5FM/1280AM), KSL Sports App, NHL App, NHL.com

This is the first of two games between the Mammoth and the Red Wings this season.

Season Series

• Dec. 17: UTA vs DET
• Feb. 4: DET vs UTA

Main Storylines – Detroit

• Detroit enters the week second in the Atlantic Division with 39 points. They have a 5-3-2 record in their last 10 games.
• Alex DeBrincat is having a strong season for the Red Wings. He leads the team in goals (18) and points (37) through the first 33 games of the year. His 18 goals are tied for eighth-most in the NHL.
• The Red Wings have the ninth-best power play in the NHL (22.3%) and the eighth-best faceoff wins percentage (51.7%). Captain Dylan Larkin’s 54.7% win rate is 25th in the league.
• When Detroit hosts Utah, they’ll be on the second half of a home back-to-back after hosting the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.

Injury Updates – Detroit

• F Mason Appleton – lower-body, IR

UTAH VS NEW JERSEY

DEC 19 | 7:00 P.M. MT

WATCH: Utah16, Mammoth+

LISTEN: KSL Sports Zone (97.5FM/1280AM), KSL Sports App, NHL App, NHL.com

This is the first of two games between the Mammoth and the Devils this season.

Season Series

• Dec. 19: NJD vs UTA
• Jan. 3: UTA vs NJD

Main Storylines – New Jersey

• New Jersey is sixth in the Metropolitan Division with 37 points. The team is 3-7-0 in their last ten games; however, the Devils are just one point out of a wildcard spot (as of Monday).
• The Devils have struggled with injuries this season and currently are down multiple significant players like Jack Hughes (finger), Simon Nemec (lower-body), and Brett Pesce (upper-body). New Jersey’s current injury list stands at nine players as of Monday morning.
• New Jersey’s power play has scored on 21.4% of its opportunities which is 11th best in the NHL.
• When the Devils visit the Mammoth, it’ll be the second of two games on a quick western road trip. New Jersey’s first stop is Vegas on Wednesday.

Injury Updates – New Jersey

• F Arseni Gritsyuk – upper-body
• F Jack Hughes – finger
• F Evgenii Dadonov – wrist, IR
• F Marc McLaughlin – undisclosed, IR
• F Zack MacEwen – upper-body, IR
• F Timo Meier – personal leave
• D Simon Nemec – lower-body
• D Brett Pesce – upper-body, IR
• D Jonathan Kovacevic – knee, LTIR

UTAH VS WINNIPEG

DEC 21 | 5:00 P.M. MT

WATCH: Utah16, Mammoth+

LISTEN: KSL Sports Zone (97.5FM/1280AM), KSL Sports App, NHL App, NHL.com

This is the second of three games between the Mammoth and Jets this season, and the first of two at Delta Center. In the first game, Guenther’s goal in the third period led the Mammoth to a 3-2 win over the Jets in Winnipeg.

Season Series

• Oct. 26: UTA vs WPG – Game Recap
• Dec. 21: WPG vs UTA
• Apr. 14: WPG vs UTA

Main Storylines – Winnipeg

• Entering the week, Winnipeg is sixth in the Central Division and four points out of a wild card spot. The Jets are 3-6-1 in their last ten games; however, the team snapped a three-game losing skid with a win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
• The trio of Gabriel Vilardi, Mark Scheifele, and Kyle Connor are the heart of Winnipeg’s offense.

• Vilardi and Scheifele are tied for the team-lead with 16 goals each, while Connor was one tally behind them at 15. Scheifele and Connor are tied for the team-lead with 40 points through 31 games played (as of Monday).
• Connor has seven assists in the last five games while Vilardi has five goals in that span (as of Monday).

• Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is back from a knee injury that sidelined the starting goaltender for a month. His first game back was a 5-1 win over the Washington Capitals. Hellebuyck stopped 24 of the 25 shots he faced in the win for a save percentage of .960.
• When the Jets face the Mammoth in Salt Lake City, it’ll be the final game of a three-game road trip.

Injury Updates – Winnipeg

• D Haydn Fleury – concussion, IR