Utah Starts Road Trip in Pittsburgh

THE DETAILS

WHO: Utah (15-15-3) vs Pittsburgh (14-8-8)

WHEN: Dec. 14, 2025 – 1:00 p.m. MT

WHERE: PPG Paints Arena

TV: Utah16, Mammoth+

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

MORNING SKATE NOTES

• Head coach André Tourigny shared there are no changes to the lineup.

Keep Building

Heading into today’s game, the Mammoth want to keep building off recent strong performances and continue to improve elements of their defensive game.

“I want to build off our performance against Seattle,” Tourigny explained. “I think we’re doing better work offensively. We have more net presence and we’re still making good plays with the puck, good skilled plays, our execution has improved. So, I want to build off that, but as well, we have stuff we’re looking defensively to keep growing, keep getting better. Sometimes our game management, sometimes its positioning, but we’re still looking to get better.”

Tourigny has seen the buy-in from the players as they work to improve and have better execution.

“We’re getting better,” Tourigny shared. “I think there’s a desire and willingness from our players to focus on the right thing and often when you simplify, you improve your execution. Then suddenly when the more complicated play happen, you’re in good shape mentally to execute.”

THE PREVIEW

Tonight’s Matchup

Utah

• As Utah enters Sunday’s matchup, the team is fresh off a Friday night win that snapped a three-game losing skid. The Mammoth are 15-15-3 this season and 3-7-0 in their last 10 games.
• The Mammoth had a strong team win over the Seattle Kraken.
  • Nick Schmaltz (1G, 2A) and Kevin Stenlund (3A) paced the team while Utah had eight players on the scoresheet. In addition to Schmaltz, Kailer Yamamoto, Dylan Guenther (PPG), JJ Peterka (EN), and Lawson Crouse scored (EN).
  • Utah scored on one of their two power plays and went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
  • Karel Vejmelka stopped 33 of the 36 shots he faced in his 13th win this season.
• Guenther and Logan Cooley (injured) are tied for the team-lead with 14 goals, while JJ Peterka is right behind them with 13 goals. Clayton Keller’s 18 assists are a team-high as are Schmaltz’s 29 points. Schmaltz and Mikhail Sergachev are tied for the second most assists on the team (17) while Keller is second in points (28).
• Vejmelka has a 13-9-2 record, a 2.73 goals against average, and a .896 save percentage. Vítek Vaněček has a 2-6-1 record with a 2.87 goals against average and a .878 save percentage.
• The Mammoth start a three-game road trip in Pittsburgh and will also travel to Boston and Detroit on this eastern swing.

Pittsburgh

• Pittsburgh is on the second half of a back-to-back for Sunday’s game. The Penguins are 14-8-8 and 4-2-4 in their last 10 games.
• The Penguins fell 6-5 in overtime to the San Jose Sharks in the first half of the back-to-back.
  • Pittsburgh had a 5-1 lead five and a half minutes into the third period; however, the Sharks would score four-unanswered goals in the third period to force overtime. In the extra frame, John Klingberg’s second of the game sealed the win for San Jose.
  • The Penguins scored three power play goals in the loss and had five different goal scorers: Sidney Crosby (PPG), Rutger McGroarty, Kevin Hayes, Bryan Rust (PPG), and Anthony Mantha (PPG).
  • Pittsburgh goaltender Arturs Silovs stopped 26 of the 32 shots he faced in the loss.
• Crosby’s 19 goals and 34 points are team-highs while Evgeni Malkin has the most assists on the roster with 21. Malkin also has the second-most points on the team with 29. Bryan Rust and Anthony Mantha are tied for the second-most goals on the Penguins with 10 each, while Erik Karlsson’s 20 assists are second to Malkin.
• Pittsburgh traded for goaltender Stuart Skinner on Friday and the netminder is going through the immigration process and was granted non-roster status. With Silovs playing in the front half of the back-to-back, Sergei Murashov might play in Sunday’s game. He was recalled on an emergency basis Saturday. Murashov has played only three NHL career games this season and has a 1-1-1 record. He has a 1.90 goals against average and a .913 save percentage.
• The Penguins will wrap up a five-game homestand on Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers.

By the Numbers

• Dylan Guenther scored his eighth go-ahead goal of the season in Friday’s win. He now trails only Cole Caufield (MTL: 10) and Bo Horvat (NYI:9) for most in the NHL. The forward has registered a team-high 11 points (6G, 5A) in his last 11 games dating back to 11/24 vs. VGK (per Mammoth PR).
• Utah’s power play has scored in four of the last six games (12/3-12/12; 4-for-5, 26.7%) (per Mammoth PR). The Mammoth’s penalty kill has killed off 83.5% of their penalties this season which is seventh-best in the NHL.
• Sidney Crosby’s 19 goals are tied for fourth-most by an individual player throughout the NHL.
• With three power play goals in Saturday’s game, the Penguins power play has improved to the best in the league with a 32.9% scoring rate. On the other half of special teams, Pittsburgh has killed off 84.3% of their penalties which is fifth-best.

Against Pittsburgh This Season

• This is the first of two games between the Mammoth and Penguins this season and the only game in Pittsburgh.

Season Series

• Dec. 14: UTA at PIT
• Mar. 14: UTA vs PIT

Upcoming Schedule

• Dec. 16: UTA at BOS
• Dec. 17: UTA at DET
• Dec. 19: UTA vs NJD