MORNING SKATE NOTES
- Utah held a full morning skate on Wednesday.
- The First Round is a best of three series entering Game 5.
- Head coach André Tourigny gave an injury update on center Barrett Hayton following skate.
Day-to-Day
Hayton is making progress with his upper-body injury. Following morning skate, in which he was a full participant, Tourigny gave an update on Hayton’s status.
“He’s day-to-day,” Tourigny explained. “He’s close, He’ll probably do the warmup, he’s getting there but no, he’s not supposed to (play).”
Starting Strong
Utah is focused on having a strong start in Game 5. Vegas has started games well in recent games. The Mammoth are focused on taking back some of that momentum and asserting their strong play early.
“I think they’ve done a pretty good job over the last two games of just starting the game off the right way,” defenseman Nate Schmidt explained. “I think we’d like to take a little bit of that momentum back and have it, especially in a loud building like we have at home and like they have here.”
Speedy and simple, two areas of focus for the Mammoth during the game, and the first period in particular. Forward Dylan Guenther and Tourigny discussed what Utah needs to do in Game 5.
“Simple early allows our legs to get into it and take over,” Guenther said on what the team does when they have strong starts. “It’s a little bit of the mental intensity to some things, some nonnegotiable (things). But I feel like when we are simple early and get our legs into it, it’s a good spot for us to start.”
"I think there's a level of intensity right from the get-go,” Tourigny shared. “It's important for us to be able to skate and exploit our speed and win battles, which that opens up some plays for us and loosen up the game a little bit. I think they play a playoff style of hockey and in order to do that, you need to be at the best in your own quality."
Enjoy the Ride
To make it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it takes plenty of hard work and sacrifice. Now that the Mammoth are there, it’s important to take a second to appreciate reaching this stage of the season and the fun experience.
"I'm loving it. It's great,” Guenther explained. “It was a long game, a long night, a travel day, but when you look around and see the crowd, when you're skating around before the game and during the anthem, it's a lot of fun. You've worked hard to be here, so I think it's important to enjoy it because it's not like this is just a given. I think you've earned it and it's important got us to enjoy that."
The Buy-In
Throughout this series, Utah has increased its physicality. In Game 4, the Mammoth set a new single-game high in hits with 57. This beat the previous record (41) set in Game 3. In Game 4, forward Kailer Yamamoto and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar were tied for the team-lead with nine hits each. Having everyone out there bringing that physicality is necessary.
"That's just what happens this time of year,” Schmidt explained. “You have to be invested in that because if you're not, it shows up. With Yams (Yamamoto), I always tell him before we go, I walk out behind him every time, I always tell him to go get a couple licks in just because he's a feisty little fella. He can really surprise guys with how sturdy he is. That makes a different from your team when you have guys like him that are getting into it. Those are some big numbers. That's impressive I hope they continue that tonight."
