LAS VEGAS (AP) — Vegas and Utah head into their first-round meeting playing well at just the right time, and while some elements could carry over, the way games play out in the NHL playoffs are far different from the regular season. Matchups often become much more important than whatever supposed momentum a club takes into the postseason. The Pacific Division champion Golden Knights, (minus)-190 favorites according to oddsdmakers, host the Western Conference No. 1 wild-card Mammoth in Game 1 on Sunday night in their best-of-seven series. Vegas closed the season by going 7-0-1 under coach John Tortorella after he replaced Bruce Cassidy on March 29. “I’m not really a big believer in momentum,” Golden Knights center Jack Eichel said. “I think every game and shift has a life history of its own. I think you can take some things away from the way we’ve been playing for sure and what’s made us successful. But that’s the beautiful thing about the playoffs. Everyone’s slate is completely clean, and every night you have to prove yourself.” Utah went 6-2 before ending the regular season with a 5-3 loss to St. Louis, a game played after the Mammoth’s playoff seeding and matchup

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Nick Schmaltz scored twice as the Utah Mammoth beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 on Tuesday night and secured the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Schmaltz scored his first goal for the Mammoth 4:54 into the second period on the power-play, assisted by Mikhail Sergachev and Dylan Guenther. He added a power-play goal 7:16 into the third, assisted by Logan Cooley and Clayton Keller. JJ Peterka, Alexander Kerfoot and Cooley also scored for the Mammoth. Karel Vejmelka made 21 saves in the win for the Mammoth. Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor had a goal and an assist and Isak Rosen also scored for the Jets. Gabriel Vilardi added two assists, and Eric Comrie had 31 saves for the Jets, who lost a third straight. The Mammoth will face the winner of the Pacific Division in the first round of the playoffs, either the Vegas Golden Knights, Edmonton Oilers or Anaheim Ducks. Up next Mammoth: Host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday evening. Jets: Host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday evening. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar. AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl Copyright 2026 The Associated

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Brayden Pachal scored his first NHL goal of the season and added two assists on Sunday night as the Calgary Flames’ hot streak at home continued with a 4-1 victory over the Utah Mammoth. Matt Coronato, Connor Zary and Mikael Backlund also scored for Calgary, which is 7-0-1 in its last eight games at home. Dustin Wolf made 28 saves. Lawson Crouse scored for Utah, which holds the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference with a three-point lead on the Los Angeles Kings, who have a game in hand. Vitek Vanecek had 19 stops for Utah. With both teams playing the second game of back-to-backs, it was Calgary that came out flying with Coronato giving the Flames a 1-0 lead at 7:06 of the first period. When Vanecek misplayed the puck behind his net after colliding with defenseman Ian Cole, Coronato grabbed the loose puck and tucked it into the vacated net. After a dominant first period in which Calgary took a 2-0 lead and outshot the visitors 14-4, Utah played a better second period, but was unable to solve Wolf. Among his stops was a key glove save on MacKenzie Weegar when the former