Blake Coleman #20 of the Calgary Flames takes a shot on Vitek Vanecek #41 of the Utah Mammoth during the third period at the Scotiabank Saddledome on April 12, 2026 in Calgary, Canada. (Photo by Leah Hennel/Getty Images)
(Photo by Leah Hennel/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – MacKenzie Weegar’s return to Calgary didn’t exactly go as planned on Sunday night as the Utah Mammoth came out flat against the Flames and dropped their second straight in a disappointing loss.
With less than a week until Utah makes their Stanley Cup Playoff debut, the team understands they need to better as the season comes to a close.
While it was the second of a back-to-back after playing at the Delta Center on Saturday night, the effort against Calgary was still unacceptable.
Despite facing the third worst team in the National Hockey League, the Mammoth started off sloppy and made several critical mistakes early on that cost them all the momentum.
BISON TIME 🦬 pic.twitter.com/TW9EhU3koe
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) April 13, 2026
Zar’s on it. pic.twitter.com/7lBtURzFfW
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) April 13, 2026
When you boil it down, Utah just didn’t have it tonight against the Flames.
In addition to a collection of poor mental lapses, Utah lacked urgency, energy, speed and never really settled into their game.
That resulted in poor positioning, weak breakouts, numerous penalties and essentially zero rhythm offensively.
“Whoever was the more prepared team in that first period had a really good chance to win this game and we didn’t come out connected and prepared,” MacKenzie Weegar explained.
“They play a stingy game over there. … We need to learn from it, flush it, and we’ve got two really important games coming up.”
With the playoffs less than a week away, the Mammoth have to embrace Ted Lasso’s goldfish mentality and immediately move on.
Accept the loss, press forward and focus on rediscovering their identity over the last two games at home before the playoffs begin.
Look, losses are bound to happen.
Teams aren’t always going to be at their very best every single night.
But an effort like that in the playoffs is non-negotiable.
Superior seeds like Colorado, Edmonton and Vegas would consume them instantly which could ultimately result in a quick series if they aren’t more careful.
After losing to the Flames in Calgary, 93 remains the magic number for the Utah Mammoth if they wish to lock up the top wild card spot in the west.
With just two games remaining on their schedule, Utah will likely need to manage three points (at least a win and an OT loss) in order to fully control their destiny and avoid the Colorado Avalanche.
However, if Los Angeles fails to win out, that number drops in favor of the Mammoth.
But with the Kings closing out against Seattle, Vancouver and Calgary, Utah needs to take care of business.
Notably, there is also a scenario where the Kings could jump Edmonton and/or Anaheim which would certainly complicate things.
If Utah and Anaheim finished with the same number of points, Utah currently owns the tiebreaker due to regulation wins.
Meanwhile, If Utah and Edmonton finished with the same number of points, the Mammoth would likely clinch barring some specific circumstances (I.E. regulation win vs OT wins).
“These next two games, it’s playoff hockey,” Weegar said. “These are the two most important games all season and we have to be willing to grind it out, because in the playoffs, playing like that is not going to work.”
As Weegar pointed out, these last two games are the most important of the season.
Not only for Utah to control their destiny but to finish strong and be in playoff form heading into the postseason.
The Utah Mammoth will begin their final home stand of the regular season against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday at 7 p.m. MT.
The game will be available on Mammoth+.
All Mammoth games will also be broadcast live on the KSL Sports Zone (97.5 FM/1280 AM).
