MORNING SKATE NOTES
- The Mammoth held an optional morning skate ahead of their game against the Edmonton Oilers.
- Head coach André Tourigny shared there would be some game time decisions ahead of tonight’s game.
Getting Ready
Utah has four games in six nights this week and the Mammoth held a full practice on Monday. On Tuesday, the team held an optional skate. Here’s who was in attendance:
Kevin Rooney, Kailer Yamamoto, Logan Cooley, Liam O’Brien, Alexander Kerfoot, Dylan Guenther, Sean Durzi, MacKenzie Weegar, Nick DeSimone, John Marino, Mikhail Sergachev, Dmitri Simashev, Karel Vejmelka, and Vítek Vaněček.
Facing the Oilers
Utah and Edmonton are two quick, talented teams and tonight’s contest is expected to be an exciting matchup. Both teams are also in the middle of a playoff push and are determined to get two points tonight.
The Mammoth want to improve on their performance from the last time these teams played each other on Mar. 24.
“Edmonton’s a team that (has played) really well lately,” Tourigny explained. “We didn’t like our last game against them so it’s a good opportunity for us to be back in front of our fans and have a strong showing against them and we’re in the thick of it. So, I’m excited about the challenge.”
The Oilers have veterans, depth, and all-star players on their roster. Edmonton Captain Connor McDavid is one of the best players in the NHL. To shut down him, and other key threats on the Oilers, it’ll take all five skaters on the ice.
“High-end generational players, it takes a unit of five,” defenseman Sean Durzi explained of shutting down opponent's top players. “Knowing that and going into games, obviously it’s got to be a focus for everyone. You can only work on matchups so much, there’s going to be times where everybody gets on the ice with high-end players, and it’s doing a job of knowing where they are on the ice, and then taking pride in shutting them down. It’s something that I think we’ve done a good job of and (being a) five-man unit, and going from there.”
“Those guys there, what they’re really good at is finding the open guy,” Tourigny shared. “If you put all your attention on them, they make you pay by finding the open guy. So, it’s really a job of five. There’s no miracle, or secret sauce, or anything. I think you need to get above them, you need to be hard on them, you need to cut their time and space. Need to have a good stick and great, great coverage. I think there’s a bunch of things you need to be good (at defending them) that’s what makes those guys some of the best players in the world.”
Offensive Output
Over their last three road games, Utah outscored their opponents 19-8. In addition, the Mammoth are on a five-game power play goals streak and have scored nine tallies on the man-advantage. Tourigny discussed Utah's offensive output.
"There's a bunch of things,” Tourigny said. “I think our power-play is one for sure. I think the way we play as a unit is another one. I think our defense often feeds our offense, when you create turnovers, you put traffic at the net, but it's the same old, same old for us. Simpler is better."
