Mammoth Clinch Playoff Spot

The Utah Mammoth have officially clinched the first wild card spot in the Western Conference. They will face the winner of the Pacific Division. It will be either the Edmonton Oilers or the Vegas Golden Knights.

Utah had numerous potential clinching scenarios going into Tuesday’s game. The one that came to be saw the Mammoth beating the Winnipeg Jets, and the Minnesota Wild defeating the Anaheim Ducks. But the players weren’t so worried about their playoff positioning. They wanted to end the season on a high note.

“I think we were just trying to play as best we could these last two games,” said Nick Schmaltz, who scored two goals in the game. “We had two losses in a row, so we wanted to bounce back at home and put ourselves in the best position we can.”

If the Golden Knights pick up at least one point against the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday, they’ll become the Mammoth’s first-round opponent. That result could also happen if the Oilers lose in any fashion to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.

Although the Mammoth controlled the majority of Tuesday’s game, a win wasn’t guaranteed. They allowed a 4-1 lead to turn into a 4-3 lead. They did manage to hang on and add an empty netter for a 5-3 final score.

“We made it tougher than we should have or could have, but when push came to shove, and it was tight, we played solid,” said head coach André Tourigny.

Mammoth are Playoff Ready

Everyone knows that there are players who get you into the playoffs and others who get you through them. Players like Schmaltz, Clayton Keller (who is on a nine-game point streak), Dylan Guenther, and Logan Cooley have been instrumental in the Mammoth finding success up to this point. However, once the playoffs begin, there is a good chance the depth players will step up.

Whether it’s game one or a clinching scenario, Brandon Tanev and Liam O’Brien are players who always give it everything they have. That’s exactly how you have to play in the playoffs.

That was evident in the victory on Tuesday. Every time you looked up, one of those guys was hitting someone. If they weren’t hitting, they were hounding down the pucks. Tanev might count this as a down season because he has yet to register a goal. However, he hasn’t strayed from the dog-on-a-bone playing style that got him to the NHL in the first place. The Mammoth will be counting on him to play that way in the Playoffs.