MORNING SKATE NOTES
- Utah held an optional morning skate ahead of the Mammoth’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
- Head coach André Tourigny shared that forward Kevin Stenlund is a game-time decision.
- Thursday is the front half of a back-to-back.
Optional Skate
After a full team practice on Wednesday, the Mammoth held an optional morning skate on Thursday. The following players were in attendance.
Forwards: Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, Jack McBain, Kailer Yamamoto, Kevin Stenlund, Brandon Tanev, Liam O’Brien
Defensemen: MacKenzie Weegar, Nick DeSimone, Mikhail Sergachev
Goaltenders: Karel Vejmelka, Vítek Vaněček
Generating Against Pressure
Utah had a strong team win against the Dallas Stars to start the road trip and were able to score six goals against one of the best defenses in the NHL. When the Mammoth are able to generate, it often starts with the team stacking one strong shift after another. When Utah plays their game and doesn’t push its game, it leads to success.
“The less we’re looking for it, the more it’ll happen,” Tourigny explained. “When we don’t force the game, we keep our simplicity, and we’re just consistent shift after shift, the opportunity happens, you’re ready, your mind’s at the right place. When you start forcing it, when you have an opportunity, you’re trying to put a little bit too much on it, you put a little bit too much weight on your stick, and that is where you’re not as opportunistic.”
As the games get tighter and physicality increases, it’s more challenging to generate opportunities and capitalize on those chances. Center Logan Cooley discussed what the team needs to do to score.
“Especially this time of year I think everything is so hard to come by,” Cooley said. “Games tighten up so much, there’s not a lot of room out there. I think a lot of it is just right in front of the net, tips, different screens, (things) like that. Just putting pucks to different areas to get it back and it’s all about physicality now too. I think everyone is so tight and there’s not a lot of room out there. So, you have to make ways to get the puck back and make sure we’re getting in front of the net and that’s how we’re going to get in our chances.”
Staying Strong in the Third
During tight games, Utah has learned what it takes to defend leads and stay strong against an opponent’s push, especially in the third period. Maintaining a simple and connected game in the final frame is important against Vegas as the Golden Knights are tied for the league lead in third period goals (90). Tourigny explained how Utah needs to play in the final 20 minutes and what to avoid.
“The trap for us is to become a little bit passive when we protect the lead,” Tourigny shared. “So, we want to keep the same aggressiveness, the same aggression in our game, the same speed. So that’s the goal.”
The Mammoth can use their recent success against the Dallas Stars as an example of sticking to the game plan and holding strong against teams in the final frame. Especially as games get more competitive in the final stretch of the regular season.
“At this point in the season, every game is so important, and we had a few games slip there that we should have won,” Cooley reflected. “Playing a team like Dallas, we knew what to expect. They’re in the playoffs every year, unbelievable team, tough to play against, and we knew what to expect and how we should play. I think we came out and delivered.”
Facing the Golden Knights
Here’s what Tourigny had to say about the Mammoth’s opponent tonight:
“They’re strong physically, they target the slot a lot. We’ll need to be good in our slot coverage, and the challenge is physically there. They’re strong physically so we need to make sure we exploit our speed.”
