Mammoth clinch first playoff berth since relocating to Utah

Playoff hockey is coming to the Beehive State.

With their 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday, in combination with the San Jose Sharks loss to the Anaheim Ducks, the Utah Mammoth have clinched a postseason berth in just their second season since relocating from Arizona.

In all likelihood, the Mammoth will finish in the first wild card spot in the Western Conference, meaning they will play the winner of the Pacific Division in the first round of the playoffs. The Pacific is still up for grabs, so Utah will have to wait to see if their opponent will be the Edmonton Oilers, the Vegas Golden Knights, or the Ducks.

The Mammoth have been a pleasant surprise all season, led by homegrown star forward Clayton Keller, now in his ninth full-time season with the team going back to its days as the Arizona Coyotes. Keller leads Utah with 80 points through 77 games, while forwards Nick Schmaltz and Dylan Guenther have had career years to give the Mammoth a solid group of top-end forwards.

Utah has gotten a herculean effort from goaltender Karel Vejmelka, too. The 29-year-old Czech national leads the NHL with 60 appearances this season, sporting a 36-19-3 record with a .896 save percentage and a 2.75 goals-against average. The Mammoth rank sixth in the NHL with 2.90 goals allowed per game.

A lot of credit is due to Andre Tourigny, who took over as the Coyotes’ head coach ahead of the 2021-22 season and had his team show improvement each and every year, despite working in a less-than-stable environment during the final days in Arizona.

This will be the first playoff appearance for the Mammoth/Coyotes franchise since 2020.

Utah will finish up a three-game homestand against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, before playing their final road game of the regular season against the Calgary Flames on Sunday.