3 Takeaways From Mammoth’s 2-0 Preseason Win Over Avalanche

We are less than a week away from the start of the Utah Mammoth’s 2026-27 season. Saturday marked one of the final hurdles before the party begins: the final preseason game.

While the 2-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche doesn’t really matter, this was going to be an interesting game for the Mammoth as they rolled out what is expected to be the opening night lineup, or what is expected to be very close to it. We now have an idea of the lines and chemistry we’ll see on Thursday. Here are some takeaways from Saturday’s win.

Overcoming Old Issues

A big problem the Mammoth had in their playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights was the power play. The team did not do well on the man advantage and often found themselves surrendering multiple shorthanded goals throughout the series.

While the Mammoth’s power play wasn’t fantastic on Saturday, it was the third straight game where they did score on the man advantage. It was Logan Cooley’s moves to get to the front of the net where the Mammoth finally capitalized with help from the Avalanche defense.

Greasy goal from Cools! 😎

2-0, Utah. pic.twitter.com/T4bPVwlwo2

— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) September 26, 2026

Going one for nine isn’t ideal. However, it’s preseason. The fact that the Mammoth have scored on the power play for three straight games is a talking point. They know it was a huge weakness of theirs last April. It still needs work, but the issues on the man advantage are now crystal clear. With four days left before the first game, it’ll give head coach André Tourigny some time to work out the kinks.

“We need to keep working on our special teams,” Tourigny said. “Still some work to do, but the power play early was good. They were putting pucks on the net. They were playing fast. I think a little bit later in the game, we start to overhandle and complicate things. Our entries have always been good. Now it’s been two games where we try to be a little bit too cute on our entry in the power play, so we’ll clean that up.”

Again, what will really matter is if the Mammoth can find offense on the man advantage come Thursday. However, three straight games with a power play goal is a promising sign.

Veggie Tales

We’ve seen Sebastian Cossa really impress during the preseason. However, Karel Vejmelka hasn’t really had a standout game. That is until Saturday.

Vejmelka didn’t face a lot of challenging shots on Saturday. That is what happens when an NHL squad faces a lineup of mostly American Hockey League (AHL) players that the Avalanche deployed. However, when he was challenged, Vejmelka stood strong.

“He’s such an incredible goalie,” Cooley said. “He’s the reason we win a lot of games, and we need him to be. When he’s in tip-top shape, when he’s playing well, we are winning games. Great showing by him; in the second, we gave up a lot of chances, it felt like, and he was huge for us, and was able to get that shutout.”

The goalie stopped all 25 shots for his first and lone shutout of the preseason. There have been a lot of rumors going around that Cossa might steal Vejmelka’s job or he might be traded for someone like Connor Hellebuyck. However, Saturday’s game was a good reminder that Vejmelka is the Mammoth’s goaltender, and he’s a good one at that.

When the Avalanche came pushing back towards the end of the game, it was Vejmelka who made those big saves and held onto the shutout win. He’ll be the starter come Thursday. There’s no debate.

“It was special,” Jack McBain said. “He’s a great goalie. Had a lot of games for us last year, and he made some big-time saves for us tonight, and kind of kept us in there. So yeah, great performance.”

Especially with Cossa in the mix and Michael Hrabal starting his pro career, Vejmelka needs to keep getting better and better. It’s like what Liam O’Brien said at exit interviews. Adapt or die. So far so good for the Czech goaltender as he tries to follow up on one of the best seasons of his career.

Finalizing Decisions Ahead

At the end of the day, though, the final score does not matter. What really mattered in this game was seeing how the lines worked.

Each preseason game usually has a theme. The first game or two are to give the AHLers and prospects a chance to stand out, with veterans sprinkled throughout the lineup. The third game is where you see a heavy set of veterans with those on the cusp of making the roster. The fourth game is to put together something very close to the lines you’ll see on opening night.

That’s what we saw on Saturday. The lineup was very close to what is projected for the Mammoth. Anders Lee was on the second line with Dylan Guenther and Cooley. The third line of McBain, Barrett Hayton, and Lawson Crouse sounds like what the third line will be, with the exception of maybe Crouse. They did score the first goal of the game, which ended up being the game-winner.

Bainer for an early lead!

1-0, Utah. pic.twitter.com/7ynl90J112

— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) September 26, 2026

“I really like Hayton’s line,” Tourigny said. “I think that line had pace, drive, purpose; they were connected, they were playing the same way. I really like that line. I think Cooley’s line was all right.”

It sounds like Tourigny plans to have Vincent Trocheck on the top line with Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz. They weren’t really a standout line, which is fair considering they haven’t had much playing time together. However, it looks like the goal is to continue progressing their chemistry together going into Thursday’s game.

“You could see Trocheck with Schmaltz and Kells,” Tourigny said. “They see each other; they try to read off each other. They will need a little bit of time to build chemistry. I think they had one game and one practice together, so obviously they need a little bit more runway than that. But I see the upside in the way they play.”

Looking at the blueline, it would be surprising if the pairings changed. Mikhail Sergachev was with MacKenzie Weegar, John Marino was with Nate Schmidt, and Dmitri Simashev was with Andrew Peeke.

The Mammoth still have too big a roster. Trimming will likely happen on Sunday. Artem Duda and Ben McCartney had solid camps but don’t fit into the lineup and will likely be sent down to the Tucson Roadrunners.

With those two likely being sent down, the Mammoth will be at 23 players, the perfect number. However, there lies the next issue. Who plays Thursday and who doesn’t? O’Brien didn’t play on Saturday because he had already played his two preseason games, the max number he’s allowed to play. However, he scored in both games, which made the Mammoth’s decision to send down Brandon Tanev easier.

Putting O’Brien in will then kick some out. Is keeping Daniil But on the fourth line really a good plan to continue his development? He had an excellent preseason as well and deserves top-nine minutes at the very least at this point. It creates a tough decision for Tourigny and the coaches. However, that means camp was a competitive one, and at the end of the day, that’s what you want to see.

“I like what the guys gave us,” Tourigny said. “I’m really happy. They made it really tough on us on decisions and what we should do, who we should keep, what the cut should be, and who should be on the roster when the season starts, and who should play in each role. They did what they had to do, so really good job.”

In my opinion, these are the players who will be on the Mammoth’s finalized roster come Monday afternoon.

Forwards: Keller, Schmaltz, Trocheck, Lee, Cooley, Guenther, McBain, Hayton, Crouse, Kevin Stenlund, Michael Carcone, Kevin Stenlund, Kailer Yamamoto, O’Brien, But

Defensemen: Sergachev, Weegar, Schmidt, Marino, Simashev, Peeke, Nick DeSimone

Goaltenders: Vejmelka, Cossa

That’s not really a surprising group of names. Of course, that’s barring any injuries that could affect the lineup. Keller did leave the game for a bit but returned towards the end, so there shouldn’t be any problems there.

At the end of the day, this game did not matter. However, it was a good test to see how the projected lines would fare. It was also just a great way to signify hockey is back at the Delta Center, and Thursday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks should be a fun one.

“It was a lot of fun,” McBain said. “Preseason game, but fans still showed up, and it was loud in there. Great to be back and get into it.”

The Mammoth have until Monday afternoon to finalize their 2026-27 roster. From there, they’ll play their first game of the regular season on Thursday when they host the Blackhawks. The Blackhawks compiled a 2-1-1 record across the preseason and will start their 2026-27 season on the road against the Golden Knights before traveling to Salt Lake City.