Dallas Stars left winger Jason Robertson (21) fights for the puck against the Utah Mammoth defenseman John Marino (6) in the second period at the Delta Center on Thu Jan 15, 2026 (AP News photo)
By Tom Walker
SALT LAKE CITY–Utah Mammoth and Dallas Stars were scoreless for nearly two full periods, but Marino’s third period goal put the Mammoth over the top 2-1 as Utah goes 4-0-1 at home in the new year defeating Dallas Stars.
Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev took to the ice for his 600th career game on Thursday night as the Mammoth (23-20-4) squared off for the fifth game of seven on the current homestand against the visiting Dallas Stars (27-11-9). Courtesy of the Mammoth stat crew, Sergachev joins teammates Lawson Crouse, Nick Schmaltz, Alexander Kerfoot, and Clayton Keller in reaching the 600 game milestone in a Utah jersey.
The opening frame was a scoreless affair, as Dallas netminder Jake Oettinger stopped all ten Utah shots, and NHL wins leader Karel Vejmelka turned away the five shot attempts by the Stars.
The second period was well on its way to also being another scoreless frame, but with 7 ticks left on the clock Nick Schmaltz tipped in a perfect feed from John Marino for his 17th goal of the season, with the additional assist to Clayton Keller, for a 1-0 Mammoth lead as time expired.
With the assist by Keller, he and Schmaltz have combined on 200 goals in their careers, the first U.S.-born teammates to accomplish the feat. Oettinger stopped nine of ten shots in the period while Vejmelka remained perfect in shutting down 12 shots by the Stars.
At 1:39 of the third period, Utah forward Barrett Hayton went to the sin bin for hooking against Roope Hintz, giving Dallas an opportunity on the power play to even things up 25 seconds later on Mikko Rantanen’s 19th goal of the season, assisted by Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson.
Two minutes later, putting the puck on the net from along the dasher boards between the top of the faceoff circle and the blue line, Mammoth defenseman John Marino combined again with Nick Schmaltz to score his 4th goal of the season as his shot deflected off the body of Oettinger, high up and over his head, landing just behind the Stars netminder in the crease and trickling over the line to give Utah a 2-1 lead.
With 3:22 remaining in the game, Dallas pulled Oettinger for an extra attacker as the Stars continuously peppered Vejmelka for the rest of the game, but Veggie’s wall stood up to the onslaught to earn his league-leading 22nd win of the season. Vejmelka has allowed two or fewer goals in six of his first seven games in 2026. Improving to 4-0-1 at home in the new year, Utah’s 5-game home point streak is now the longest in franchise history.
In the locker room after the game, Schmaltz talked about this being a statement win for his squad. “That was awesome. We talked about stringing together wins, especially on home ice, and I thought those last two games on home ice were some of our best of the year. I think the way we competed no matter what the score is, if they get one, whatever, we come back and respond and (we) played hard right ‘til the end, so huge win.” The Mammoth have struggled at times to hold leads late in the 3rd period, and Schmaltz was asked about holding the lead int he final five minutes. “I think just try to limit their time and space. They’ve got a lot of good players over there, so just pressure them, try to make them make plays under pressure. Obviously Veggie made some big saves for us down the stretch, and Stenny and those guys were stuck out there for a while, but they did a great job. We won some big draws, and it was a heck of a team effort.” Indeed, Utah won 67% of their faceoffs on the night against one of the top faceoff teams in the league.
“They’re stingy, they don’t give up much,” Marino told the assembled media. “Got to play a patient game out there. Obviously, they’re a great hockey team, and they have been the last couple of years. So to be able to get that win, kind of have that confidence as a team going forward.” Commenting on the Stars push in the final minutes, Marino said, “I think everyone didn’t panic too much, whether the guys were out there, tired, everyone on the bench, no one was screaming, shouting, everyone was pretty comfortable with the situation. So we learn from that and go forward. … Veggie has been unbelievable for us here down the stretch, so you got to give him credit when credit is due. Besides that, it’s a whole team effort out there, guys blocking shots, sacrificing themselves, backchecking, just playing the right way. You get rewarded for it.”
Head Coach André Tourigny couldn’t have been more pleased with the performance of his players. “I think, first, prep second, intensity and focus from our players, help from the trench guys and Mads (John Madden) did a really good job to prep the guys on faceoffs. We knew Dallas was a top team in the league, top five on faceoffs, and they run a lot of plays through it, and they generate a lot of possessions. I think the guys were tuned in and did a really good job.” Speaking of the importance of beating a division rival ahead of Utah in the standings, Tourigny said, “We needed two points, we need to keep winning. Obviously, against our division, it’s always bigger, but I don’t think we’re at the point yet where Dallas is. So for us, we need to keep focusing on what we have to do, keep performing. We played a good game on both sides of the puck, offensively and defensively. That team was tough to play against. The process was good. The performance is good. Let’s bottle that up and keep going.” Offering his own take on shutting Dallas down in the closing minutes, Bear said, “I think we were poised, but had intensity. It’s always that you want to be calm, but you want to be intense. You want to be patient, but you want to be aggressive. It’s the same as wanting to be poised, but you want to be urgent. So I think we achieved that. The boys were in control, but really intense. They were urgent, but in control with some good poise.”
Utah (24-20-4) returns to home ice Saturday afternoon for a matinee tilt against the visiting Seattle Kraken (21-16-9) who lost Thursday night on the road in Boston.
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