Utah Mammoth center Nick Schmaltz (8) skates for the puck against Chicago Blackhawks left wing Tyler Bertuzzi (59) at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, March 12, 2026 (Laura Seitz, Deseret News).
(Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – At the conclusion of the regular season series between the Mammoth and Blackhawks, Chicago remained undefeated in all four matchups as they claimed yet another OT victory.
Despite a much better overall effort by Utah, the Hawks remained opportunistic as they completed the series sweep over the Mammoth.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Blackhawks.
After months of different line combinations, the band was finally back together again as Dylan Guenther, Logan Cooley and JJ Peterka rounded out Utah’s top six on the second line against Chicago.
The result?
Wicked speed, numerous rushes, several well-connected passes and two opportunistic goals by 11 and 77.
Make that goal #31 for Gunner!
Guenther is the first player in Utah franchise history to score 31 goals in a season. pic.twitter.com/BS5aFoK1TB
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) March 13, 2026
It’s honestly a shame that the ‘kid line’ hasn’t played much together this season but it’s important to note that most of that was a result of Cooley’s extended lower-body injury which kept him sidelined for nearly three months.
Regardless, it’s still refreshing to see them together again as their potential to become elite is obvious.
“It’s nice to be back with them,” JJ Peterka said. “Just so much speed. Both of them are such good players. Just trying to get open when I’m playing with those two.”
As one of the youngest and most talented top six lines in the National Hockey League, the trio is simply overflowing with elite complimentary skill.
Cooley commands the center position with finesse and soft hands while Peterka boasts a lethal offensive game and Guenther’s goal scoring is second to none.
As demonstrated by both goals against the Hawks, those three are clearly capable of quickly punishing teams off the rush with their skill and speed.
Peterka ties this one up at two! pic.twitter.com/eIBxWU1TbV
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) March 13, 2026
But how could they become even more impactful?
By slowing things down in the offensive zone and utilizing their speed effectively rather than forcing plays.
“What they do good is they have the skill and the speed,” Head coach Andre Tourigny said. “What they don’t, is they don’t have the puck enough because they force the play when they have the puck.”
“Either they do magic or they backcheck. I always chirp them and say, ‘You like backchecking way too much. You need to stop backchecking and holding on puck, possessing the puck in the O-zone, grinding the opponent and be patient for the next play.’ They don’t have that maturity yet to be patient.”
The key to those three sticking together will likely be dependent on their maturity.
Can they internalize Tourigy’s words and become a deadly trio down the stretch or will they need to be split up again?
Like he said, the skill and speed are there.
It’s their maturity and patience that will be the key to unlocking their full potential.
It’s weird, right?
After facing the Blackhawks four times this season, Utah was swept in the season series by the third worst team in the league.
Why?
Here’s what Tourigny had to say on the matter before I add my two cents.
“They’re a better team than people think. Look at their game, before they played us last game, they had just lost in overtime against Dallas. They’re in the game every night. Before the break, they had a hell of a stretch where they were in the game all the time. They can skate, they have size, and their goaltending is really good, so they’re in the game every night, so you need to be as close as possible to perfection. It’s a good team,” he explained.
“If you look at their record, every other stretch of the season, they are as good as any team who are in the mix to make the playoffs. So they’re a good team. There’s no excuses. We are capable of beating that team. I don’t want to use excuses. I want to give them credit, and I know tonight, we played well enough to win. It was not like that during all the games against them, but tonight, I liked our effort.”
Like Coach noted, Chicago isn’t a bad team greatly lacking talent.
Are they a good team?
No.
But with one of the brightest young NHL stars in Connor Bedard, good goaltending and a few scrappy players to round them out, the Hawks are tough.
Teams have to bring their A game to get the job done and Utah arguably didn’t do that in two of the four matchups.
As for tonight’s game, Chicago was simply opportunistic again.
They scored on a questionable power play, buried a greasy goal and then capitalized on a three-on-two rush in OT.
“LET’S GOOOOO” -Frank, probably pic.twitter.com/jnaSX38jD2
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 13, 2026
an instant classic🤩📽️ pic.twitter.com/7PWsCPiBUc
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 13, 2026
“They play with a lot of speed, they’re obviously a highly skilled team. They make a lot of good plays. I think they had very good chances. I think that’s what we’ve been struggling with,” Peterka explained.
Look, it’s the NHL.
It doesn’t take elite talent to capitalize on those types of chances and Chicago made sure to bury them each time they played Utah.
Simple as that.
I feel like at this point some breathing exercises would be good.
So, let’s take a few together, shall we?
Go ahead and sit down, inhale deeply through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
Feel better?
Good.
Let’s jump into this last section.
Alright, by no means am I excusing four straight losses to the Blackhawks with three over the past 12 days, but Utah is still in a great spot to make the playoffs.
Generally speaking, they often don’t ask how, they just ask how many and with eight of 12 points over their last six games, the Mammoth are doing just fine.
They’re still in the first wild card spot with 74 points, have a goal differential of +21 and a fairly favorable schedule down the stretch.
What do they need to do to stay in that position?
Of the 16 games remaining, they’ll need to win seven or eight to simply get in while nine or 10 would likely guarantee a spot with a high probability of remaining the top wild card team.
That means at least four or five wins over the likes of Pittsburgh, Nashville, Calgary, Winnipeg, Vancouver and St. Louis while beating the teams beneath them (Seattle & Los Angeles) should also be considered must-win situations.
Those are swing games that would provide Utah with even more breathing room in a tight wild card race.
As for the remaining matchups, the Mammoth will need to find a way to somehow be close to .500 against Dallas, Vegas, Anaheim, Washington, Carolina and Edmonton twice.
It’s doable.
But they have to be just a little bit better.
No more blunders against bottom feeders.
Get in, take care of business, win the games they’re expected to and catch a few others off guard.
If so, the rest should take care of itself.
The Utah Mammoth will conclude a short two game home stand against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night at 7:00 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).
