Utah Drops Split Squad Games to Colorado

The Utah Mammoth faced the Colorado Avalanche in split squad games on Sunday to kick off the 2025-26 preseason. Full recaps of both games are below.

GAME 1: MAGNESS ARENA – DENVER CO – COL 5, UTA 1

In the first game, the Mammoth fell 5-1 to the Avalanche. Michael Carcone scored Utah’s only goal on the power play 11 minutes into the game.

“I liked our compete level, I think the theme of that game it was our youth, and our decision (making),” head coach André Tourigny shared post game. “We played good enough but we made costly mistakes and some of our play change up and puck management. That is normal with the age so I liked our effort and how we behaved out there. I think there was a lot of compete ... I like the fact how (our) guys fought.”

Things got going quickly in the first game as Utah’s Curtis Douglas and Colorado’s Keaton Middleton dropped the gloves in the opening two minutes. A minute later, Utah went on the power play and were inches away from the game’s opening goal. Tij Iginla’s shot got past Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood; however, Colorado forward Jack Drury cleared the puck out of the crease.

On the Mammoth’s second power play of the game, halfway through the first period, Michael Carcone followed up on his own rebound and scored the opening goal. This is the second straight year in which the veteran forward has scored Utah’s first goal of the preseason. Defensemen John Marino and Maveric Lamoureux were credited with assists.

Colorado switched goaltenders to start the second period with Isak Posch going in for Scott Wedgewood. 2:46 into the second period, the Mammoth were called for too many men and Colorado went back on the power play. This time, the Avalanche capitalized as Gavin Brindley scored and tied the game, 1-1.

Less than a minute later, Brindley scored his second goal of the game which gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead five minutes into the second period. 50 seconds later, Colorado continued their offensive push with their third goal Danil Gushchin’s tally increased the Avalanche’s lead to 3-1.

Colorado’s lead increased to 4-1 in the final two minutes of the middle frame when Tristen Nielsen scored off a feed from Gabriel Landeskog. Nielsen scored his second of the night 14 and a half minutes into the third period to secure the 5-1 win for Colorado.

Goaltender Matt Villalta played all 60 minutes against the Avalanche in game one. He stopped 28 of the 33 shots he faced.

GAME 2: BALL ARENA - DENVER, CO - COL 3, UTA 2

The Mammoth fell 3-2 in their second preseason game of the night. Daniil But and Sammy Walker each scored on the power play for Utah. Walker also had an assist on But’s goal. Lawson Crouse, Dmitri Simashev, and Miko Matikka also picked up assists.

“I think we played really good,” Tourigny reflected on Game 2. “I’m really happy about the way we played that game. I think the way we managed the game, the way we competed in that game, the mindset we had, we didn’t beat ourselves.”

Artturi Lehkonen opened the scoring with 2:01 left in the opening frame. Utah got on the board in the second period with Daniil But’s power play goal. After showing his stick skills, But drove to the middle of the ice and scored. His goal tied the game at 1-1. Lawson Crouse and Sammy Walker picked up assists.

“I played with great teammates,” But reflected on his first game. “It’s a pleasure and a big experience to play here but it’s only the first match. I have a lot of things to be better at.”

“I’m happy about (But),” Tourigny shared. “I think definitely his best day of the camp. Not just his goal, his game in general. He was at the net more, he was inside more, he was reliable, he played with a lot of pace. I liked his game a lot.”

Martin Necas scored his first preseason goal 8:20 in the middle frame. The forward capitalized off a Mammoth turnover in the neutral zone and put the Avalanche ahead 2-1.

Jaxson Stauber replaced Vítek Vaněček in net to start the third period. Vaněček played 40 minutes against the Avalanche. He stopped 13 of the 15 shots he faced.

Five and a half minutes into the final frame, the Mammoth went on the power play once again. Utah started with Gabe Smith, Miko Matikka, Sammy Walker, Dmitri Simashev, and Daniil But to give a different group a chance for some power play reps. Following, the Mammoth put back in the majority of their top power play unit to finish out the man-advantage.

After a hit on forward Logan Cooley, Associate Captain Lawson Crouse stood up for his teammate and fought Zakhar Bardakov, who threw the hit. His leadership in that moment shows why he wears a letter on his sweater.

“Unreal,” Tourigny shared on Crouse. “It’s fabulous to see him react that way and to show character. And even before the game, in terms of prep. I mentioned about us, we didn’t want to play an immature game, (we wanted to) manage the puck and grow in that sense as a team and he led the way so, really proud of him.”

In the final six minutes of the game, Sammy Walker tied the game at 2-2 with his first preseason goal of the year. However, less than a minute later, Colorado’s Brock Nelson scored to give the home team back their lead and secure the win. Utah lost the second game 3-2. Stauber played 19:17 in the loss and stopped all but one of the six shots he faced in the third period.

Up next, the Mammoth will travel to Anaheim, California to face the Ducks on Monday night. Game time is 8 p.m. MT.