The Chicago Blackhawks are set to take on the Utah Mammoth in game number 60 of their season.
The Chicago Blackhawks were defeated by the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night by a final score of 3-1. It was a game that the Avalanche dominated, but Spencer Knight gave his team a chance. Connor Bedard stayed hot by scoring Chicago’s lone goal.
On Sunday, they have an afternoon match against the Utah Mammoth. Going back to their years as the Arizona Coyotes, this franchise hasn’t been to the playoffs in a long time.
Now, Utah enters Sunday’s match holding onto the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. Every game is of the utmost importance to them.
Scouting Utah
The Utah Mammoth is a really good team. From Gold Medal-winning Olympian Clayton Keller to incredible contributors like Nick Schmaltz, Dylan Guenther, and Logan Cooley, this team has the depth needed to win more games than they lose.
In Utah’s most recent game, a Friday night gem, they defeated the Minnesota Wild, who have been one of the best NHL teams this season. Slowing down the train that is the Wild was an impressive feat for the Mammoth, who sent a message to the league with that victory.
Keller -Schmaltz - Crouse
McBain - Cooley -Guenther
Peterka - Hayton - Yamamoto
Kerfoot -Stenlund -Carcone
Sergachev -Durzi
Schmidt -Marino
Cole - Maatta
Vejmelka
Vanecek
The Mammoth doesn’t have a legit superstar defenseman, but they have six solid players who have accepted and executed roles. In front of Karel Vejmelka and Vitek Vanecek, they protect the house well enough to allow the goalies to do their jobs well.
Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago
The Chicago Blackhawks are struggling to score following the break, and they were struggling to score ahead of it. Outside of Connor Bedard and Tyler Bertuzzi, the depth scoring hasn’t been there.
Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky
Moore-Nazar-Teravainen
Bertuzzi-Dickinson-Mikheyev
Donato-Foligno-Slaggert
Vlasic-Crevier
Grzelcyk-Levshunov
Murphy-Rinzel
Soderblom
Knight
There are a lot of offensively gifted players in this group, but they are all cold or hitting a rookie wall at the same time. The Mammoth is a difficult team to play against when dealing with that, but they must stick with the process.
Creating a forecheck and being smart with the puck in the neutral and offensive zones are their only chances of finally breaking through. Outside of Bedard, nobody in this group is breaking out of a slump by trying to be a one-man show.
Kevin Korchinski was a late addition to the lineup against Colorado because Sam Rinzel was scratched due to illness. If Rinzel is feeling better, expect him to go against Utah.
Spencer Knight was brilliant against the Avalanche, despite the loss. Expect Arvid Soderblom to relieve him in this game against the Mammoth for his first post-break start.
NOTE: Soderblom will start, confirmed. Sam Rinzel will remain out, and Kevin Korchinski will play:
Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky
Donato-Nazar-Teräväinen
Bertuzzi-Dickinson-Mikheyev
Foligno-Moore-Slaggert
Vlasic-Crevier
Grzelcyk-Levshunov
Korchinski-Murphy
Söderblom
How To Watch
The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. To view this game, it is available on CHSN locally. Nationally, it can be streamed on ESPN+. The puck will drop shortly after 3:00 PM CT.
Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.