SALT LAKE CITY – In their first game back from the three-week Olympic break, the Utah Mammoth struggled to shake off the rust against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night.
Despite some much-needed rest in addition to the return of Alexander Kerfoot and Logan Cooley, the Mammoth were far too disconnected which led to a fairly comfortable victory for the Avs.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s 4-2 loss to Colorado.
Dylan Guenther continues to expand his game after matching a career-high
While it may have been a fairly rusty performance by the team as a whole, Dylan Guenther was locked in offensively as he found the back of net twice against Colorado.
Scoring his 26th and 27th goals of the season, Guenther matched his previous career-high from last season in 14 fewer games.
How’s he done it?
By diversifying the way he attacks the net.
“In the last two months, he’s brought a lot of speed to his game, simplified his game, gets on the forecheck, [makes] very fast, good decisions in the neutral zone…” Head coach Andre Tourigny said.
“What I like a lot about his game is he has layers to his scoring. He can score in a lot of different ways. It’s not just with his shot. It can be driving at the net, bringing the puck at the net, rebounds and stuff like that. That will make him an even more dangerous threat moving forward.”
As Tourigny pointed out, Guenther is not just a one-trick pony.
Sure, he’ll score a lot of one-timers from the left face-off circle but it’s because the defense is forced to respect him from any spot in the offensive zone which opens up shooting lanes.
In addition to one of the most lethal shots in the league, Guenther has also expanded his arsenal by going at the net, fighting for dirty goals, shooting from different spots and being opportunistic.
After blasting a one-timer on the power play against Colorado, No. 11 capitalized off the rush as he went top shelf after recognizing the goalie was flat on his heels.
“He’s a pure goal scorer, you know? He could score from anywhere,” Logan Cooley explained.
“You just try to find him when you’re in the O-zone, and, like I said, he could score from anywhere. It’s so fun playing with him, so smart, and hopefully he can keep a few more coming here.”
With 24 games left, Guenther is currently on pace to register a career-high 38 goals.
Anticipating he hits that and continues to get better, Guenther will certainly surpass the 40-goal mark soon and may just flirt with 50 or more as time goes on.
The boys looked a bit rusty in their first game back from the Olympics
Following a three-week hiatus to accommodate the Winter Olympics in Milan, the Utah Mammoth were a bit rusty in their first game back against the Colorado Avalanche.
Rather than zipping the puck around and connecting on consecutive passes, the team was disjointed early as they failed to generate much offense through the first half of the contest.
Pucks were either too far, a little short, miscalculated or simply turned over.
“I think I saw a lot of rust and tough decisions with the puck. Not playing fast at all with and without the puck,” Tourigny noted.
As a result, the Avalanche took advantage of Utah’s miscues as they quickly attacked off the rush on multiple occasions to establish a 4-2 lead after the middle frame.
Olofsson adds on ☃️ pic.twitter.com/tA9afw0sab
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) February 26, 2026
Slot rocket from Nelson 🚀 pic.twitter.com/pTekTaLZ44
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) February 26, 2026
To be fair, it wasn’t a huge shock that Utah looked as rusty as they did.
It’s been three weeks since their last game, they added two players (Logan Cooley & Alexander Kerfoot) off injured reserve and the lines looked quite a bit different than before the break.
That’s an adjustment.
Now, with that being said, the Mammoth will need to adjust as quickly as possible which is exactly what they’re looking to do.
“I think no matter the result, we want to make sure that we get back to our game as quick as possible,” Guenther said.
“I just don’t think that was us. I think just the little intangibles, the battles and stuff like that, but we actually did a better job in the third, but I think just getting back to how hard we have to work to win games.”
As Guenther noted, there’s no room for error right now.
No grace period of a couple games to get rolling.
Colorado was a tough draw right out of the gate, but they have to bounce back against Minnesota on Friday.
How did Logan Cooley look in his first game back from injury for the Mammoth?
After missing 28 games due to a lower-body injury he sustained on December 5, Mr. Logan Cooley was finally back in the lineup for the Utah Mammoth against Colorado.
So, how’d he look?
Pretty good.
In 17:21 of ice time, Cooley was strong on the puck, played with speed, attacked with a purpose and even added a little razzle dazzle.
More than once, 92 deked a few defenders right out of their skates as he played the puck off the boards behind his back and even utilized a sneaky little spin at the blue line to wow the crowd.
Notably, Cooley also registered a secondary assist on Dylan Guenther’s second goal as he burst into the offensive zone and then laid the puck off for Jack McBain who fed Guenther near the slot.
Gunner tallies his second of the night!
3-2, Avs. pic.twitter.com/Mktj35vh0G
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) February 26, 2026
Despite the loss, it was good to see Cooley back on the ice.
While it wasn’t his best game by any means, he was still fairly effective, especially after missing so much time.
With time, he’ll settle in even more and make an even bigger impact for Utah down the stretch.
What’s next for the Utah Mammoth?
The Utah Mammoth will continue their three-game home stand against the Minnesota Wild on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. MT.
The game will be available on Mammoth+.
All Mammoth games will also be broadcast live on the KSL Sports Zone (97.5 FM/1280 AM).
Cole Bagley is the Utah Mammoth insider for KSL Sports. Keep up with him on X here. You can hear Cole break down the team on KSL Sports Zone and KSL 5 TV.
Take us with you, wherever you go.
