The surging Utah Mammoth will aim to stay perfect on their five-game road trip as they visit the struggling Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
Utah strengthened its hold on the Western Conference’s top wild-card spot with victories in Washington, Philadelphia and Columbus over the past week.
Now comes a back-to-back against Central Division foes Chicago and Minnesota.
Newly acquired defenseman MacKenzie Weegar compared Utah’s 5-4 overtime win against the Eastern Conference-contending Blue Jackets on Saturday to the postseason.
“I felt like that third period was a bit of a playoff taste there with the physicality and the crowd was into it, and that’s what it’s going to be like down the stretch with these games,” he said.
Weegar made his team debut with the Mammoth in Columbus following Wednesday’s trade from the Calgary Flames. He contributed an assist, three blocks, two hits and a shot on goal.
“He played really good,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said of Weegar. “I like the way he moved the puck, blocked a few shots. Strong in his battles. We like him.”
Logan Cooley scored twice for Utah, including the game-winning goal at 2:08 of overtime.
Meanwhile, Chicago has lost 11 of its past 13 games (2-7-4) and is 1-3-2 since returning from the Olympic break.
The Blackhawks are coming off a 4-3 overtime loss in Dallas on Sunday.
Chicago allowed three straight goals after taking a 2-0 lead midway through the first period. Connor Bedard scored the equalizer with 1:20 remaining in regulation but defenseman Miro Heiskanen beat Arvid Soderblom for the game winner just 22 seconds into overtime.
Dallas outshot Chicago 31-19.
“At times the ice tilted their way on us, so then you’re defending a little bit more than you want to, but I also thought we passed up on some shots,” Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said. “We’ve got to make sure we have a good shooting mentality.”
Chicago will be without forward Oliver Moore, who was injured in the first period Sunday after crashing into the end boards moments after assisting on defenseman Sam Rinzel’s goal.
Blashill didn’t have many details on Moore after the game apart from confirming he wouldn’t skate against Utah. Moore centered the third line to begin the game Sunday.
Fellow rookie Nick Lardis was left wing on the fourth line against the Stars as he returned to the NHL from Rockford of the American Hockey League. Lardis had seven points (five goals, two assists) in 21 games with the Blackhawks from Dec. 13 to Jan. 25.
“It was great to get that first stint,” Lardis said. “Learned a lot, and coming back here now, it feels a lot less stressful. … [I want to] show that I can be trusted by the coaches more.”
Frank Nazar and Teuvo Teravainen each earned two assists against Dallas. Nazar has multiple points in consecutive games.
Mammoth defenseman Mikhail Sergachev (lower body) has missed the past two games. He skated in warmups in Columbus but was replaced by Nick DeSimone.
Chicago can clinch the season series with Utah with a victory. The Blackhawks defeated the visiting Mammoth 3-1 on Oct. 13 before Soderblom blanked them in Utah in a 4-0 win on March 1.
The clubs are set to meet again in Salt Lake City on Thursday.
–Field Level Media
