Utah Ends Back-to-Back in Detroit

THE DETAILS

WHO: Utah (16-16-3) vs Detroit (19-12-3)

WHEN: Dec. 17, 2025 – 5:30 p.m. MT

WHERE: Little Caesars Arena

TV: TNT, truTV, HBO Max

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

MORNING SKATE NOTES

• Head coach André Tourigny’s shared that Nick DeSimone goes back into the lineup while Olli Määttä comes out. The team is using their depth at defense with the back-to-back.
• There are no other lineup changes.

Bouncing Back

As the Mammoth look to bounce back from a loss on Tuesday night, the team will look to build off the strong start they had.

“We played a really strong first period,” Tourigny said of yesterday’s strong start. “We were playing with pace, we had good net front presence, we were doing the right thing. We need to be able to sustain and weather the storm sometimes.”

“Put a lot of pressure on them,” Kevin Stenlund said of tonight’s goals. “Start with getting the puck deep and go from there. That and be more persistent in our game.”

Penalty Kill Success

Utah will face the eighth-best power play in the NHL tonight; however, the Mammoth have the fifth-best penalty kill. The Mammoth’s PK units are full of veterans who bring plenty of experience and pride to killing off penalties.

“A lot of communication, a lot of pride in what they’re doing,” Tourigny on the team’s penalty kill. “When I talk about ownership, they take a lot of pride in doing the job on the PK and they know it’s a really important mission, so I think they’re giving a lot of momentum to our team.”

THE PREVIEW

Tonight’s Matchup

Utah

• Utah enters Wednesday’s game on the second half of a back-to-back. The Mammoth are 16-16-3 this season and 4-6-0 in their last 10 games. Currently Utah is fourth in the Central Division with 35 points through 35 games played.
• The Mammoth’s most recent game was a 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.
  • Barrett Hayton’s power play goal in the first period opened the scoring; however, Boston would go on to score four unanswered goals.
  • Vítek Vaněček stopped 19 of the 23 shots he faced.
• Dylan Guenther’s 15 goals lead the team while Nick Schmaltz’s 30 points are a team-high. Schmaltz, Clayton Keller, and Mikhail Sergachev are tied for the team-lead with 18 assists.
• Karel Vejmelka will likely play against the Red Wings as Vaněček started last night. Vejmelka has a 14-9-2 record with a 2.78 goals against average and a .893 save percentage.
• Utah returns home for two more games at Delta Center and one game in Colorado before the holiday break.

Detroit

• Detroit enters Wednesday’s game also on the second half of a back-to-back. The Red Wings are 19-12-3 this season and 6-2-2 in their last 10 games. Currently Detroit is first in the Atlantic Division with 41 points through 34 games.
• The Red Wings most recent game was a 3-2 win over the New York Islanders.
  • New York had a 1-0 lead for over 25 minutes before Detroit pushed back in the third period to win the game.
  • Alex DeBrincat scored twice while Axel Sandin-Pellikka also had a goal in the win.
  • John Gibson stopped 16 of the 18 shots he faced.
• DeBrincat’s 20 goals are a team-high as are his 39 points. Lucas Raymond’s 27 assists are the most on the Red Wings.
• With Gibson playing in Tuesday’s game, it’s likely Cam Talbot will get the start on Wednesday. Talbot has a 9-5-2 record with a 3.01 goals against average and a .885 save percentage.
• Wednesday is the final game on a two-game homestand. The Red Wings will travel to Washington D.C. to face the Capitals Saturday afternoon.

By the Numbers

• Kevin Stenlund won 12 of 17 faceoffs against the Boston Bruins which is the sixth time this season that he’s finished with a 70%+ faceoff win percentage in a game (per Mammoth PR).
• With Tuesday’s power play goal, the Mammoth have a tally on the man-advantage in four of their last five road games (per Mammoth PR).
• DeBrincat (20G, 19A in 34 GP) is the fastest Red Wings player to 20 goals in a single season since Henrik Zetterberg in 2007-08 (21G, 19 in 28 GP) (per Red Wings). The forward is also the first Detroit player to score 20 goals in each of his first three seasons with the franchise since Brendan Shanahan (NHL PR).

Against Detroit This Season

• This is the first of two games between Utah and Detroit this season. This is also the only game in Michigan this year.

Season Series

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

Upcoming Schedule

• Dec. 19: NJD vs UTA
• Dec. 21: WPG vs UTA
• Dec. 23: UTA vs COL