Tuesday night means hockey night, and NHL fans are in for a treat this week. There are 10 games across the evening with most taking place in the 7 and 8 p.m. EST window. However, the late game sees a surprisingly competitive Utah Mammoth (4-2-0) team welcome the Colorado Avalanche (5-0-1) to Salt Lake City. These squads sit third and first in the Central Division standings, respectively, so this late-night contest holds some extra intrigue as both sides try and stay in the top half amongst the loaded competition.
Get ready for the action with a Mammoth vs. Avalanche prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Tuesday night.
Mammoth vs. Avalanche prediction, preview
Utah Mammoth
The Mammoth are looking quite good through the season’s first couple weeks with a handful of wins over the Predators, Flames, Sharks and Bruins. The only two losses thus far came to the Blackhawks and these same Avalanche, the latter game of which ended with a 2-1 final score. This team seems to be leaning into a defensive identity with just 2.17 goals allowed per game, fourth-best in the NHL. No defender has a negative +/- and the second pairing of Nate Schmidt and John Marino both come in as a team-high +3, while goaltender Karel Vejmelka boasts a 2.00 GAA and .912 SV%. Playing this level of hockey means the offense doesn’t have to produce at its ceiling on any given night, and the Mammoth come in at 20th in goals per game with 2.83. Thus far, Nick Schmaltz paces the roster with nine points on the top line and is followed by Clayton Keller with seven, then Dylan Guenther with six. Offseason acquisition JJ Peterka, traded to Utah from the Buffalo Sabres, has also tallied four points himself and brings youth with cornerstone upside at just 23 years old.
Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche last played on Saturday and look like a real force in the West through the earliest part of the season. They’ve won five of six contests against the Bruins, Blue Jackets, Sabres, Mammoth and Kings with the lone loss coming at the hands of the Stars in an overtime shootout. This team is elite on both ends — Colorado averages 3.50 goals while giving up a league-low 1.50 on the other end. Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas, the latter of whom is pushing for a high-end contract extension, both have 10 points apiece in their six appearances. Cale Makar and Artturi Lehkonen have each tallied nine, with offseason add Brent Burns fifth on the roster with four. The top of this team is star-studded but there’s depth throughout, and goaltender Scott Wedgewood has played lights-out hockey thus far with a 1.48 GAA and .938 SV% across all six appearances. He’s conceded just nine goals on 145 shot attempts, so it looks like he’s fully healthy and a force in net while pacing for a career-best statistical output.
Mammoth vs. Avalanche pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Avalanche as -142 road favorites on the Moneyline tonight, while the Mammoth enter with +120 odds to win outright. The total sits at 5.5 combined goals.
The Mammoth are playing some quality hockey at the moment and are a nice surprise through the season’s opening weeks. However, they’ve already faced the Avalanche once on the young campaign and are likely to meet a similar fate despite playing at home this time. Neither team excels on the power play just yet with both sides converting chances at a 12.0% rate, but Colorado’s penalty kill looks far better at 87.5% compared to just 73.9% for Utah. The Avs also average nearly five more shots per game than the Mammoth do, and if that’s not enough, the difference in faceoff percentage should put the nail in the coffin here — at 42.4%, Utah falls third-worst in the stat while their opponents rank sixth at 53.5%.
Oh, and did we mention the visitors have two of the best players in the world on their top line? There’s a clear-cut disparity in star power between these sides with Utah relying on the power of friendship in comparison to the buzzsaw of MacKinnon, Makar, and yes, Necas. The Avs claimed a 2-1 win last time, but may get it done by a larger margin tonight.
