February 27, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Mammoth left fielder Lawson Krause (67) scores against Minnesota Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt (30) and defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) in the second quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Image After winning three of their last four games, the Utah Mammoths are struggling to maintain a playoff spot as they prepare to face the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday afternoon.
The Mammoths, in the Western Conference’s first wild-card spot, beat the Minnesota Wild 5-2 on Friday in Salt Lake City. That’s because Lawson Krause scored two goals and Clayton Keller had a goal and two assists.
“I think we’re definitely a really fast team and we can make a lot of plays, but I think the biggest thing for us is sticking to our identity as much as possible,” Keller said.
“It’s difficult. I think we’ve gotten better as the years go by. Good teams are the most consistent. Even if you’re not playing your best, you just have to find your way. I think we’re moving in the right direction, we need to be more consistent.”
Logan Cooley and Barrett Hayton also scored, while Jack McBain, Nick Schmaltz and defenseman Mikhail Sergechev each had two assists.
“They’re hungry, they want to challenge and have an edge on their opponents,” Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said of the top line of Crouse, Keller and Schmaltz. “As you saw today, (Keller)’s goal was a turnover resulting from a lot of pressure on the Wild’s Quinn Hughes, one of the best defenders in the world. It shows how good they can be when they have that kind of aggression.”
Karel Vejmelka made 21 saves to help Utah win three of its last four outings. Vejmelka is 28-15-2 with a 2.60 goals against average and a save percentage of .902.
“They’re a great hockey team,” Wild defenseman Brock Faber said. “They skate really well. They’re really good at it.”
The Blackhawks lost their third straight game, losing 3-1 to the host Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.
Chicago has lost eight of its last nine games (1-6-2).
“We definitely need more depth scoring. We were close on a lot of opportunities and didn’t do a great job with the puck,” Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said after the game. “We probably could have had three or four 3-on-1s, but I think we mishandled them.
“So I thought there was an opportunity on offense that we couldn’t capitalize on.”
Connor Bedard scored Chicago’s only goal, giving him 25 goals for the season. He also had 55 points and 30 assists in 46 games.
Bedard’s last seven games have resulted in seven points (five goals and two assists).
“We definitely have to help him. I mean, it can’t just be on Connor,” Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno said. “He’s doing his job. He’s getting opportunities to score. He’s making plays.
“I mean, he could have scored five goals tonight, so it’s up to the rest of us to help him out, find ways to give him run support. And that’s just going to make our team better, right? I think we’ve got to find a way to score more than one goal here and make it count.”
Spencer Knight stopped 32 shots for Chicago, which suffered its third straight loss. He went 16-18-7 with a 2.62 GAA and a .908 save percentage.
–Field level media
