​Utah Mammoth center Logan Cooley (92) looks to pass the puck with Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Alex Vlasic (72) moving in as the Utah Mammoth and the Chicago Blackhawks play an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.
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Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
There’s no such thing as a perfect game in hockey, but the Utah Mammoth had the closest possible thing in their season opener Thursday evening.They pulled off a 6-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks — a team they didn’t beat a single time in their four meetings last season.“They played us really well the past couple years, so it’s nice to get a win against them,” said Mammoth forward Dylan Guenther, who scored two goals (including the game-winner).For the third year in a row, Guenther potted Utah’s first goal of the season. Per Mammoth public relations, he joins Jared McCann, George Carey and Newsy Lalonde as the only players in NHL history to do that in the first three years of a franchise’s history.Lalonde was among the fourth group of players ever inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, so you know you’ve done something right if you’re mentioned in the same sentence as him.That part doesn’t matter as much to head coach André Tourigny, though.“As long as we win the first game of the year, I don’t care (who scores the first goal),” he said, “but I cannot say I was shocked.”
Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) defends the goal as the Utah Mammoth and the Chicago Blackhawks play an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.
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Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) deflects the puck as the Utah Mammoth and the Chicago Blackhawks play an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.
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Scott G Winterton, Deseret News