The Week Ahead: Mar. 9-15

The Utah Mammoth enter a busy week with four games over the seven days. The team starts the week with a back-to-back before returning home for a two-game homestand. Let’s take a look at the storylines surrounding the team.

Main Storylines – Utah

• Utah enters the week on a three-game win streak, and the Mammoth are finding different ways to win. Three of the Mammoth’s four games this week are divisional matchups. 

• On Wednesday last week, ahead of the trade deadline, Utah traded for defenseman MacKenzie Weegar. Weegar is a physical, puck moving defenseman who brings plenty of experience and leadership to the locker room.

• As of Monday morning, Utah is in the first wild card spot with 72 points. The Mammoth are fourth in the Central Division as well. 

• Utah’s goaltenders Karel Vejmelka and Vítek Vaněček both recorded their 100^th career NHL win in consecutive games. They are the first tandem to achieve this in league history. Vejmelka also became the first goaltender to 30 wins this season.

Injury Updates – Utah

• D Mikhail Sergachev – lower-body, day-to-day

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

UTAH AT CHICAGO & UTAH VS CHICAGO

MAR. 9 & MAR. 12 | 6:30 P.M. MT & 7:00 P.M. MT

WATCH: Utah16, Mammoth+

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

*Mar. 9 game on 1280AM only

Utah wraps up its season series with Chicago this week with a pair of games. The Blackhawks will host the third meeting on Mar. 9 while the Mammoth will host the fourth and final game on Mar. 12. 

The Blackhawks have won the first two games: a 3-1 win in October and a 4-0 win on Mar. 1.

Season Series

• Oct. 13: UTA vs CHI – Game Recap

• Mar. 1: CHI vs UTA – Game Recap

• Mar. 9: UTA vs CHI

• Mar. 12: CHI vs UTA

Main Storylines – Chicago

• Chicago is on a three-game losing skid; however, the team has picked up points in three of the last four games. Monday is the first of three games this week. The Blackhawks will host the Mammoth on Monday before the team goes on a two-game road trip. After facing Utah in Salt Lake on Thursday, Chicago will travel to Las Vegas to play the Golden Knights.

• The Blackhawks made several moves before the NHL’s trade deadline. The team traded Captain Nick Foligno to the Minnesota Wild, defenseman Connor Murphy, center Jason Dickinson and center Colton Dach to the Edmonton Oilers, and forward Aidan Thompson to the New York Rangers. In return for these moves, Chicago added forward Andrew Mangiapane and defenseman Derrick Pouliot to their roster and received a 2027 first-round pick, and a 2028 second-round pick.

• As of Monday, the Blackhawks are ten points out of the second wild card spot. Chicago is eighth in the Central Division.

Injury Updates – Chicago

• No current injured players

UTAH AT MINNESOTA

MAR. 10 | 6:00 P.M. MT

WATCH: Utah16, Mammoth+

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

This is the third and final game between the Mammoth and Wild this season. Utah won the first two meetings: a 6-2 win on Oct. 25 and a 5-2 win on Feb. 27.

Season Series

• Oct. 25: UTA vs MIN – Game Recap

• Feb. 27: MIN vs UTA – Game Recap

• Mar. 10: UTA vs MIN

Main Storylines – Minnesota

• Entering the week, Minnesota has points in three-straight games and is 7-2-1 in their 10 most recent games. It’s a busy week for the Wild who have a four-game homestand this week. After Minnesota hosts the Mammoth on Tuesday, the Wild will host three Eastern Conference teams: the Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs.

• The Wild made several moves ahead of the trade deadline. Minnesota added forwards Nick Foligno, Bobby Brink, Michael McCarron, Vinnie Hinostroza, and Robby Fabbri as well as defensemen Jeff Petry and Roman Schmidt.

• Minnesota is third in the Central Division with 85 points. They are 13 points ahead of the Mammoth, and securely in a playoff spot.

Injury Updates – Minnesota

• F Marcus Johansson – upper-body injury

• F Marcus Foligno – lower-body, week-to-week

UTAH VS PITTSBURGH

MAR. 14 | 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 second and final game between Utah and Pittsburgh this season. The Mammoth rallied from a three-goal third period deficit to beat the Penguins in overtime, 5-4.

Season Series

• Dec. 14: UTA vs PIT – Game Recap

• Mar. 14: PIT vs UTA

Main Storylines – Pittsburgh 

• As of Monday, Pittsburgh is second in the Metropolitan Division with 78 points, and in a playoff spot. The Penguins struggled last week with three-straight losses; however, the team bounced back with a 5-4 overtime win on Sunday to get back into the win column. 

• Pittsburgh starts a five-game road trip this week. The Penguins will face the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh to start and end the trip. In between, they’ll stop in Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and Denver.

• The Penguins only made one move ahead of the NHL trade deadline. Pittsburgh acquired forward Elmer Söderblom from the Detroit Red Wings.

Injury Updates – Pittsburgh 

• F Justin Brazeau – upper-body injury, day-to-day

• F Filip Hallander – leg, recalled from conditioning stint Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL)

• F Sidney Crosby – lower-body, IR

• F Evgeni Malkin – five-game suspension, expected return: Mar. 16

• D Jack St. Ivany – hand, IR

• D Caleb Jones – lower-body, conditioning loan to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton