Mammoth set for final road game until March at division-leading Canes
The Carolina Hurricanes will try to pick up where they left off a four-day layoff when they take on the Utah Mammoth on Thursday night at Raleigh, N.C.
The first meeting of the season between the teams matches up two of the hottest clubs in the NHL.
The Hurricanes have a five-game points streak (4-0-1) coming off Saturday's 4-1 triumph at Ottawa and are looking to continue their strong push in the last five games before the Olympic break.
"I think any time you win games, no matter how, it's big for the group," forward Seth Jarvis said. "So just keep the positivity, keep the momentum going and carry it into (the) next game."
The Mammoth have won six of their last seven games, including a 4-3 decision at Florida on Tuesday night.
"I like the way we play," Utah coach André Tourigny said. "I like the way we're progressing. I don't want to look too far ahead or too far back. Just want to stay in the moment, stay in the present."
Carolina has scored 22 goals in the last five games, but considering nine of those came in one game, there have been spotty stretches along the way.
"Some nights you need to get bailed out, some nights you win games that maybe you shouldn't, but I feel like it all evens out in the end," Hurricanes forward Taylor Hall said.
The Hurricanes have received strong production from Jarvis, who is averaging a point per game (four goals, six assists) in his 10 games since returning from an upper-body injury.
Rookie Carolina goalie Brandon Bussi, who has a 19-3-1 record, has remained strong since his emergence this fall. He notched his first victory when facing more than 30 shots in the Ottawa game.
"He seems to be settling in," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said of Bussi, who stopped 36 of 37 shots. "You need that when you don't have your best game, you need your goalie to come up big. He did."
The Mammoth's recent uptick has come with plenty of contributors. They've lost only three games in January.
"I like the character (of our team), obviously," Tourigny said. "It was a big test mentally today, the schedule and everything. I thought our guys were phenomenal."
Utah has compiled at least four goals in five of its last seven games.
Winger Clayton Keller became the first Mammoth player to reach the 50-point mark (16 goals, 34 assists) this season on Jan. 24 versus Nashville, but he doesn't have a point in the ensuing two games.
While starting goalie Karel Vejmelka had the night off in Florida, it figures he'll be back in the nets for the Mammoth for Thursday night's game. He's won a league-leading 25 games this season paired with 12 regulation losses and two overtime losses.
The stop in Raleigh will be the finale of Utah's four-game road trip. The team enters with four points in the first three games.
"That will be a hell of a game in Carolina, a tough opponent," Tourigny said. "... If we win that, that's a hell of a trip."
This marks the last road game for the Mammoth until March. They'll play their final three games before the Olympic break at home as well as their first three after the break.
For Carolina, it starts a stretch of three games at home in the next four.