The Utah Mammoth will try to solidify their Stanley Cup Playoffs position when they visit the Calgary Flames on Sunday night.
Utah (42-31-6, 90 points), which saw its five-game winning streak end with a 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, is three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings in the race for the first wild-card spot from the Western Conference, with each team having three games remaining.
The Flames (32-38-9, 73 points), who lost their third straight game on Saturday, will look to play spoiler, as they have games with Utah, Colorado and Los Angeles remaining.
Dylan Guenther scored to notch his first 40-goal season and Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves for the Mammoth in the loss to Carolina. Guenther, who turned 23 on Friday, scored 27 goals last season.
“I think he’s a great weapon for us,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “The growth in his game, it’s clear. I think this year, like I said many times, we wanted him to become the player he is right now.”
Guenther extended his point streak to seven games (six goals, seven assists, 13 points). His goal early in the third period cut the Carolina lead to 2-1, but the Hurricanes added two late goals to seal the win.
“Just learn from it and get back at it,” Guenther said. “Quick turnaround, last away game [Sunday], a little bit of travel. We’ve been in the position that Calgary’s in right now. They’re going to be hungry, they’re going to play well, and you’re always playing for something.”
Clayton Keller (four goals, 12 assists, 16 points) and Mikhail Sergachev (12 assists) assisted on Guenther’s goal and extended their point streaks to seven games.
Calgary has lost three straight games (0-2-1) and five of six (1-4-1) on their six-game road trip after a 4-1 loss at the Seattle Kraken on Saturday. The Flames, who are eliminated from playoff contention, will play their final three games on home ice.
“It’s been a long time, so it’ll be nice to get home for sure,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. “We’ve got to turn the page pretty quick and get ready for tomorrow.”
Hunter Brzustewicz gave the Flames a 1-0 lead early in the second period on Saturday, and Devin Cooley made 17 saves.
“I like how we stuck with it,” Brzustewicz said. “Obviously, the road trip didn’t go how we planned, and obviously, the homestand (5-0-1) did before. … Obviously, tonight wasn’t the result (we wanted), but I liked how we kept with it and kept building.”
Utah beat Calgary 3-1 on Oct. 15, and Dustin Wolf made 28 saves for the Flames in a 2-0 win over the Mammoth on Dec. 6.
Wolf is 1-2-0 with a 2.34 goals-against average (GAA) and .916 save percentage in three career games vs. the Mammoth. Overall, he has dropped his past three starts, though he stopped 38 of 40 shots his last time out in a 3-1 loss against Colorado on Thursday.
If Vejmelka is not tabbed to start for Utah in the second game of a back-to-back set on Sunday, Vitek Vanecek could see his first action since March 26. Vanecek is 4-2-0 with a 3.01 GAA and an .899 save percentage in seven career games vs. Calgary.
