Dylan Guenther Opened With Five Power-Play Points and Utah Heads to New Jersey After Its First Loss

Dylan Guenther has been the most dangerous power-play shooter in hockey through the first week of the season. The Utah Mammoth winger scored twice on the man advantage in Thursday's 6-0 home-opening win over Chicago, then added a power-play goal and two assists in Saturday's 4-1 win in Columbus. That is three goals and five points in two games, all of it on the power play, for a Utah unit that went 5-for-7 over those two games, per early-season tracking.

Sunday brought Utah's first loss and a scare. In a 4-2 defeat at Madison Square Garden, Rangers winger Will Cuylle drove Guenther into the boards from behind late in the second period. Guenther skated away unhurt, Cuylle took four minutes in penalties for boarding and roughing, and Nick Schmaltz punished the Rangers with a power-play goal 28 seconds later. With Utah continuing its road trip Tuesday in New Jersey, Guenther is a must-start, and the Mammoth's power play is the first special-teams stack DFS players should be building around this month.

How the first three games played out

Utah's opener was as complete as an NHL win gets. Karel Vejmelka made 15 saves for his ninth career shutout and the first home shutout in franchise history, Clayton Keller assisted on both of Guenther's power-play goals, and a franchise-record 14 different Mammoth players recorded a point. Anders Lee, Daniil But, Michael Carcone and Schmaltz also scored.

The Columbus game was a power-play clinic. Schmaltz scored twice for his 500th career point, Keller had two assists for his 600th, Mikhail Sergachev had a goal and an assist, and Utah scored three times with the man advantage. Sebastian Cossa stopped 15 of 16 shots in his Utah debut, which is useful information for anyone handicapping the back half of the road trip.

The loss in New York came on the second night of a back-to-back. Igor Shesterkin made 28 saves and assisted on an empty-net goal, and Utah managed only Schmaltz's power-play strike and an Andrew Peeke goal. Head coach Andre Tourigny said afterward that his team was impatient and forcing plays, and he pointed to some mental fatigue on the back end of the back-to-back. Jack McBain, Guenther's roommate the past two seasons, fought Cuylle later in the game.

Where Guenther fits in the lineup

Sunday's projected lines had Guenther on the right side of a second line with Logan Cooley and Anders Lee, behind a top trio of Keller, Schmaltz and Vincent Trocheck. Trocheck arrived from the Rangers on July 1 in the trade that sent Sean Durzi, Cole Beaudoin and a 2027 third-round pick to New York, and his presence gives Utah two legitimate scoring lines.

The fantasy value comes from the power play. Keller has set up Guenther repeatedly, Schmaltz and Sergachev have both scored on the man advantage, and Guenther's one-timer from the left faceoff dot has been the unit's finishing weapon. A five-on-five line with Cooley is a strong secondary floor, but Guenther's ceiling this month is tied directly to how often Utah draws penalties.

The fantasy fallout

Dylan Guenther: Start him everywhere. He is a premium power-play points contributor, and the Cuylle hit should not cost him any time. In leagues that count power-play points separately, his early production is a real category edge, not a fluke built on one game.

Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz: Both are riding the same unit. Keller's two-assist nights fit his playmaking profile, and Schmaltz's four goals in three games give the first line a finisher of its own. Both are locked-in starters.

Mikhail Sergachev: He is Utah's power-play quarterback on the back end and has already shown up on the scoresheet with the man advantage. He belongs in every lineup as a defense starter while this unit is converting.

Karel Vejmelka and Sebastian Cossa: Vejmelka is the starter, and the opener shows his upside behind a team that limits chances. Cossa has earned trust as a spot starter, and with Utah playing every other day on the rest of the trip, the backup should get at least one more start before the team returns home.

The Verdexed take

Utah's start reads as a team built to win special-teams battles, and that has betting implications. A power play converting at this rate will cool, but the personnel (Keller, Schmaltz, Guenther, Sergachev, plus Trocheck as an added weapon) is strong enough that Utah should remain a team to back against opponents with leaky penalty kills. Player props tied to Utah power-play shooters, and Guenther's shots on goal in particular, deserve attention whenever the opponent takes a lot of penalties.

The Rangers loss is a useful reminder about schedule spots. Utah was playing its third game in four days and looked tired. Bettors should treat that as a fatigue result rather than a warning sign, especially with a day of rest before each of the next three road games. For the model's view on Utah's upcoming games, see the NHL predictions page.

What's next

The every-other-day rhythm of the rest of the trip should keep Utah fresher than it was Sunday. The key items to track are whether the NHL Department of Player Safety takes any further look at the Cuylle hit, which drew only minor penalties in the game, and which goalie Tourigny names for New Jersey. For DFS, a Utah power-play stack of Keller, Schmaltz, Guenther and Sergachev remains the top build on any slate Utah plays, and Guenther is the one piece to hold onto in every format.