{"id":488060,"date":"2026-04-16T11:12:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=488060"},"modified":"2026-04-16T11:12:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:12:31","slug":"nhl-predictions-st-louis-blues-utah-mammoth-april-16th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2026\/04\/16\/nhl-predictions-st-louis-blues-utah-mammoth-april-16th\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: St. Louis Blues vs Utah Mammoth, April 16th"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to Game 82 of the 2025-26 NHL regular season for the St. Louis Blues and the Utah Mammoth<\/a>. Welcome back to NHL Predictions with us here at Last Word On Hockey<\/em>. This is where we break down key storylines, statistics, and analysis to try to decipher how the games will play out. One last game before the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs begin for the Mammoth, while the Blues miss out this year.<\/p>\n

NHL Predictions: St. Louis Blues vs Utah Mammoth<\/h2>\n

Head-to-Head: Mammoth 2-1 Blues<\/p>\n

How to Watch<\/a>:\u00a0<\/span>US TV: ESPN<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Time:<\/strong> 7:30 p<\/span>.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)<\/span><\/p>\n

Location: <\/strong>Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah<\/p>\n

The Blues Side<\/h3>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

The Blues (36-33-12) followed up their 96-point season with a down year, ending with just 84 points. After a first-round exit last year, St. Louis won\u2019t be part of the postseason this time around. This forced the Blues to be sellers at the NHL trade deadline, where they traded away the then captain Brayden Schenn<\/a> to the New York Islanders<\/a>, and Justin Faulk<\/a> to the Detroit Red Wings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Credit Image: \u00a9 Alex Cave\/ZUMA Press Wire<\/p>\n

There was plenty of uncertainty around Robert Thomas<\/a> and if he had played his last season in St. Louis, but no trade was made. The forward has 61 points in 63 games this season. The Blues are likely heading down a path for rebuild, stocking up on draft picks to get young talent. St. Louis acquired two 2026 first-round picks in the Schenn and Faulk trades, plus they’ll be looking for some draft lottery luck in May with their own pick.<\/p>\n

Joel Hofer<\/a> (23-13-5) is expected to start in goal for the Blues against Utah.<\/p>\n

Injuries: None<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

The Mammoth Side<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

After clinching the first Stanley Cup Playoff berth in franchise history, the Mammoth (43-32-6) are ready to prove themselves. Karel Vejmelka<\/a> has made a strong case to be Utah’s MVP this season. The goaltender is second in the NHL with a career-high 38 wins, and has also faced the second-most shots in the league. He most recently helped the Mammoth defeat the Winnipeg Jets<\/a> 5-3 on Tuesday. Utah’s locked in the first Wild Card in the West, so they’ll face the Vegas Golden Knights<\/a> in Round One.<\/p>\n

Dylan Guenther<\/a> has had arguably the biggest breakout season for the Mammoth. The 22-year-old winger reached the 40-goal mark and 70+ points for the first time in his career. He leads the team in both even-strength goals with 31 and shots on goal with 242. Guenther will undoubtedly be a key player for Utah in the postseason.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Mammoth will likely rest Vejmelka due to his heavy workload this season, so he\u2019ll rest up ahead of Game 1. Vitek Vanecek<\/a> (5-12-3) should get the start versus the Blues.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Injuries: <\/strong>Sean Durzi<\/a>– Upper-Body (DAY-TO-DAY); <\/span>Barrett Hayton<\/a>– Upper-Body (OUT)<\/span>; Jack McBain<\/a>\u2013 Lower-Body (OUT)<\/span><\/div>\n

Prediction<\/h3>\n

In this matchup, one team is certainly better than the other because only one\u2019s in the playoffs. Of course we\u2019re talking about the Mammoth. The Blues have had problems scoring and defending for much of the year, so this\u2019ll be a challenge. St. Louis ranks 27th in goals for, and 21st in goals against. While Utah sits in the top 10 for both categories. Vanecek\u2019s struggled to get wins this season, which could help the Blues win. However, the Mammoth will take this game.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Mammoth win 4-2<\/em><\/p>\n

Prop Bets<\/h3>\n

Any time goal scorers:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lawson Crouse- Many of the top Mammoth players might be out due to resting for the playoffs. So if Crouse plays, he could get one. Has three goals in the last six games.<\/p>\n

Pavel Buchnevich- Buchnevich has scored in each of the last two games and hopes to hit the 20-goal mark for the sixth consecutive year.<\/p>\n

Projected lineups are based on available data at the time of writing. Please check social media and official team sources for the very latest lineup news before locking in any daily fantasy roster or prop wagers.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo: Peter Creveling-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions; some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to Game 82 of the 2025-26 NHL regular season for the St. Louis Blues and the Utah Mammoth. Welcome back to NHL Predictions with us here at Last Word On Hockey. This is where we break down key storylines, statistics, and analysis to try to decipher how the games will play out. One last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5373,"featured_media":488272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,4547,4548,4524,32],"tags":[6061,8231],"class_list":["post-488060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mammoth","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-nhl-predictions","category-blues","tag-st-louis-blues-predictions","tag-utah-mammoth-predictions"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5373"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488060"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":488275,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488060\/revisions\/488275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}