Mammoth Face Huge Central Division Test Against Wild

The Utah Mammoth have a chance to make up some ground in the Central Division on Tuesday night when they host the Minnesota Wild at the Delta Center.

Minnesota comes in with 18 points, just two ahead of Utah. Both teams have been playing well early in the season, and the Mammoth will look to keep things rolling after a 5-4 overtime win over Tampa Bay.

Dmitri Simashev was the star of that game, scoring his first two NHL goals, including the overtime winner. Now Utah gets another tough test against a Wild team coming off a 4-2 win over Vancouver.

Kirill Kaprizov is the name to watch for Minnesota. He leads the NHL with 13 goals, so Utah will need to keep him in check.

On the Mammoth side, Nick Schmaltz leads the team with seven goals and has been productive against Minnesota, putting up three goals and four assists in his last four games against the Wild.

Clayton Keller has also had success in this matchup. He has six goals in 10 career games against Minnesota, with three coming in his last five. Keller and Mikhail Sergachev are tied for the team lead with 11 assists, giving Utah a couple of important playmakers to lean on.

The Mammoth have also gotten plenty of offense from their defensemen, who have combined for 11 goals this season. That could be an important factor against a Minnesota team with plenty of scoring talent.

Utah will get some extra energy with Liam O’Brien making his season debut. His physical style should fit well in a game that could get pretty competitive.

Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. MT. This is the first of four meetings between the teams, and Utah will look to take advantage of home ice before heading out on a six-game road stretch.