Rust was the word of choice for Utah Mammoth players and coaches following their 4-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
It had been 21 days since their most recent game, and while they attempted to get back into game form with plenty of practice time, it\u2019s just not the same as an actual NHL game.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the story, as well as the things that the Mammoth need to do to get their momentum going again.<\/p>\n
Quick catchupColorado Avalanche: 4Utah Mammoth: 2<\/p>\n
If you like goals, all you needed to see was the second period. All six of this game\u2019s goals came during the middle frame.<\/p>\n
Brock Nelson thought he\u2019d opened the scoring in the first, but his goal was called back after a Mammoth coach\u2019s challenge determined that he\u2019d interfered with goaltender Karel Vejmelka. He\u2019d later rectify that, though, with his 30th goal of the season after Parker Kelly and Victor Olofsson had already struck for the Avalanche.<\/p>\n
Dylan Guenther tied his career high in goals, scoring his 26th and 27th of the season against the Avalanche. One came on his signature power play one-timer, which he hasn\u2019t used as much in recent months.<\/p>\n
Martin Ne\u010das seemed to take inspiration from Guenther\u2019s one-timer, scoring an identical goal later on in the period on an Avalanche power play. Going into the game, the Avalanche and the Mammoth were respectively the worst and second-worst power play teams, so it\u2019s coincidental that they both scored with the man-advantage when they faced each other.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ADZQVVX2MZHWPPXINFW4KWW5E4.jpg\")
Utah Mammoth right wing Dylan Guenther shoots the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Colorado Avalanche, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo\/Tyler Tate) | AP Tidbits and takeawaysLogan Cooley\u2019s return doesn\u2019t guarantee anything<\/p>\n
Mammoth fans were greeted with hopeful news ahead of the game: Logan Cooley and Alexander Kerfoot were back and healthy, while the league\u2019s leading scorer, Nathan MacKinnon, would not be suiting up for the Avalanche.<\/p>\n
If there\u2019s ever such thing as an easier game against the league\u2019s best team, this was it. But the Mammoth just couldn\u2019t pull it off.<\/p>\n
Head coach Andr\u00e9 Tourigny offered an explanation in his postgame interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Cools went down, everybody thought, \u2018… What will happen?\u2019 Are we not something like 16-11 without Cools? Because everybody did what they had to do,\u201d he said. \u201c… Everybody just bought in (to) how they had to play and we were successful. So (it) doesn\u2019t matter who you have in the lineup if you have that aggression, that intensity (that) characterizes us, it won\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cooley dazzled on a number of occasions throughout the game \u2014 including an ankle-breaker on Zakhar Bardakov \u2014 and registered his first point since Nov. 28. But Tourigny was not impressed with the overall game of the 21-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike everybody else, I think I saw a lot of rust and tough decisions with the puck and not playing fast at all, with and without the puck,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
From a full-team standpoint, Cooley agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could tell there was some rust out there, and I don\u2019t think it was just small details,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was losing battles, not coming back quick enough, not defending in front, little things like that that are our identity and what makes us successful. And we didn\u2019t do that tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Momentum is paramount<\/p>\n
The question going into this game was whether the upper hand would belong to the well-rested team or the one that sent eight players to the Olympics. Tourigny didn\u2019t have an answer to the question before the game, but once the puck dropped it became clear.<\/p>\n