The Nashville Predators finish what so far has been a successful six-game road trip when they face the Utah Mammoth in a key game in the Western Conference wild-card race on Thursday in Salt Lake City.
The Predators (37-31-10, 84 points), who began the trip with a tough 3-2 loss at Tampa Bay on March 29, bounced back to capture seven of a possible eight points in their next four games (3-0-1), including a 5-0 blanking of the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.
That win, which was the second game of a back-to-back that began with a 3-2 shootout loss at Los Angeles on Monday, moved Nashville one point ahead of the Kings (83 points), three points ahead of the San Jose Sharks (81 points) and four points ahead of the Winnipeg Jets (80 points) for the second wild-card spot.
After Thursday, the Predators will finish up with three difficult home games against the Minnesota Wild, San Jose and Anaheim, so there is little margin for error down the stretch in the race for a playoff berth.
Backup goaltender Justus Annunen made 43 saves in the win over the Ducks to give Nashville its first shutout victory since a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 3, 2025, a span of 120 games.
“We’ve had a great road trip here. All of our games have had a great effort,” Annunen said after his third career shutout. “We are playing well lately, so let’s just keep it going.”
Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said it is important for his squad to remain focused on its own games and not the standings.
“We’re just day-to-day — don’t really look at what’s behind us,” Brunette said. “We’ve got another road game, and we’re going to approach it the same way we approach all of them. Get a little rest here. We know Utah’s a really good team and a team we’re chasing, and we want to put our best foot forward next game.”
Utah (41-30-6, 88 points) holds a four-point lead over the Predators for the first wild-card spot with a game in hand. The Mammoth have won four straight and come in off a 6-5 overtime victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.
Clayton Keller scored a power-play goal 33 seconds into overtime to win it for the Mammoth, who rallied from an early 3-1 deficit. Nick Schmaltz scored two goals and Alexander Kerfoot forced overtime by tallying with 7:04 left in regulation.
It marked the fourth straight game that Utah scored six or more goals, a franchise record.
“We just kept coming,” Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said. “We were really resilient, patient, our game did not change. We didn’t start to force plays or try to make complicated plays where they could cut and counterattack. We just kept going.”
The comeback win kept Utah in the driver’s seat for a wild-card spot. The Mammoth enter the Thursday contest five points above the playoff line with five games to go, four of which will be on home ice. A win over the Predators would be another big step toward clinching a postseason berth.
“These points are so valuable,” Schmaltz said. “We want to get that ‘X’ by our name as fast as we can, so we’re doing everything we can and we’re battling every night.”
This is the final of four regular-season meetings. Utah has won two of the first three, including a 5-2 victory at Nashville on Jan. 24 in the most recent matchup.
–Field Level Media
