Early look The full preview opens on Saturday 27 March, three days before puck drop, with the expected goalies, the latest team news and game-day prices. Until then this page shows the matchup as it stands.
Early look · NHL 2026-27

Utah Mammoth at Seattle Kraken: game preview

Puck drop30 Mar · 9:40 PM ET
VenueClimate Pledge Arena
All-time meetings6 completed
BasisLast 5 meetings + 2025-26
The thesis

Thirteen points apart last season

Utah finished last season 15th in the league on 92 points. Seattle finished 27th on 79.

Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.

Head-to-head

Meeting number 7

Across 6 completed games, Utah lead the head-to-head 4-2-0.

All-time record4-2-0Utah's record in the series
Meetings played6This is number 7
2025-26 series—
Last 54-1Utah
DateResultShotsPower playWinner
2 Apr 2026UTA 6 – SEA 2——UTA
17 Jan 2026SEA 3 – UTA 6——UTA
12 Dec 2025SEA 3 – UTA 5——UTA
8 Apr 2025SEA 1 – UTA 7——UTA
14 Mar 2025UTA 2 – SEA 4——SEA
Head-to-head finder

The table on each 2025-26 meeting night

DateUtahSeattle
12 Dec 202515-15-3 · 33 pts21st12-11-6 · 30 pts27th
17 Jan 202625-20-4 · 54 pts16th21-17-9 · 51 pts19th
2 Apr 202639-30-6 · 84 pts18th32-31-11 · 75 pts27th

League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 12 Dec 2025, Utah were 21st in the league and Seattle 27th. By 2 Apr 2026 it was 18th and 27th.


Where the shots come from · last 5 meetings

Utah out-attempted Seattle 209 to 175

Every attempt from the last meetings, both teams shooting right.

Utah Mammoth

209 att · 95 on goal · 17 G · 17.9%
Crease17 att · 3 G
Slot78 att · 8 G
Wing72 att · 5 G
Point33 att · 1 G
Neutral zone9 att · 0 G

Seattle Kraken

175 att · 85 on goal · 8 G · 9.4%
Crease15 att · 1 G
Slot63 att · 6 G
Wing69 att · 1 G
Point25 att · 0 G
Neutral zone3 att · 0 G
GoalOn goalMissedBlocked

Expected goals

Utah have created the better chances, last 10 games

Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.

UtahSeattle
3.62xG for per game2.60
2.71xG against per game3.14
57.2%xG share45.3%
+2.5FinishingGoals minus expected goals+4.6
+2.8GoaltendingExpected goals against minus goals allowed+1.6

This season: 4 games for Utah, 4 for Seattle. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.

Every team’s xG →


Special teams

Power play and penalty kill, season and series

This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.

All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings

Utah

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2761.5%
Power play · 2025-2620.0% · 18th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2792.9%
Penalty kill · 2025-2678.1% · 19th
Faceoffs · 2026-2753.0% · 124/234
Drawn · 2026-2713 (3.25/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2714 (3.50/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Seattle

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2725.0%
Power play · 2025-2619.5% · 20th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2772.7%
Penalty kill · 2025-2672.2% · 31st
Faceoffs · 2026-2749.6% · 121/244
Drawn · 2026-2712 (3.00/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2711 (2.75/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Skaters

Skaters to watch

Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away.

PlayerGPGAPP/GP
8Nick Schmaltz45271.75
11Dylan Guenther43361.50
19Jared McCann41451.25
7Jordan Eberle42241.00
Points leaders
PlayerGPGAPP/GP
20Andrew Peeke41120.50
29Vince Dunn41341.00
62Brandon Montour40220.50
41Ryker Evans40220.50
Defencemen stats

Goaltending

Who has stopped this matchup

Save percentage in the last meetings by goalie. Starters are confirmed on game day.

Expected startersAn estimate until the teams confirmEvery game tonight →

Expected starter after their game on 26 Mar: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Expected starter after their game on 28 Mar: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Utah crease

UTA · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 27 Mar

Karel Vejmelka.9133 GP · 2-1-0 · GSAx +1.7
Sebastian Cossa.9471 GP · 1-0-0 · GSAx +1.4

No appearances against Seattle in the last meetings.

Seattle crease

SEA · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 27 Mar

Joey Daccord.9113 GP · 2-1-0 · GSAx +1.0
Philipp Grubauer.9062 GP · 0-1-0 · GSAx +1.1

No appearances against Utah in the last meetings.


Totals

Scoring rates point to about 6.1 goals

No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.

Goals in the last 5 meetings

2 Apr 20268 · UTA 6–2 SEA
17 Jan 20269 · SEA 3–6 UTA
12 Dec 20258 · SEA 3–5 UTA
8 Apr 20258 · SEA 1–7 UTA
14 Mar 20256 · UTA 2–4 SEA

Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.

Scoring rates

Team26-27 GF26-27 GA25-26 GF25-26 GA
Utah4.252.003.272.93
Seattle3.752.752.763.21

Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.

Scoring rates suggest6.1Goals in this game
Last 5 meetings7.8Goals per game
Line—No total posted yet
Books at the line—With the game-day prices

Team news

5 on the injury lists

Utah · injuries

Maveric LamoureuxShoulderIRReturn12 Feb
Mikhail SergachevUpper BodyDay-to-dayReturn8 Oct

Seattle · injuries

Jacob MelansonUpper BodyIRReturn17 Oct
Jake O'BrienLower BodyIRReturn24 Oct
Ryan LindgrenUpper BodyDay-to-dayReturn9 Oct
27 Sep · UTA

Placed LW Ben McCartney on waivers.

25 Sep · UTA

Assigned Fs Yegor Borikov, Caleb Desnoyers, Tij Iginla, Gabe Smith and G Michael Hrabal to Tucson (AHL). Waived for the purpose of assignment to Fs Brandon Tanev and Joshua Roy and D Zac Jones.

23 Jul 2026 · UTA

Signed D Max Psenicka to a three-year contract.

3 Oct · SEA

Activated RW/C Mackie Samoskevich from injured reserve. Placed RW Jacob Melanson on injured reserve.

27 Sep · SEA

Placed C Jake O'Brien and RW Mackie Samoskevich on injured reserve.

21 Sep · SEA

Placed F Jon-Randall Avon, F John Hayden, F Logan Morrison and G Victor Ostman on waivers.

Injury report
#17Ethan BelchetzRound 1 · WindsorLW
#96Adam ValentiniRound 3 · MichiganC
#115Carl AxelssonRound 4 · MuskegonG
#130Theodor KnightsRound 5 · Modo Jr.D
Full draft
#7Chase ReidRound 1 · Sault Ste. MarieD
#38Casey MutrynRound 2 · Usa U-18RW
#99Viktor FedorovRound 4 · Torpedo-gorky NnC
#131Finn KearnsRound 5 · St. Andrews CollegeD
Full draft

Updated after every final