Utah's Road Trip Continues in Nashville

THE DETAILS

WHO: Utah (0-1-0) at Nashville (1-0-0)

WHEN: Oct. 11, 2025 – 6 p.m. MT

WHERE: Bridgestone Arena

TV: Utah16, Mammoth+

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

MORNING SKATE TAKEAWAYS

The Mammoth had a full morning skate in Nashville after a day off on Friday. Utah will keep the same lineup as Game 1, so expect forward Michael Carcone and defenseman Nick DeSimone to be out of the lineup tonight. Forwards Liam O’Brien and Barrett Hayton continued to practice but neither participated in line rushes or special teams reps.

Here's how the team lined up against Colorado in Game 1:

Keller - McBain - Schmaltz
Peterka - Cooley - Guenther
Crouse - Stenlund - Yamamoto
Tanev - Agozzino

Sergachev - Marino
Schmidt - Durzi
Cole - Simashev
Määttä

Here’s the team’s power play units from skate:

PP1: Sergachev, Guenther, Cooley, Keller, Schmaltz

PP2: Peterka, Schmidt, Yamamoto, Durzi, McBain

Building Off Game 1

The Mammoth had a solid first game of the year especially with their defensive effort. Defenseman Nate Schmidt discussed this following morning skate:

“I think our back pressure makes a big difference. I think our defense through all training camp, we really talked about being connected and (working) together and doing things so we can allow ourselves to have good gap, because that’s really what it comes down to, especially in this league. If you can eliminate (that) time and space in the neutral zone, we can get on offense.”

The next step for building off of Game 1? A stronger first period. Defenseman Sean Durzi explained the focus on the opening 20 minutes and producing a full 60-minute effort:

“Probably just playing the full 60. I know a lot of guys who aren’t happy with the first 20 in the start, but the response is good. A lot of good things to build off of. I think if we can figure out a way to bring that effort to the (full) 60 minutes, we’ll have success.”

Facing the Predators

Head coach André Tourigny gave a scouting report on the challenges Nashville brings to this game:

“Really strong in front of the net and both sides. Really good on the offensive zone, forecheck, they have a good stick, they create a lot off their forecheck, they’re heavy, they have really good stick. So will be important to be good on our breakout, to be smart on our breakout, and to be really hard in front of our net."

They Said It

“Honestly, he's been amazing. Again last game, he was super reliable and did everything he had to do. He made good plays with the puck. He was on the right side of the puck all night long and never in trouble. Super reliable and easy to play with. He's predictable and doesn't ad lib during the games so (I'm) really happy about his play right now.”

-Tourigny on forward Andrew Agozzino’s play

THE PREVIEW

Saturday’s Storylines:

Utah

• Utah enters its second game of the regular season looking for its first win after the Mammoth came up short with a 2-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. Forward Dylan Guenther’s power play goal was Utah’s lone goal in the loss.
• There were plenty of positives from the Mammoth’s game against the Avalanche including a strong defensive effort in the second period that kept Colorado from registering a shot on goal until the final six minutes of the middle frame.
• The Mammoth are still without center Barrett Hayton and forward Liam O’Brien. They’ve had other players step in, including forward Andrew Agozzino who played in Thursday’s season opener.
• Speaking of Agozzino, Thursday was his first NHL game since Mar. 28, 2023. It was a full circle moment as the forward made his NHL debut at Ball Arena on Nov. 22, 2014, as a member of the Colorado Avalanche.
• Rookie defenseman Dmitri Simashev made his NHL debut against Colorado. The blueliner primarily played with veteran defenseman Ian Cole. Simashev played 14:25 and had two shots, one block, and one hit in the game. Read more about his journey here!
• Saturday’s game is the second of three straight on the road to kick off the 2025-26 campaign.

Nashville

• Nashville started the 2025-26 season with a 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Michael Bunting and Ryan O’Reilly (PPG) scored in the win. Goaltender Juuse Saros stopped all but one of the 39 shots he faced.
• Rookie forward Brady Martin made his NHL debut for the Predators on Thursday. The fifth-overall pick in the 2025 Draft played 12:44 in his first game.
• The Predators are mostly healthy with only defenseman Nicolas Hague on injured reserve. Forward Matthew Wood was on the IR; however, Nashville assigned him to Milwaukee on Friday.
• Saturday is the end of a two-game homestand to start the season. Following this weekend’s game, Nashville heads out on a four-game road trip with stops in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, and Winnipeg.

By the Numbers:

• Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka’s next game will be his 200th in the NHL. This is Vejmelka’s fifth season in the league.
• Captain Clayton Keller leads Utah with 27 points (8G, 19A) through 21 career regular-season games against Nashville (per Utah PR).
• Forward Dylan Guenther has scored the first goal in each of Utah’s two seasons.
• Predators goaltender Juuse Saros is in his 10th NHL season, all with the Predators. He is eight starts away from 400 career NHL starts.

Facing the Predators:

• This is the first of four games between the Mammoth and Predators this season. Both teams will host two of those contests.

Season Series:

• Oct 11: UTA at NSH
• Dec 29: UTA vs NSH
• Jan 24: UTA at NSH
• Apr 9: UTA vs NSH

Upcoming Schedule:

• Oct 13: UTA at CHI
• Oct 15: UTA vs CGY – Home Opener
• Oct 17: UTA vs SJS