Morning skating notes
- Head coach Andrea Turini said the line will remain the same as the last game. This is the team's lineup for the last game. The only change to the lineup is that Karel Vermelka will face off against Vitek Vanicek, who started the previous game.
- All expected athletes were present for the morning skate.
take two
This is the second of two meetings between the Mammoths and Avalanche this season. In the first game, Utah narrowly lost 2-1, and the team is familiar with tonight's opponent.
“They have a lot of dangerous players that we have to watch out for on the ice,” defenseman John Marino explained. “They like to play a possession-style game. They're fast and they transition well. Obviously, we're going to limit our turnovers and be mindful of that.”
“I thought we played really well,” Turini said of the first game against Colorado. I think it's a good game. I thought we forced some turnovers from them. I know they'll be ready for it. I knew it was going to be a different game. This is a very fast-paced team. They're fast, they like to run the ball and stuff like that. But we have to do what we have to do, which is apply a lot of pressure, win our battles, protect the interior, and those things are going to lead to our success. “
Colorado forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas each scored a team-leading 10 points through the first six games. Turini explained what the Mammoth need to do to limit these players.
“It's all about time, space and speed,” Turini explains. “Get into their sights early. Make sure we have a lot of structure. I think they rely a lot on transition. When they can start moving forward and gathering speed from there, they're hard to spot, to slow down, they feed the puck a lot. So, the key is managing the puck, getting past them, getting physical with them, reducing their time and space, and playing as much of the puck as possible.”
What are the doctor's orders?
Utah's top line of Clayton Keller, Barrett Hayton and Nick Schmaltz combined for 13 points in two games (Schmaltz: 3G, 3A; Keller: 2G, 4A; Hayton: 1A). After the morning skate, Turini discussed how Hayden could be the center forward on this route:
“I think he's exactly what the doctor ordered for that line. He drives the ball very hard. He has a presence at the net. He's very good in pre-clearance, very good in draw situations and very good in d-sone situations. He has good awareness, his reloading ability The strength is great as well. He's a good all-around player, so I think he's exactly the kind of combination you want to have in the net. I think if you look at those three guys, their qualities mesh well together.”