Nhl: Avalanche meet Mammoth in final regular-season meeting at Delta Center
The Colorado Avalanche visit the Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center on Wednesday in an nhl matchup that closes the teams’ regular-season series and begins a five-games-in-seven-days stretch for Colorado. The meeting matters for scheduling and matchups as the Avalanche return from the Olympic pause with several players back and one notable roster change.
Nhl meeting at Delta Center: fourth and final regular-season meeting
The game is scheduled for 7 p. m. MT at the Delta Center. This is the fourth and final regular-season meeting between the Avalanche and the Mammoth: Colorado won 2-1 in Denver on October 9, Utah won 4-3 in overtime in Utah on October 21, and Colorado won 1-0 at home on December 23. In six previous regular-season games against the Mammoth, the Avalanche hold a 4-1-1 record.
Avalanche recap: 4-2 win over the Sharks at Ball Arena on February 4
Colorado defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Wednesday, February 4 at Ball Arena. Artturi Lehkonen scored twice in that game; Lehkonen opened the scoring at 1: 05 of the second period with his 18th goal of the season on a net-front scramble and doubled the lead at 15: 47 of the middle frame with his second goal and 19th of the season on a right-circle one-timer set up by Nathan MacKinnon’s cross-ice feed. Josh Manson and Brock Nelson each added a goal. In net for Colorado, Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced.
The Sharks tied the game early in the third period on two quick tallies: Timothy Liljegren scored at 43 seconds on a one-timer from the top of the right circle and Philipp Kurashev scored at 3: 34 on a left-circle shot off the rush. While the teams were playing four-on-four, Josh Manson gave the Avalanche a 3-2 lead at 12: 44 of the third period with his fifth goal of the season on a one-timer from the point. Brock Nelson extended the lead to 4-2 with an empty-net goal at 18: 43 of the third period for his 29th of the season. Nathan MacKinnon recorded the 700th and 701st assists of his career in the contest.
Mammoth form: 4-1 win over the Red Wings and key Utah leaders
The Mammoth defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 at the Delta Center on Wednesday, February 4. Sean Durzi gave Utah a 1-0 lead at 57 seconds of the first period and Nick Schmaltz added a power-play tally at 8: 11 of the first to make it 2-0. Dylan Guenther made it 3-0 at 4: 40 of the third period. Detroit cut the lead to 3-1 when Dylan Larkin scored on the power play at 15: 52 of the final frame. Clayton Keller sealed the game with an empty-net goal at 17: 42 of the third period to make it 4-1.
On the Mammoth stat sheet: Clayton Keller leads Utah in points with 54 and in assists with 37 while ranking fourth on the team in goals with 17. Dylan Guenther leads the Mammoth in goals with 25, ranks third in points with 47 and fifth in assists with 22. Nick Schmaltz is second on the team in goals, assists and points.
Individual matchups and season numbers to watch
Nathan MacKinnon leads the league in goals with 40, is second in points with 93 and is tied for third in assists with 53. Cale Makar is tied for fourth among NHL defensemen in points with 57 and in assists with 42 while he is tied for fifth among blueliners in goals with 15. Brock Nelson is tied for 10th in the NHL in goals with 29.
Against Utah specifically, MacKinnon has posted six points (2g/4a) in six games. In four contests against the Mammoth, Martin Nečas has recorded three points (2g/1a). Cale Makar has registered three points (2g/1a) in six games against Utah. Separately, a line in the context lists Necas with 51 even-strength points this season, tied for the fifth most in the NHL. Colorado’s. 908 team save percentage on the road is tied for the second highest in the NHL. Nelson’s 13 goals since January 1 are tied for the most in the NHL.
Olympic returns, roster change and coach comments
The Olympic break lasted three weeks for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. The Avalanche were one of three teams that sent at least eight players to Italy. Martin Nečas was selected to play for Czechia. Gabriel Landeskog returned to the Olympic stage representing Sweden as its team captain and he previously played in the Olympics in Sochi in 2014. Joel Kiviranta and Artturi Lehkonen were selected to the Finland roster and captured the bronze medal. Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Devon Toews played for Canada and earned the silver medal. Brock Nelson, a third-generation Olympian, captured gold for the United States, adding a fourth Olympic gold medal to his family mantle and joining his grandfather Bill Christian and great uncle Roger Christian (Squaw Valley, 1960) and his uncle Dave Christian (Lake Placid, 1980).
The Avalanche are expected to be relatively healthy for the first time in nearly two months, but the roster will be missing a notable player after a trade. On Tuesday morning, Colorado announced it had traded defenseman Sam Girard along with its second-round pick in 2028 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for defenseman Brett Kulak. Kulak, 32, was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers in the deal that sent him and goaltender Stuart Skinner to Pittsburgh. During his brief tenure with the Penguins, Kulak scored one goal and added six assists for a total of seven points in 25 games. He had two assists in 31 games with Edmonton earlier this season. That performance was a considerable drop off from his previous season with Edmonton, when he set career bests with 7 goals, 18 assists and 25 points.
Coach Jared Bednar praised Kulak: "You’re getting a big, solid D that can skate, and defend real well, and move the puck. He does a lot of good things, a guy that has been to back to back Stanley Cup Finals, and was an integral part of [Edmonton’s] blue line, and what they were trying to do as a team. We like the player a lot, and so, we’re excited. " He added: "This is a big, strong guy that defends really well. He’s got a ton of experience as well. It’s just a different look for us, right? I think Kulak’s a guy, that depending on how you’re matching up in the playoffs, that he can go up and play with a guy like Cale if I want to move [Toews] against another team’s top line. […] Maybe Kulak can go up and Toews can go down and he can take care of that matchup with a guy like Manson. It gives us flexibility there that I don’t think we necessarily had with [Girard]. " Bednar noted that Kulak, along with most of the
