The Carolina Hurricanes' season-ending road trip took them to Salt Lake City for a clash with the Utah Mammoth. The trip began with a 7-2 win in Chicago, despite the Hurricanes resting many of their top players. Still, the group received contributions from everyone on the ice, leading to a very lopsided performance to get the journey rolling.
Many of the players who rested on Thursday returned to the ice on Saturday. This meant everyone except for Jalen Chatfield, though the four Wolves remained in the lineup as a new crop of regulars sat out. Frederik Andersen made the surprise start after getting the win in Chicago. While they already know their spot in the playoffs, Utah iced its regular group with Karel Vejmelka in the crease.
K’Andre Miller (undisclosed), Logan Stankoven (undisclosed), William Carrier (undisclosed), Jackson Blake (undisclosed) , Taylor Hall (undisclosed), Mark Jankowski (undisclosed) and Jalen Chatfield (undisclosed) will miss today’s game against the Mammoth.
— Hurricanes PR (@CanesPR) April 11, 2026
The Canes got off to a very quick start. The power play was a big reason for it. Nikolaj Ehlers' chance was stopped, but Andrei Svechnikov was there to clean up the rebound, popping his shot past Vejmelka less than five minutes in. The captain added to it late in the frame. Ehlers put a pass in a spot for Jordan Staal to elevate it home, putting the Canes up 2-0 after 20.
The Mammoth started to show some fight in the second period, keeping the Canes on their toes. That's where Andersen proved to be the calming factor. He faced seven shots in the frame, and none of them got past him. On the other end, Vejmelka refused to let the lead expand. The score sat at 2-0 after two periods, leaving the Canes a period away from another road win.
Utah finally broke through the Danish wall on the power play. Dylan Guenther notched his 40th goal of the campaign on a one-timer from the near dot. The Mammoth kept pushing, but their comeback was silenced when Sebastian Aho redirected a shot home to restore the two-goal lead late. The Canes shut it down from there, and Sean Walker skated the puck into the empty net for a 4-1 victory.
The rested stars provided the necessary spark to get it done
In Chicago, it was the Stankoven line that did a lot of heavy lifting early before the game was blown open. Against a better team, the Canes put the rested guys back on the ice. Those extra few days proved to be worthwhile. Three of the four goals came from that group, and they combined for seven points in the contest.
Andrei Svechnikov set a new best with his 31st goal and his first 70-point season. Jordan Staal is back in the 20-goal club for the first time in a decade. Sebastian Aho secured another 80-point campaign with his late goal. Jordan Martinook had a pair of helpers. Jaccob Slavin added an assist on Aho's goal. Not to be forgotten, Nikolaj Ehlers finished with helpers on the first two goals as well.
Andersen might've solidified his status as the Game 1 starter
It would be one thing to overreact to the Chicago win and make this claim. However, Frederik Andersen doubled down with his work in Salt Lake City. He looked cool, calm, and collected throughout the contest. He got whistles when the team needed him to, and he wasn't very leaky. That's two games in a row where we could say this about him.
Don't get me wrong, there's a chance that Brandon Bussi goes out there on Monday and plays a near-perfect game in Philadelphia to open the discussion up again. However, based on his recent play and his postseason pedigree, it's looking like Andersen's net. I might be the only one thinking it, though I find that highly unlikely.
Additional Thoughts
While this has been upbeat, I didn't think the Canes played the best game in the world. They allowed Utah to hang around way longer than they needed to, and the door was cracked a little when they got on the board. Honestly, I think Charles Alexis Legault's "fight", and that word needs to be used in loose terms, helped to get the tides back in the Canes' favor.
On a personal note, getting to watch this game in person was very cool. It's the first time I've seen a game outside of Raleigh in my life, and I'm aware that Utah was a weird place for my first road game. Still, the people of Utah know how to put on a show, and the atmosphere in the building when their team was pushing was electric. Postseason hockey in Salt Lake City will be very fun.
Up Next: The Carolina Hurricanes have two games remaining, coming in a back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday. It starts against the Philadelphia Flyers, who could be on the verge of securing the third spot in the Metropolitan Division. Then, the finale is on Long Island on Tuesday, where Matthew Schaeffer and the Islanders could be on the outside looking in.