The Chicago Blackhawks will take on the Utah Mammoth in Game 2 of their regular season.
The Vegas Golden Knights soundly beat the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night. This was the first of a three-game road trip to kick off their 2026-27 season. Chicago improved slightly as the game went on, but Vegas proved too strong that night.
Now, Chicago’s second of three road games will be on Thursday against the Utah Mammoth. This is the first game of the season and the home opener for Utah. The Mammoth are another strong team trying to build on what was a fantastic 2025-26 season for them.
Scouting Utah
The Utah Mammoth have a roster capable of challenging for a top-3 spot in the Central Division. Will they beat out one of the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, or Minnesota Wild for it? Can they bypass all of them and win the division? Everything is in play for them heading into the new season.
Their captain, Clayton Keller, is the best player on the team. A Gold Medal winner with Team USA back in February, Keller has the tools to be a major contributor on a Stanley Cup-caliber team. It’s on the organization to keep building around him, which they have done a great job of since moving to Salt Lake City.
Alongside Keller are a ton of forwards who are blossoming stars. Nick Schmaltz has been an established great player for a long time, but Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, and Barrett Hayton all help them have tremendous scoring depth.
Utah also added veteran forwards Vincent Trochek and Anders Lee during the off-season. Each of them has been a great NHL leader for a long time in a big market like New York, and now they have the task of helping this young Utah group take that next step.
On defense, it’s a mixed bag led by Mikhail Sergachev, who has Stanley Cup pedigree himself. Behind their defense is goalie Karel Vejmelka, who is projected to start against the Blackhawks.
Their lineup as a whole in front of Vejmelka, based on practice, should look like this:
Keller - Schmaltz - Trocheck
Lee - Cooley - Guenther
Crouse - Hayton - McBain
O’Brien/Carcone - Stenlund - Yama/But
Sergachev - Weegar
Schmidt - Marino
Simashev - Peeke
Duda - DeSimone
Vejmelka
Cossa
Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago
The Blackhawks shook things up with their lines at practice on Wednesday. They reflect some of the adjustments that head coach Jeff Blashill made during the loss to Vegas on Tuesday. The most notable is placing Patrick Kane with Tyler Bertuzzi. Anton Frondell sits between them.
There is no morning skate ahead of this Thursday night Utah match, so it will have to be assumed for now that they will roll with those changes that were made during practice:
Bertuzzi-Frondell-Kane
Teravainen-Kantserov-Lardis
Donato-Nazar-Moore
Smith-Greene-Greenway
Vlasic-Byram
Kaiser-Levshunov
Cole-Rinzel
Soderblom
Knight
For now, it is assumed that Kevin Korchinski and Ethan Del Mastro will be the two defensemen scratched again. However, if they repeat their Tuesday night performance against the Vegas Golden Knights, there will be changes that follow.
The Blackhawks are down to 12 healthy forwards with them on the trip as Andrew Mangiapane went back to Chicago for further evaluation on an injury. After all, Teuvo Teravainen will get his chance to play and possibly stick in the lineup.
Teravainen will play on what appears to be the second line with Roman Kantserov and Nick Lardis. He is known for being a playmaker, so these two snipers may help him get back on track.
Arvid Soderblom is the projected starter based on the fact that Spencer Knight played in Game 1 and faced more than 30 shots. We won't know for sure, however, until warmups, which will also confirm the lines and pairs to start the game.
How To Watch
The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. You can stream it on ESPN+, Hulu, and Disney+. The puck will drop shortly after 8:30 PM CT.
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