January 21, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Noah Yulsen (47) and Utah Mammoth center Jack McBain (22) are playing in the third period of a game at the Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Image The Philadelphia Flyers appear to have righted the ship, but a tough challenge awaits them when the Utah Mammoth comes to town on Thursday.
The Flyers have won three straight after going 3-9-4. They beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in a shootout on Monday as Noah Cates had a goal and an assist and Christian Dvorak also scored in regulation.
Matvei Michkov and Trevor Zegras scored the game-winning goals as the Flyers recorded their longest winning streak of the season.
“We’re just playing our brand of smart hockey.” Dvorak said. “It’s hard to do for 60 minutes. We still have to work on it, but that’s how you win hockey games this time of the year. It’s going to be a lot of goals and close games the rest of the way, so we just have to be brave and find a way to win.”
With Travis Konecny (upper body) out against Toronto, Cates continued to step up. He has two goals and three assists during a four-game point streak.
“I think it was just a playoff-style game, a grind,” Cates said. “We were just fighting, looking for ways to win, looking for ways to help this team. … We’re just playing hard every game.”
Utah has won four of its last six games and has allowed just seven goals in those four wins. Karel Beymelka hit 23 shots in Tuesday’s 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals in a five-game road trip.
The Mammoth lost 4-0 in their previous game against the Chicago Blackhawks, one of the team’s worst performances of the season.
“We had a good rebound (tonight),” said Clayton Keller, who had two assists. “It wasn’t the way we wanted to in the last game. We wanted to get a little flush and I thought we did well tonight and everyone contributed. It was a great effort. ‘Vej’ was great, made a great save at the end. It’s definitely good to see that reaction.”
Dylan Guenther had a goal and an assist for Utah, while JJ Peterka and Mikhail Sergachev also scored for Mammoth. It was a rare opportunity for Guenther to play on a line with Nick Schmaltz and Keller. It looked like the team could bounce back against Philadelphia.
“I haven’t played with them much,” Guenther said. “Obviously on the power play (I play with them sometimes), so it’s just really exciting. They’re two really good players. They’re really good with the puck, they’re really good on the puck as well. I think if we play ourselves and try to outsmart other teams, our skills can take over.”
Utah currently occupies first place in the Western Conference wild card with 21 games remaining.
“Ever since training camp, we’ve been hoping to be there.” Mammoth coach Andre Tourini said. “So we have to be excited about the opportunity and the situation. The present has to excite us as much as we have to focus on the present.”
–Field level media
