It's natural after a hiatus as long as the Olympic break to attribute losses, like the Mammoth's 4-2 loss against the Avalanche, as a matter of rustiness. After all, only four players for the Mammoth were playing competitively over the break. And even then, their roles varied from what they naturally do playing with each other. It's quite a shift to go from playing 3-4 games a week to not even have practices for a bit. But to André Tourigny, it would be taking the easy way out if he chalked up this loss simply to a bit of rustiness from the players. "There's more to it. For me, it's a matter of effort, it was a matter of pace and aggression," said Tourigny. "There is a lot of work that goes behind it and we need to realize that and get back at it because we're not as urgent as we should be." And he's right. Every team in the NHL had a long break away from their teams, including the Colorado Avalanche, who were without Nathan Mackinnon in its first game back. The little mistakes were apparent on both sides whether it was an irregular turnover by Utah's Kevin Stenlund leading to a Brock Nelson goal or Colorado committing five penalties that, for the most part, could have been avoided. And both teams had their excellent plays too whether it was Parker Kelly scoring evading every Utah player [https://x.com/spittinchiclets/status/2026860121771618620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2026860121771618620%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=] on his goal or Dylan Guenther quietly matching his career-high in goals tonight after registering his 27th of the season. But it wasn't just the Mammoth having sloppy play or that it had three shots on goal, including a Lawson Crouse breakaway, hit the crossbar or one of the post's, the Mammoth weren't controlling the game and playing with its usual pace. "I think no matter the result, we want to make sure that we get back to our game as quick as possible," said Guenther. "I just don't think that was us. I think just the little intangibles, the battles and stuff like that, but we actually did a better job in the third, but I think just getting back to how hard we have to work to win games." The Mammoth certainly could have played better, but there is some positives to take away from this game, namely with the Mammoth's health. Both Logan Cooley and Alexander Kerfoot came back for Utah in this game, clearly benefitting from the long Olympic break. "Personally, it felt pretty good. It's good to be back out there with the guys," said Cooley. "It's no fun sitting in the stands watching them, and it kind of felt like a long journey. There's a lot of hard work that went into it, big thanks to the trainers and everyone, my family supported me coming back and it felt good to be back, but now it kind of shifts to the team and how we need to be better." In fact, Michael Carcone was the only Mammoth player that had any kind of injury designation prior to puck drop. But even then, he was only out due to an illness. Having this kind of healthiness is important as Utah looks to clinch a playoff berth down the stretch. But healthiness doesn't guarantee whether or not Utah will play with more energy against Minnesota, its opponent on Friday. What will determine that is if Utah can get back to playing its fast, highflying hockey.
