The blues vs mammoth matchup arrives Thursday night in Utah with the St. Louis Blues closing their 2025-26 season and several lineup changes in place. Jonatan Berggren, Jack Finley and Justin Holl are set to return, while Jonathan Drouin, Matthew Kessel and Oskar Sundqvist will sit out, and Joel Hofer will start in net. Puck drop is scheduled for 6: 30 p. m. CT, with the Blues already out of playoff contention and looking to finish the year with sharper energy.
Final game, different tone
The game gives the Blues one last chance to reset the mood after a season that ends without a playoff berth. Head coach Jim Montgomery said the feeling is not the one he wants to carry forward, calling it “such a different, foreign feeling, ” and stressing that a strong offseason will be “really paramount. ”
St. Louis enters the finale with a projected forward group of Dylan Holloway, Robert Thomas and Jimmy Snuggerud on one line, followed by Jake Neighbours, Dalibor Dvorsky and Jonatan Berggren, then Pavel Buchnevich, Pius Suter and Jordan Kyrou, with Alexey Toropchenko, Jack Finley and Nathan Walker rounding out the depth. On defense, the pairing group listed is Philip Broberg with Logan Mailloux, Cam Fowler with Colton Parayko, and Tyler Tucker with Justin Holl. The blues vs mammoth game also comes after Jimmy Snuggerud scored two goals in the Blues’ 7-5 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
What the Mammoth bring
Utah enters at 43-32-6 overall and 13-10-2 in Central Division games, while St. Louis sits at 36-33-12 and 9-16-0 in division play. The Mammoth have committed 313 total penalties, ranking 10th in league play, and they won the previous meeting 4-2, with Nick Schmaltz scoring twice.
The most recent form also leans toward a lively game on both sides. Utah is 6-4-0 over its last 10, averaging 4. 2 goals, while the Blues are 6-3-1 and averaging four goals in that same span.
Immediate reactions and team context
Montgomery’s message centered on urgency and the need to avoid this same feeling again. The Blues have also shown a strong stretch since the Olympics, and Robert Thomas remains a central part of that push after piling up assists alongside Jimmy Snuggerud and Dylan Holloway.
For Utah, Clayton Keller leads the way with 26 goals and 60 assists, while Mikhail Sergachev has 13 assists over the past 10 games. The Mammoth also face some injury absences, with Barrett Hayton, Jack McBain and John Marino all listed out or day to day.
What happens next
With both clubs heading into the final night of the regular season, the focus shifts to execution, lineup management and one more clean performance. The blues vs mammoth matchup will tell whether St. Louis can carry its late-season urgency into one last road showing, even with the standings no longer on the line.
