The Utah Mammoth vs Oilers Thursday matchup opens a home-and-home series between two of the Western Conference’s hottest early-season teams, with puck drop at Rogers Place set for 9 p.m. ET. Utah brings a 5-2-0 record and the NHL’s top power play into Edmonton, while the Oilers enter at 5-0-1 and sitting second in the Pacific Division. It’s the first of two meetings in three days between these clubs, with the series shifting to Salt Lake City on Saturday.
Utah Mammoth Vs Edmonton Oilers Game Information
- Date: Thursday, Oct. 15
- Time: 9 p.m. ET
- Venue: Rogers Place, Edmonton, AB
- TV/Streaming: ESPN+, Utah 16
- Series: First of a home-and-home set; the teams play again Saturday in Salt Lake City
Can Utah’s Power Play Keep Carrying The Offense?
Utah’s man advantage has been the engine of its fast start. The Mammoth have converted at a 40% clip on the power play, the best mark in the league, and scored 10 power-play goals through their first six games, also tops in the NHL. Combined with 51 assists and 78 points as a team through their season totals, Utah’s offense has produced even with a modest 12.3% shooting percentage overall.
The Mammoth also come in balanced. Every one of the 19 skaters who has played this season has recorded at least one point, a sign of scoring depth beyond the top line. Nick Schmaltz leads the club with nine points and six goals, while Clayton Keller paces the team with eight assists.
How Did Utah Close Out Its Road Trip?
Utah returned home after a five-game trip through the eastern part of the country, finishing 3-2-0, including a 5-4 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Dylan Guenther and Mikhail Sergachev each scored a goal and added an assist in that win, with Daniil But, Vincent Trocheck and MacKenzie Weegar also finding the net. Goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 22 saves in the victory and is listed as Utah’s probable starting goalie for Thursday, though that designation remains a projection until warmups.
Trocheck has also been a factor at the dot, winning 61.9% of his faceoffs, the fifth-highest rate in the NHL. Utah as a team sits sixth in the league with a 53.2% faceoff win rate, numbers that could matter in puck possession against an Edmonton team that controls play through its stars.
What Does Edmonton Bring Into Its Seventh Game?
Edmonton enters the week 4-0-1 and ranked fourth in the NHL, with Thursday marking just the team’s third home game of the season despite being its seventh overall. Connor McDavid leads all skaters in the matchup with 17 points and 13 assists, and the Oilers have gotten scoring depth of their own, with 14 skaters recording at least one point and 11 of them posting multiple points. Four Oilers skaters have already topped five points on the year.
Vasily Podkolzin leads Edmonton with seven goals. Tristan Jarry is projected as Edmonton’s probable starting goalie for Thursday, per the team’s projected lineup. Edmonton’s defensive corps will be tested without Jake Walman, listed day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins remains on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and a return date of Oct. 24. Zach Hyman is also day-to-day with an undisclosed issue, while Colton Dach and Alec Regula remain on injured reserve.
What Is The Key Matchup To Watch?
Utah’s power play against Edmonton’s penalty-killing discipline could decide the game. The Mammoth have scored on 40% of their chances with the man advantage, a rate that would punish any team forced to take penalties against this lineup. Edmonton has allowed 18 goals against through its first six games with a .885 save percentage as a team, numbers that suggest the Oilers can ill afford to give Utah extra opportunities with the puck.
On the other side, Edmonton’s offensive depth, led by McDavid’s playmaking, will test a Utah defense that has allowed 2.50 goals per game, the 10th-fewest in the league. How Utah’s penalty kill handles Edmonton’s skaters who have multiple points already this season will be a factor worth tracking throughout the night.
What To Watch
This is the first all-time regular-season meeting window between these two Western Conference clubs in the current format, with the second half of the home-and-home coming Saturday in Salt Lake City. Utah sits atop the Central Division with 10 points, while Edmonton trails only Vegas in the Pacific with 11 points. Both teams remain undefeated in regulation at home or on recent stretches, making this early-season series a measuring stick for two clubs built around elite top-end talent and deep scoring.
Utah’s Michael Carcone remains out with an upper-body injury, and Maveric Lamoureux is on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, with no return expected before Feb. 12, 2027. The two teams meet again Saturday at 8 p.m. MT in Salt Lake City to close out the home-and-home set.
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