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<\/a>Incredibly clean start to the season for the Mammoth. Yamamoto returned from an injury and that has been the only lineup change that they\u2019ve had to make all season long to this point with the other 17 skaters playing all nine games so far. Having a lot of consistency within the lineup has been a part of the nice start for Utah, giving them the opportunity to build together with just about the exact same lineup every game so far.Vejmelka got pulled from last game after giving up five goals to the Oilers. Cossa has only started two games, and he also got pulled from his previous start back on Oct. 8 after giving up three first period goals to Boston. Vejmelka has been the primary choice to play most of the games so far, it was going fairly well to keep the puck out of the net (2.39 GAA) prior to running into Edmonton last game that has now ballooned him up to 2.89.Utah features five players averaging at least a point\/per game (counting Yamamoto) and Logan Cooley isn\u2019t far behind. Offense has been the name of the game so far for the Mammoth, their 3.67 team goals\/game ranks 7th in the NHL. Their power play, at 35.3%, leads the league and been a real weapon to watch out for.<\/p>\nKey to the game: Can the Pens\u2019 offense show up?<\/p>\n
If you look at the Mammoth so far this season, there\u2019s a lot they do really well. At 5v5 they\u2019re a great process-based team, though they do under-perform slightly in the actual goals. Their power play is red hot. However, they have a couple of weaknesses, specifically the goaltending and PK work.<\/p>\n
Of course, the Penguins aren\u2019t positioned that well against those weaknesses based on recent games. Pittsburgh has only scored 10 total goals (not counting an extra one tacked one via winning a shootout) in their last five outings. That\u2019s ugly and not going to win many games in the high-scoring world the NHL is these day. To make matters worse, their power play is just 3-for-24 (12.5%) in the month of October. Then again, if ever there was a time to breakout in those areas, tonight could be the night to do it by lighting the lamp a few times – perhaps even so bold as to hope some might come (gasp) while up a player.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been difficult to generate a lot against Utah so far with their expected goals allowed ranking 4th in the NHL, so any opportunities that pop up will be crucial to convert into goals. It\u2019s not going to be an easy path to travel tonight, but some guideposts are there about how it could happen with Vejmelka\u2019s recent performances and a generous Utah PK.<\/p>\n Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust<\/p>\n Ville Koivunen – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin<\/p>\n Andrei Kuzmenko – Ben Kindel – Nick Robertson<\/p>\n Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Elmer Soderblom<\/p>\n Declan Carlile \/ Erik Karlsson<\/p>\n Sam Girard* \/ Kaeden Korczak<\/p>\n Spencer Stastney \/ Kris Letang<\/p>\n Goalies: Arturs Silovs and Sergei Murashov<\/p>\n Potential Scratches: Hendrix Lapierre, Egor Chinakhov and Ilya Solovyov<\/p>\n IR: Ryan Graves, Justin Brazeau, Trevor van Riemsdyk<\/p>\n Yesterday was a day off for the Penguins, there hasn\u2019t been a substantial update yet about Girard\u2019s status for the day and that will be the main area to keep an eye on. In perhaps preparation for a spot opening up in the lineup, Ilya Solovyov was brought up from the AHL yesterday and Ryan Johnson was assigned to Wilkes-Barre. van Riemsdyk has not been on the road trip as he rehabs his injury back in Pittsburgh.Coach Dan Muse updated the status of Chinakhov as day-to-day, though that day to return might not be today. Chinakhov was seen walking with a \u2018noticeable limp<\/a>\u2019 days ago after getting injured in practice last Thursday.<\/p>\n Most assists for one franchise<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n