Nhl: Avalanche Fans Face a Compressed Run — Meeting with the Mammoth at Delta Center Tonight

The nhl schedule resumes sharply for Colorado after a three-week Olympic pause in Italy, and Avalanche fans are the first group to feel it: five games in seven days begin with a Wednesday matchup at 7 p. m. MT at Delta Center against the Utah Mammoth. Expect a tight rotation, a fresh roster look after a trade, and a short window to rebuild momentum before a heavy sequence of back-to-back games.

Nhl schedule squeeze: what five games in seven days means for fans and planning

Here's the part that matters for anyone attending or tracking lineups: Colorado has little margin for rest. Four of the five games will come inside two back-to-back pairs, and tonight is the first of those pairs. That matters for ticket buyers, fantasy rosters and fans watching for which players return from Olympic duty or are eased back into minutes.

• Watch and listen options are available through regional television and radio/streaming; local radio includes a 950 AM frequency for those following on the air.
• If you plan to attend, expect a Delta Center puck drop at 7 p. m. MT and a quick turnaround before the Avs return to Ball Arena to face Minnesota the following evening.

Match context and series history

Wednesday's game is the fourth and final regular-season meeting between Colorado and Utah this year. The teams split the earlier three: Colorado won 2-1 in Denver on October 9, Utah won 4-3 in overtime in Salt Lake City on October 21, and Colorado won 1-0 at home on December 23. Across six prior regular-season games versus the Mammoth, Colorado's record stands at 4-1-1.

Avalanche recent form and player notes

Colorado arrives off a 4-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday, February 4 at Ball Arena. Artturi Lehkonen scored twice, opening at 1: 05 of the second period with his 18th goal of the season on a net-front scramble and adding a second at 15: 47 of the middle frame — his 19th — on a right-circle one-timer set up by Nathan MacKinnon's cross-ice feed. While the Sharks rallied with third-period tallies at 0: 43 and 3: 34, Josh Manson restored a 3-2 lead at 12: 44 of the third with his fifth goal of the season, and Brock Nelson added an empty-net goal at 18: 43 for his 29th of the year. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 23 of 25 shots in net.

MacKinnon has been a driving force: he leads the nhl in goals, is second in points and is tied for third in assists. Cale Makar is tied for fourth among defensemen in points and assists and tied for fifth among blueliners in goals. Nelson is tied for 10th in the nhl in goals. Colorado's. 908 team save percentage on the road is tied for the second highest in the league, and Nelson's 13 goals since January 1 are tied for the most in the nhl.

Mammoth recent form and matchup details

Utah arrives buoyed by a 4-1 home win over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday, February 4 at Delta Center. Sean Durzi opened at 57 seconds of the first period, and Nick Schmaltz added a power-play goal at 8: 11. Dylan Guenther extended the lead to 3-0 at 4: 40 of the third period. Detroit answered with a Dylan Larkin power-play goal at 15: 52, and Clayton Keller sealed a 4-1 final with an empty-netter at 17: 42. Keller leads Utah in points and assists and is fourth on the team in goals. Guenther leads Utah in goals, ranks third in points and fifth in assists. Schmaltz is second on the Mammoth in goals, assists and points.

Head-to-head splits matter: Nathan MacKinnon has six points (2g/4a) in six games versus Utah; Martin Necas has three points (2g/1a) in four contests; and Cale Makar has three points (2g/1a) in six games against the Mammoth. Ondřej Nečas's 51 even-strength points this season are tied for the fifth most in the nhl (unclear in the provided context whether that reference is to Necas or another player — the provided context names Necas earlier; maintain caution).

Roster shifts, Olympic break and the trade that reshaped depth

After a three-week pause for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, Colorado returns with many players having returned from international play. The Avalanche were one of three nhl teams that sent at least eight players to Italy. Martin Nečas was selected for Czechia; Gabe Landeskog returned to the Olympics as Sweden's captain; Joel Kiviranta and Artturi Lehkonen were on Finland's roster and captured the bronze medal; Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Devon Toews played for Canada and earned the silver medal; Brock Nelson won gold with the United States, adding a fourth Olympic gold to his family mantle alongside Bill Christian and Roger Christian (Squaw Valley, 1960) and Dave Christian (Lake Placid, 1980).

Colorado also made a notable roster change: defenseman Sam Girard and the team's second-round pick in 2028 were traded to Pittsburgh in exchange for defenseman Brett Kulak. Kulak, 32, arrived having been acquired from Edmonton in the deal that sent him and goaltender Stuart Skinner to Pittsburgh. During a brief stint with Pittsburgh this season, Kulak totaled seven points (one goal, six assists) in 25 games and had two assists in 31 games earlier this season with Edmonton. The previous season in Edmonton was his career best with seven goals, 18 assists and 25 points. Coach Jared Bednar described Kulak as a big, strong defender who can skate, defend well and move the puck, offering lineup flexibility; the context ends mid-sentence and is unclear in the provided context about the remainder of Bednar's remark.

It's easy to overlook, but the combination of Olympic comebacks and a new defenseman changes matchups immediately — and with back-to-back congestion, rotations will be tested fast.

• Colorado opens a compressed five-in-seven stretch tonight at Delta Center, then returns to Ball Arena to host Minnesota the next evening.
• Expect rotation changes on defense after the Sam Girard trade and Brett Kulak's arrival; Bednar highlighted matchup flexibility as a reason for the move.
• Player-conditioning signals to watch: minutes for those returning from Olympic duty and whether Mackenzie Blackwood continues as the net choice on the road.
• Short-term confirmation that rotation strategy is working would be consistent scoring depth and stable goaltending across the first two games of the stretch.

If you're wondering why this keeps coming up for fans, it's the speed of the schedule: there will be little runway to test changes before consequential matchups pile up. The real question now is whether the Avalanche can convert Olympic momentum into sustained results during one of the NHL's tightest short runs.