The Western Conference’s top team will be on the ice when the Edmonton Oilers play host to the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday.
The curious part of the affair is who holds that perch. Instead of it being the Oilers, who have reached the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past two seasons, it is the Mammoth, a franchise pining for its first playoff berth since 2020.
Utah, which owns 16 points to share the league lead with the New Jersey Devils, is riding a seven-game winning streak after an impressive 3-2 road victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.
“We’re not getting too high,” said Mammoth forward Dylan Guenther. “I think you can sense it in the room. In the past, we were a little more emotional in a different way. I think we’re a little more on an even keel this year.”
The Mammoth are definitely one of the league’s best surprises. A huge part has been their offense, which features a litany of players making their mark. Utah has played just 10 games this season, but Guenther already owns scored four game-winning goals. He’s riding a five-game point streak in which he has netted three goals and four assists. Meanwhile, Nick Schmaltz has 14 points in a seven-game run (seven goals, seven assists) and entered Monday’s play sharing the league lead with 16 points. Logan Cooley was named the league’s second star of the week Monday after posting five goals and eight points in four outings.
Plus, there has been an evolution for the young team that is reflected in some hard-fought wins.
“Last year, there (were) a lot of situations where, against that kind of a team, we were there after two (periods) … but we could not find a way to get the two points,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said after Sunday’s win.
The Oilers, meanwhile, are trying to find their stride. Edmonton returns home after Sunday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks, but the squad took solace in earning a point thanks to a two-goal comeback in the third.
This marks the third consecutive season Edmonton — with a 4-4-2 record — has struggled to start the season. But the Oilers are well aware the past does not predict the future.
“It’s not easy just to say, ‘OK, well now it’s time to turn it on and here we come,'” said Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “You got to start building your game, and we’ve been talking about it. We’re obviously trying, we’re working, so there’s little things here and there that we can keep improving on, but we don’t want to let it slip too far, and we want to get our game going right now.”
On one hand, the Oilers have been hamstrung by a road-heavy early schedule with games from Vancouver to Long Island. Now they get to play five of seven at home – and they’ll start it with Leon Draisaitl on a roll. He scored twice in Vancouver to extend his point streak to five games.
On the other hand, this is a team with only two wins in the last seven outings, and captain Connor McDavid has managed only one goal in 10 games.
It is fair to expect McDavid will find his offensive touch and Draisaitl will continue to flourish to pull the team out of the doldrums.
“Leon’s a very competitive person and doesn’t take a night off. … He’s not pretty darn good,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. “Obviously, he’s frustrated with the way things have been going right now, and we’re not winning more games than we have been, but he’s been a competitor and playing really well and scoring some big goals for us.”
