The Week Ahead: Mar. 30-Apr. 5

The Utah Mammoth have a two-game road trip this week to kick off April. It’s the final month of the regular season and Utah has eight games left. Let’s take a look at the storylines surrounding the Mammoth!

Main Storylines – Utah

• Utah enters the week in the first wild card spot with 82 points. Saturday’s 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings helped Utah create more distance between several teams trailing the Mammoth in the standings.

• After his two-goal performance against the Kings, center Logan Cooley became the sixth skater on Utah’s roster to score 20 or more goals. The Mammoth are tied with the Vegas Golden Knights for the league lead in this category.

• Utah’s power play is on a three-game scoring streak and has five power play goals over that span. Cooley has scored two of those after he moved up to the top power play unit.

• Last week, Utah signed two of its prospects to entry-level contracts. On Mar. 23, forward Caleb Desnoyers signed his ELC while two days later, goaltender Michael Hrabal signed his. Desnoyers remains with his junior team, the Moncton Wildcats, for the playoffs. Hrabal reported to the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) on a professional try-out, and secured an 4-2 win over the Ontario Reign in his professional debut. Hrabal stopped 22 of the 24 saves he faced.

• It’s a lighter week for the Mammoth with only two games on the docket. Up first, a game against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday before a game against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

Injury Updates – Utah 

• F Barrett Hayton – upper-body, week-to-week

Let’s take a look at this week’s matchups!

UTAH VS SEATTLE

APR. 2 | 8:00 P.M. MT

WATCH: ESPN+, Hulu

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

This is the third and final game between Utah and Seattle this season. The Mammoth won the first two games. On Dec. 12, Utah beat Seattle, 5-3 and on Jan. 17, the Mammoth beat the Kraken, 6-3.

Season Series

• Dec. 12: SEA vs UTA – Game Recap

• Jan. 17: SEA vs UTA – Game Recap

• Apr. 2: UTA vs SEA

Main Storylines – Seattle 

• Seattle enters the week looking to fight its way back into a playoff spot. As of Monday, the Kraken are two points behind the Nashville Predators for the second wild card spot, with two games in hand. The Kraken are seven points behind the Mammoth (WC1).

• The Kraken are on a three-game points streak and have two shootout losses and one overtime win over that span. 

• With 43 goals this year, Seattle’s defensemen have scored the seventh-most goals in the NHL. Vince Dunn leads the d-core with 11 goals and leads the Kraken with 30 assists.

• Seattle wraps up a six-game road trip in Edmonton on Tuesday before returning home for a two-game homestand. The Kraken’s second game of the week is against the Mammoth on Thursday. The team wraps the week on Saturday against Chicago Blackhawks.

Injury Updates – Seattle 

• F Jaden Schwartz – face, sidelined indefinitely

• F Shane Wright – undisclosed

• F Ryan Winterton – leave of absence, family matter

UTAH VS VANCOUVER

APR. 4 | 5:00 P.M. MT

WATCH: Mammoth+, Utah16

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

This is the third and final game between Utah and Vancouver this season. The Mammoth have a 2-0-0 series lead heading into Saturday’s game. On Dec. 5, Utah beat Vancouver, 4-1. On Feb. 2, the Mammoth secured a 6-2 win over the Canucks.

Season Series

• Dec. 5: UTA vs VAN – Game Recap

• Feb. 2: VAN vs UTA – Game Recap

• Apr. 4: UTA vs VAN

Main Storylines – Vancouver 

• Vancouver enters the week with four games on the schedule. The Canucks start their week in Vegas with a Monday matchup against the Golden Knights. Wednesday, Vancouver starts a road back-to-back. First, the Canucks will face the Colorado Avalanche before traveling to Minnesota to take on the Wild. The week wraps up with Saturday’s afternoon game against the Mammoth.

• There are 10 games left for Vancouver this season as the Canucks were eliminated from the playoff contention on Mar. 22. 

• The Canucks are on a five-game losing skid and their last win was on Mar. 17 against the Florida Panthers (W, 5-2).

• There are seven players on the Canucks’ roster with 10 or more goals. Entering the week, Brock Boeser and Drew O’Connor are tied for the team-lead with 17 goals each.

Injury Updates – Vancouver 

• F Filip Chytil – face, IR

• D Derek Forbort – undisclosed, IR

• G Thatcher Demko – hip, IR