MORNING SKATE NOTES
- The Mammoth held an optional morning skate on Thursday.
- Head coach André Tourigny shared Utah’s lineup will remain the same.
- The Mammoth are seven points ahead of the Kraken in the Western Conference wild card race.
Optional Skate
After several days of practices and meetings, the Mammoth held an optional morning skate ahead of their game against the Kraken.
Here’s which skaters participated: Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley, Lawson Crouse, Jack McBain, Michael Carcone, Liam O’Brien, Kailer Yamamoto, Nick Schmaltz, Nick DeSimone, Sean Durzi, MacKenzie Weegar, and Mikhail Sergachev.
Playoff Race Heating Up
It is a tight playoff race in the Western Conference and currently Utah holds the first wild card spot. However, five teams, including Seattle, are pushing to get into one of those two wild card spots. Thursday’s game is expected to be a tight matchup where both teams are pushing for points.
“Our goal from the start was to make the playoffs,” Cooley said. “We’re all hungry to get there, and every game from now on is so important. Every point is so big. And standings are close, and I think for us, it’s about maintaining where we are, doing things that made us successful, especially against LA, a team like that, where we needed to win that game. We came out and played like that and it’s great to see it, it gives us confidence and I expect the same out of tonight.”
Thursday’s game is the Mammoth’s first game this week and they used the last few days without games to prepare for this final stretch of the regular season. Now it’s time for Utah to execute.
“I think there’s a feeling of urgency in our room,” Tourigny explained. “The guys are tuned in. I really like their body language, their approach all week, everything they did on and off the ice to prep. I think we’re in (a) good space in our heads. Now, it’s just time to execute.”
Following the Blueprint
In their 6-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings, the Mammoth had a strong performance in all areas of their game. Following, defenseman Nate Schmidt shared it was the blueprint how the team needs to play. Tourigny discussed that blueprint and how the Mammoth want to execute defensively following morning skate.
"Our gap and our pace is a blueprint for us,” Tourigny explained. “…the way we want to be aggressive on the puck carrier, the way we want to cut time and space off the rush. I think that is key for us."
Offensively, the Mammoth will need to get inside and generate against a Kraken team that pushes teams to the outside.
“I think it’s just all inside game,” Cooley explained. “I think it starts with a shot from our (defense) and making sure we have guys inside to find those rebounds and I think once we break them down a little, seams will start to open up. Then, we have a ton of skilled players, guys that can make a lot of plays. Then we’ll start to get into our rhythm and find some open plays like that. But I think early on we definitely have to be ready to go to the dirty areas, find some goals like that.”
