Category: Utah Hockey Club

Utah Mammoth game wrap:Utah Activates Afterburners, Shooting Down Jets 4-3 In Overtime 

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Winnipeg Jets center Cole Pefetti (91) battles for the puck against the Utah Mammoth defenseman John Marino (6) in the second period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sun Dec 21, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah Mammoth Alexander Kerfoot scores in second appearance following return, and Clayton Keller gets the OT game-winner in final home game before Christmas in 4-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets.

The Mammoth (17-17-3) wrapped up their brief two-game homestand on Sunday evening, their final home game before Christmas, against division rival Jets (15-17-2).

At 5:17 of the first period, Mammoth forward Dylan Guenther lined a bullet just wide right of the Winnipeg net which ricocheted off the rear dasher boards and past the left side of the net to linemate Lawson Crouse who put the puck past Connor Hellebuyck for his 9th goal of the season, with the additional assist going to Barrett Hayton. 

Crouse is now just three goals shy of his 2024-2025 scoring mark.  A little more than four minutes later, Utah captain Clayton Keller found JJ Peterka in front of the net and wired a perfect lateral pass from behind the goal line and onto Peterka’s stick who knocked the puck in for his 14th goal of the season, with Nick Schmaltz picking up the additional assist, increasing the Mammoth lead to 2-0.

Peterka now trails only Dylan Guenther for the team in goals. In an opening period with very few shots on goal, Hellebuyck turned away 5 of 7 while Utah netminder Karel Vejmelka stopped all four shots by the Jets.

Three minutes into the second period, a series of crisp tic-tac-toe passes from the Mammoth offense concluded with Kerfoot, playing in just his second game of the season since returning from injury, blasting a slap shot past Hellebuyck, who was screened by Liam O’Brien, for his first goal of the year, assisted by Sean Durzi and Mikhail Sergachev to make it 3-0 Utah. 

It was Kerfoot’s first goal since last March 30 at Chicago. Shortly past the halfway mark of the period, O’Brien went to the sin bin for interference against Neal Pionk, and Winnipeg forward Kyle Connor cashed in the power play goal for his 16th of the season, assisted by Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi, narrowing the gap to 3-1.  Shots on goal remained on the low side in the second period, with each netminder turning away 7 of 8.

With less than 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd period, the Jets scored 2 goals in 25 seconds to suddenly even the score at 3-3 with 4:12 to play.  First, Kyle Connor scored his second of the game with a slap shot for his 17th on the season, assisted by Josh Morrissey and Mark Scheifele. Then Morgan Barron netted his 7th of the season on a snap shot, assisted by Tanner Pearson.  The remainder of the period, both teams played not to lose rather than making any aggressive moves which might backfire.

The Mammoth wasted no time in the overtime period, with Keller scoring the game-winner just 13 seconds into the frame, the fastest overtime goal in franchise history, assisted by Dylan Guenther and Mikhail Sergachev. 

Keller’s 12 goal of the season, and third game-winner, improved Utah’s home record to 9-6-1, and 18-17-3 overall.  He leads the Mammoth with ten multi-point games this season.  Vejmelka is tied for the NHL lead with 15 wins.

During his postgame remarks, Lawson Crouse talked about the final five minutes of the game.  “Yeah, we made it interesting for ourselves,” Crouse began. “Obviously I feel like Gunner has been clutching in OT all season long. Incredible pass, incredible shot by Kells. Definitely not the way we wanted the third period to go. But credit to our group. That’s not easy. They scored two right away and then right into OT pretty much so credit to the group for having the right mindset and being able to get the win.” Crouse described the team’s biggest asset as “the way that we play in unison with each other. I think when we’re playing at our best, we’re getting pucks in deep and we’re taking away time and space of the opponent. We just have to get to that and stick to that for 60 minutes.” He was particularly happy for Kerfoot to get his first goal of the season.  “We’re so happy and proud to have him back in our lineup. He fills a big hole for our group as a leader. Just super proud and happy for him.”

Captain Clayton Keller said that the third period was “obviously not great.” He continued, “We still have to make plays, even if we’re winning. Whatever the score is, they’re gonna make a push. That’s something that we’ve talked about and tried to get better at. I think just learning from it. You’d rather mess up and try to do the right thing than just be safe and see what happens. I think that’s something that we have to learn from and do moving forward.” He was also happy to have Kerfoot back in the lineup.  “He’s such a great player. He can play anywhere in the lineup. He’s a great leader, someone that we missed when he was out. Just all the little things that he does on the bench, during the game, in the locker room. I can’t say enough great things about Kerf and how good of a person he is and player as well. It’s awesome getting him back. We definitely have had more juice since he’s been back.”

Utah Mammoth Head Coach André Tourigny’s opened his postgame comments by saying, “There is quite a bit to unpack from that game. That was a huge and important game against a division rival. They found a way to win and get the two points. We had a two-goal lead in the third. I would’ve loved to close that game right there. I think they got a little bit nervous and lost their composure with the puck. Like I often say, there are two important things when you’re protecting a lead: it is having poise with the puck… Having poise with the puck doesn’t mean being slow; it means being fast, keeping your feet moving, moving the puck, and having a lot of pace defensively, which is our strength. They had one scoring chance in the first 13 minutes of the third because we had pace, because we’re on them. Then, we became a little too conservative, and they were able to come back. Without spending too much time on that, we need to retain them when they tie the game. How we responded was taking the momentum back. We went, we forechecked, we had good opportunities and possession in their zone, and from there, they had nothing. That was a good response. There are many teaching moments in that game, and many things we can do better. But there are things we can build on. We played 53 minutes of really good hockey, and we deserve to have the lead by two goals. We stumbled for a little while, and we need to learn from it, get better, and take that seriously. At the same time, we can also be proud of when adversity was there, we responded right away, and we were really strong in our finish and found a way to get the two points. We had a little bit of everything today.”

Talking about the first two periods, Bear said, “Well, I will say four lines contributed. The line that did not score was absolutely elite at shutting down one of the best lines in the league, and they played a hell of a game. They scored a goal as well, but I am really proud of the way Hays, Gunner, and Crosser handled it. Sometimes, the way I match lines, I am not a hard match line guy, which causes them a little bit of ice time. It is a big pill to swallow for them, but they do it for the benefit of the team. I always want to make sure the line is playing against the top line, and the other side is fresh. I don’t want a tired line. Sometimes, as I said, it causes them a little bit of ice time. But they manage it like pros, and they did a really good job. I am really proud of them, no doubt about it. We talked about a little bit of adjustment we wanted in the O-zone and it paid off. The boys did a good job. We scored a goal under those kinds of restrictions; we still score in the blue paint. We won a lot of battles, so there were a lot of positives against the team to defend really well.”

Tourigny acknowledged that the game had its flaws. “Well, I can’t say that today was a Picasso, to be honest. We were nervous with the puck in our zone, but we were at the offensive blue line, turning the puck over. That is a teaching moment. The intention was right, but we still have to grow, understand it, and buy in 100%. They opened the door, they came in, and that could have hurt us big time. Every point is important. We have one more game before Christmas, and it will be a good test. It is the best team in the league, and we need to manage the game the right way.”

The Mammoth will play the Avalanche on Tuesday in Colorado, and then return to Delta Center for a single game against the Nashville Predators following the Christmas break before ringing in the new year in the greater New York area with a January 1st game against the Islanders followed by contests against the Devils and Rangers before returning home for a season-long 7-game homestand beginning January 7 against the Ottawa Senators.

Utah Mammoth game wrap: But Dials Up First NHL Goal In 2-1 Mammoth Loss To Devils

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

The New Jersey Devils right wing Stefan Noesen (11) scores a goal past Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) in the third period at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Fri Dec 19, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Daniil But scored his first NHL goal in his tenth career game, but New Jersey comes from behind to defeat Utah 2-1.

Having won two out of three on their recent road trip, the Utah Mammoth (17-16-3) returned to Delta Center on Friday night for the first of two games on a brief homestand, squaring off against the New Jersey Devils (19-14-1) who have lost seven of their last ten contests.

Making his season debut for Utah was forward Alexander Kerfoot, originally a Devils fifth round draft pick in 2012, who returned after missing 36 games following a procedure to repair a core muscle injury. In the Mammoth net was Karel Vejmelka, who entered the game leading the NHL with 15 victories.

At 9:35 of the first period, 6’5″ 20-year old Russian rookie Daniil But, who was recently called up from the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL, scored his first career NHL goal with a highlight-reel backhand in front of the Devils net, assisted by defenseman Sean Durzi, giving Utah a 1-0 lead.

As But celebrated his first goal, fans erupted into cheers which sounded like boos, because But’s last name is pronounced like “boot.” Among his teammates, however, But is known as “Cheeks,” a nickname bestowed by defenseman Nate Schmidt.

Utah selected But 12th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft. Last season he skated in 54 games with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the KHL where he scored 9 goals and 19 assists in 54 games en route to his team winning the league’s Gagarin Cup. The Mammoth took the one-goal lead into the locker room after 20 minutes, with Vejmelka having stopped all 9 New Jersey shots.

The Devils tied things up at 11:21 of the second period when winger Connor Brown put a snap shot past Vejmelka for his ninth goal of the season, assisted by Nico Hischier and Dougie Hamilton. Other than that, both goaltenders held down their respective nets for the balance of the period. Through two periods of play, New Jersey goalie Jacob Markstrom saved 23 of 24 shots, and Vejmelka turned away 14 of 15.

Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev gave the Devils a power play at 3:11 of the third period for tripping against Jesper Bratt. A little more than a minute into the penalty, New Jersey forward Stefan Noesen cashed it in for his 3rd goal of the season, assisted by Hischier and Luke Hughes, to give the Devils their first lead of the game, 2-1. That goal would stand up as the game-winner as both goaltenders shut down the opposition the rest of the way.

In the Mammoth locker room, Kerfoot gave his first post-game interview of the season. “Yeah, it’s a tight game. One play kind of makes a difference, and when we score a power play goal, they score a power play goal,” Kerfoot said. “We had some looks there six-on-five to tie it up, but I thought overall, it was a pretty good hockey game, but they just made one more play than we did.” Asked how he felt in his first game back, Kerfoot said, “I’ve never gone through an injury like this. This season, I feel like more than ever, because the schedule is so condensed, we haven’t had practice time really at all. I haven’t gotten into a practice. So, my first couple shifts, it was just feeling, trying to keep it short. But overall, the game felt fast, but I felt good and felt like my touches were good when I was out there, and just got to keep building.” With regard to Daniil But’s first NHL goal, Kerfoot remarked, “Yeah, it’s great to see. Awesome moment for him. He’s a young kid who’s going to score lots of goals in this league. He’s had some looks, so it was nice for him to see one go in, and hopefully the floodgates open for him. I’ve thought that he’s been around the puck around the net, and it was just a matter of time before he got one.”

Daniil But’s excitement over his goal carried over from the ice and into the locker room. “I am not going to lie, it felt good when I scored,” But said, “but the most important thing is winning, and we lost today.” When asked what the team needs to do better moving forward, But’s answer was concise and to the point, “maybe more shots and guys in front of the net.”

Utah Mammoth Head Coach André Tourigny opened his postgame comments by saying, “We did a lot of good stuff. Dominated scoring, chances, shots, things like that. But, at the same time, they scored a big goal on their power play, then made a mistake, and on the rebound, we had an opportunity to put the game away when we had the lead and could not score the big goal or take advantage of our opportunity. In the third, they did a good job. Give them credit. At the same time, we need to find a way to put pucks in the net, to find seams, and to create more chaos, but we could not find a way to find seams and put pucks in the net.” Talking about the goal by Cheeks, Tourigny added, “It was a matter of time. He is playing good hockey, and there was no doubt it was coming. I am happy for him; it was an important goal for us.”

Utah (17-17-3) will play the Winnipeg Jets (15-17-2) at the Delta Center on Sunday afternoon before traveling to Colorado for their last game prior to the Christmas break on Tuesday.

Mammoth Slays The Kraken 5-3

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Utah Mammoth center Nick Schmaltz takes a shot on goal before their game against the Montreal Canadiens at the Delta Center on Fri Dec 12, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Nick Schmaltz had a goal and two assists as the Utah Mammoth goes back on the win column to close out homestand with a win over the Seattle Kraken 5-3.

Fresh off the news that team-leading goal scorer Logan Cooley is expected to miss the next 8 weeks with a lower body injury, the Utah Mammoth (14-15-3) took to the ice on Friday night against the visiting Seattle Kraken (12-10-6) hoping to overcome a stretch in which they have lost seven of nine.

Seattle hasn’t fared much better of late, having lost seven of their last seven. Returning to the ice for Utah was defenseman Olli Määttä who had sat out the previous eight games with an upper-body injury.

Neither team was able to get on the scoreboard in the opening period, with each side failing to score on the power play. Kraken netminder Philipp Grubauer stopped all 11 Mammoth shots, and Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka turned away all nine shots by Seattle.

Kraken forward Mason Marchment got Seattle going at 3:35 of the second period with his third goal of the season, assisted by Freddy Gaudreau and Chandler Stephenson. At 8:09 of the frame Mammoth forward Nick Schmaltz snagged a loose puck in the Utah defensive zone and went the distance on a breakaway to even things up with his 12th goal of the season, unassisted.

At 13:24, a shot by Mammoth forward Kailer Yamamoto which got past Grubauer was waived off for goaltender interference by Liam O’Brien. Fans in the arena were vocal as the in-house replay showed O’Brien outside the crease and not engaging in any particular physical contact with Grubauer.

Utah head coach André Tourigny challenged the call, and the replay officials agreed with him to overturn the referee on the ice to the roaring approval of the Mammoth faithful. Yamamoto’s goal was his 4th of the season, assisted by O’Brien and Kevin Stenlund.

Utah has won five of six coach’s challenges so far this season, most in the NHL. Utah took the 2-1 lead to the locker room, with Vejmelka having stopped 14 of 15 Seattle shots while Grubauer turned away 11 of 13.

The Mammoth put themselves in a tight spot at 5:13 of the third period when defenseman John Marino took a slashing penalty against Jordan Eberle followed 18 seconds later with a delay of game penalty by defenseman Ian Cole who shot the puck over the glass from the defensive zone.

Utah’s penalty killing unit fought off the minute and 42 seconds 5-on-3, with Vejmelka making four great saves in addition to the defensive efforts of his teammates. A couple of minutes later, however, Mason Marchment struck again for the Kraken to double his season goal total at four, assisted by Ryan Lindgren and Brandon Montour, evening the score again at two apiece.

Lindgren gave the Mammoth a man-advantage opportunity at 12:34 when he took a trip to the sin bin for cross-checking against John Marino. The struggling Utah power play unit capitalized on the penalty with Dylan Guenther drilling a slap shot past Grubauer for his 14th goal of the season, tying him for the team lead, assisted by Schmaltz and Mikhail Sergachev putting the Mammoth ahead 3-2.

With Grubauer pulled for an extra attacker with a little more than two minutes to play, Utah forward JJ Peterka took a short pass from deep in the Mammoth defensive zone and flew down the ice, dodging four different Seattle skaters as he drove coast-to-coast and backhanded a shot while diving to the ice into the empty net to ice the game 4-2.

Peterka’s goal was his 13th on the season, assisted by Kevin Stenlund. With Grubauer still sitting on the bench for an extra attacker, Lawson Crouse made it 5-2 with 62 seconds left, launching his 8th goal of the season into the empty net, assisted by Schmaltz and Kevin Stenlund.

With 43 seconds remaining in the game, Kraken forward Ben Meyers flung a wrist shot past Vejmelka to make the score 5-3, but that would be the end of the Seattle threat as Utah finished the homestand on a winning note, sporting a 8-5-1 home record so far this season.

After the game, Nick Schmaltz talked about the “it” factor for the team in playing a complete game. “When we’re moving our feet, making plays, using our transition game against teams…We knew they weren’t as good off the rush and so we wanted to exploit that. I thought we did a good job tonight. Whether they scored or we scored, I thought we managed our emotions pretty well and kept fighting. It was a big two points.” Commenting on the mindset of playing with a lead in the third period, Schmaltz remarked, “I feel like we’ve been on the wrong side of a lot of one-goal games lately. It’s huge for our confidence to be able to (win one). Even though they tied it up, we get one on the power play and the power play wins it for us. That’s huge for our team and for the power play…We’ve got to be better, myself included. That was huge.” Schmaltz invoked the word “huge” again when talking about the 5-on-3 penalty kill. “That’s huge. 5-on-3 for a minute and 40 seconds is no joke. It’s usually your goalie that’s your best penalty killer in those situations, and (Karel Vejmelka) was great. He made some crazy saves with guys ringing one-timers off his head and whatnot. He was great.”

“(Everyone) was really good. It’s tough when you’re out there for a minute and 30 seconds. You get tired,” said forward Dylan Guenther. “They hung in there and they blocked shots. (The PK) was a big part of that win.” When asked about his power play goal, Guenther explained, “We’ve talked about loose puck recoveries. We did a really good job getting (the puck) back. When (Nick Schmaltz) got in the middle there, it was a tough play for them. He made a really nice pass.” With Logan Cooley out of commission through the Olympic break, Guenther said, “I think everyone has to step up. It’s not like one player is going to fill that space. That’s a huge role to fill. We just need a little bit better from everybody.”

Head Coach André Tourigny began his post-game remarks by saying, “I liked the result, that’s an easy one. I liked the way we went at the net, and we generated offense against a super stingy team. They are a little bit like Florida and LA. I think we keep improving offensively. I liked that part. There are things to clean up for us defensively, but I think we’re progressing offensively. We play with a lot of energy around the net, and now we break down teams with more shot volume and net presence. I like the fact that we have more weapons for us.” Special teams came up big for the Mammoth when it mattered most. Bear commented, “It’s not just producing, it’s producing when you need a goal. It’s when it’s a key opportunity. That they did on the power play. On the flip side, the PK was unreal. Five-on-three like that, when you lead by one, lose the lead after, but we’re leading by one at the moment. That was huge. Veg (Karel Vjemelka) was rock solid, but the entire PK unit was rock solid. There were block shots, good reads, good sticks, and good clearings. There was a lot of good stuff.” When asked about Schmaltz who recorded 3 points on the night, Tourigny said, “He works so hard. Sometimes it goes under the radar. He’s always at the net offensively. He drives that line, no doubt about it, in the sense that he is at the net all the time. He does all the dirty work, and he’s elite defensively. He’s always the first guy back, and he’s playing down low. He will sleep well tonight, and I guarantee that. He works really hard.” Tourigny also credited the video team for recommending the challenge to Yamamoto’s goal. “I think Hunter Cherni and Alec Rippetoe (video coaches) did very well. What you have to understand is the follow-up of daily calls in the NHL, and to stay on top of the rules and how every call goes. When I saw that, I’m not studying as much as them. When I saw the play, I said we need to make sure. He was really adamant about it. There was no doubt in his head. Really good job, and it was a key call at a key time, and that turned the game around a little bit.”

Utah (15-15-3) now hits the road for a trio of games against Pittsburgh, Boston, and Detroit before returning to Delta Center next Friday to face the New Jersey Devils.

Kings Double Up Mammoth 4-2 To Open Homestand

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Utah Mammoth Daniil (19) battles with the Los Angeles Kings Cody Ceci (5) at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Mon Dec 8, 2025 (Utah Mammoth photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Los Angeles struck twice in the first period and never looked back while defeating deflated Utah.

The Utah Mammoth (14-13-3) returned to Delta Center on Monday night to face the Los Angeles Kings (13-8-7)  following a six game road trip in which the team went 2-4-0. The road trip began on a tragic note when the father of Mammoth captain Clayton Keller passed away unexpectedly Thanksgiving night. Keller played the following day in a tough 4-3 loss at Dallas, and then again the following night in his hometown of St. Louis where the Mammoth fell 1-0 to the Blues.

Utah would go on to lose their fourth consecutive game in San Jose, 6-3, before breaking out with a 7-0 shellacking of the Pacific Division leading Anaheim Ducks.  Following a 4-1 victory against the Canucks in Vancouver, the road trip concluded in Calgary where the Flames shut out the Mammoth 2-0. 

Adding injury to insult, Utah forward Logan Cooley, who leads the Mammoth with 14 goals and is 3rd in points with 23, sustained a lower-body injury in Vancouver which will keep him out of the lineup indefinitely.

When the puck dropped in the first period, Utah radio play-by-play announcer Matt McConnell officially registered his 2000th NHL game behind the microphone.  His 29-season broadcasting career began in 1993 with the expansion Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and then continued with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Atlanta Thrashers, Minnesota Wild, and in 2011 he landed with the Phoenix Coyotes which were renamed the Arizona Coyotes before the 2014-2015 season.

When the assets of the Coyotes were sold and the team relocated to Salt Lake City, McConnell remained behind the mic for the new franchise.

Kings forward Adrian Kempe gave Los Angeles the first lead of the game with a backhand shot at 7:50 of the first period for his 10th goal of the season, assisted by Kevin Fiala.  Just over two minutes later, Fiala assisted on a breakaway goal by Joel Armia, his 6th on the year, to put the Kings up 2-0. 

At 11:05 of the frame, Mammoth forward Brandon Tanev had a breakaway of his own which he put into the back of the net, however the replay showed he was unquestioningly offside and L.A. held onto its two-goal lead heading into the locker room. Kings netminder Darcy Kuemper turned away all 7 Utah shots in the period, and Mammoth goalie Karel Vejmelka stopped 10 of 12.

Utah began the 2nd period on the power play, courtesy of an interference penalty by Andrei Kuzmenko against Dylan Guenther which carried over from the first period.  Just 34 seconds into the period, as fans were still settling into their seats, Clayton Keller fed Guenther a perfect pass which he one-timed into the Kings net for his 11th goal of the season to bring the Mammoth to within one, with defenseman Mikhail Sergachev picking up the second assist.

The goal is the fastest to begin a period so far this season for Utah.  Guenther’s 3rd power play goal of the season ties him for the team lead with Nick Schmaltz and Logan Cooley.  His 7th one-timer goal of the season also ranks third-most in the NHL.  The period would end with Kuemper stopping 5 of 6 shots, and Vejmelka turning away all 7 attempts by L.A.

In the 3rd, Kings captain Anze Kopitar put a backhand shot past Vejmelka for his 6th goal of the season at 3:27, assisted by Kempe and Joel Edmundson, to restore L.A.’s two-goal advantage.  At 12:15 of the third, Clayton Keller brought Utah back to within a goal with a beautiful backhand top shelf shot which Kuemper had absolutely no chance to save.

Keller’s 10th of the season was assisted by Nick Schmaltz and JJ Peterka who joined the top line in place of the injured Cooley. With Vejmelka pulled for the extra attacker, Kings forward Joel Armia scored his second goal of the game into an empty net, unassisted, to put the game away 4-2.

Utah Mammoth forward Brandon Tanev addressed the media after the game.  “Disappointed we didn’t get the two points. That’s a team that likes to play stingy through the neutral zone, and to generate offense, you’ve got to be simple with the puck. Get pucks to the net and ultimately create traffic. I think we did a little bit of that, but we didn’t do enough at the end of the day.” Talking about what the team needs to do moving forward, Tanev said, “I think we understood that wasn’t our best tonight, even though we fought and clawed at the end there. That’s a good hockey team. At the end of the day, we need to understand what makes us successful. Work on that in practice, and then we’ve got to get back here for the next one.”

Captain Clayton Keller commented, “Not a great first from us. They’re an experienced team. They’re structured. They defend really hard, and they made it tough on us in the first. We were able to kind of bounce back in the second. That’s one of our best second periods of the year in terms of everything. Game management and trying to outchange them and use our speed. It sucks to have that little push there and not be able to get it done.” Weighing in on what needs to be better, Keller stated bluntly, “Starting on time is obviously a big one. We’re a tough team to play against, and I think that’s the main thing from us. We know what we have to do each night. The coaches do a great job telling us how we have to play and how we can break them down and have success. Our execution was a little sloppy tonight, but as the game went on, it got a little bit better.” Talking about the third period he added, “There’s never any quit in this room. Guys play for one another. It sucks to not get the win. We did kind of push there. There are moments where we have a chance to score on the six-on-five, and we have to find a way to do it. Teams have done it to us, and that’s something over the last two years that we haven’t been able to do. That’s something that we can take away from it. Really dial that in. Practice it. Watch video. Our coaches do a great job, and it’s on us to execute and go out there and do it.”

Head Coach André Tourigny began his post-game remarks by saying, “We obviously didn’t have the start we were hoping for, and we needed to. Against that kind of team, it is tough to create offense. I like the way we played in the second and third. I thought we competed really hard, and our effort was there; the focus was there. Unfortunately, when you have that kind of a start, I often repeat in front of you, it’s a one-goal game all the time, so you cannot give any free opportunities to your opponent. I didn’t like our start, and, like I said, a really good second and third.”  Bear continued, “I think what LA does really well is counterattack. If you mismanage the puck or if you force play, they counterattack. In the first period, we definitely gave them too much space. We let them take the middle on the rush, so they had too many entries. I think after the guys adjusted well and did a really good job at it. But they’re number one in the league at certain things, for a reason, and I think by giving them the lead, it made them play in their strength even more so that was the unfortunate part of the night, because I think the effort, as I said, was good in the second and the third.”  During morning practice one of the players commented that the team was playing too much on the perimeter. Tourigny agreed.  “I think tonight we did. But I think tonight you could see in the third and the second we went in there, in the dirty area, and we got a few tips and a few rebounds. And I think the effort from the guys was definitely there.”

When a reporter for KSL.com noted that fans at Monday night’s game gathered to write letters to Keller after the unexpected passing of his father, Tourigny responded, “The community has a heart in the right place, there is no doubt about it.  We saw it last year when Ingram was going through a tough time, and again now they rally [for] Kells. I think when we often talk about home, how important are our fans, and how much we care and how much they care for us. I think I often talk about a relationship, I think always in tough moments you see who you can rely on.”  

The Mammoth (14-14-3) return to the ice Wednesday for the second game of three on this homestand against the Florida Panthers (14-12-2), followed by the Seattle Kraken on Friday.

Utah Mammoth game wrap: Canadiens Stage Third Period Comeback In 4-3 Victory Over Mammoth

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Utah Mammoth left wing Brandon Tanev (13) fights with Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jayden Strubble (47), center Jared Davidson (49), center Joseph Veleno (90)in the second period at the Delta Center on Wed Nov 26, 2025 (Canadian Press photo via AP)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah scored three goals in the second period for the first time this season, but Montreal came from behind in the third to defeat the Mammoth 4-3.

The Utah Mammoth (12-8-3) wrapped up their four-game homestand on Wednesday night against the Montreal Canadiens (11-7-3). The game marked the return of Mammoth defenseman Sean Durzi to the lineup following a 21-game absence due to an upper body injury.

Montreal struck first just past the halfway mark of the first period as Zachary Bolduc scored his 5th goal of the season on a slap shot which got past Utah netminder Karel Vejmelka, assisted by Lane Hutson and Nick Suzuki. At 16:37, Suzuki would make it 2-0 Canadiens with his 6th goal of the season, assisted by Cole Caufield and Bolduc.

The second period has generally been tough for the Mammoth, but on Wednesday they scored a season high 3 goals in the period to take the lead. At 9:43 Barrett Hayton netted his 3rd goal of the season, assisted by Clayton Keller and Mikhail Sergachev. A couple of minutes later it would be Kailer Yamamoto tying the score with his 3rd on the year, assisted by Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley. Less than two minutes after that it would be Michael Carcone scoring his 4th of the year on a wrist shot, assisted by Kevin Stenlund and John Marino.

It seemed as if Utah had all the momentum going into the third, but Montreal quickly reclaimed it beginning with a holding penalty against Yamamoto which put Montreal on the power play. The Canadiens thought they had scored the tying goal just 19 minutes into the penalty, but Mammoth head coach André Tourigny took a timeout and then challenged the goal for being off side. The replay officials in Toronto agreed and Montreal went back on the power play still down a goal. They didn’t have to wait long, however, as Suzuki would get the equalizer on the power play with his 2nd goal of the night and 7th of the season, assisted by Bolduc and Brendan Gallagher. Barely a minute later, Ivan Demidov silenced the Utah crowd as he found the back of the net on a snap shot, assisted by Oliver Kapanen and Noah Dobson to take a 4-3 lead. The Mammoth came close on several occasions to send the game to overtime, but ultimately Canadiens netminder Jakub Dobes kept Utah off the score sheet in the 3rd period, stopping 31 of 34 shots overall in the game, to give Montreal the victory.

Utah Mammoth forward Barrett Hayton spoke with the media after the game regarding the team’s momentum. “I thought we did a really good job in that second period, just managing the game better. Obviously, something we reviewed was something we had to be better at. And we did a really good job during the second period. Game wise I need a second to kind of reflect on exactly what it is. It’s frustrating right now not coming out with two points.”

Defenseman Sean Durzi talked about returning to the lineup after his 21-game absence. “Watching the guys all year, you kind of see how they go through the ups and downs. You try to be in all the meetings you can be, but when I’m rehabbing, they’re on the road and can’t see it all. You try to see the guy’s ways in warm-ups, things like that. Routines change so much throughout the year. Just wanted to contribute, whether it’s on the ice or off the ice, bring some energy. Do something.” Talking about the team’s adversity during the game, Durzi said, “I don’t think we lost focus. We, as a group, are mature enough to kind of control what we have to control. I thought we did a lot of good things. It was an emotional game; we all care so much that sometimes it’s tough. I think again, the maturity in here never wavered, and confidence never wavered. I thought we did a good job of keeping our focus and moving on to the next.” Durzi felt there were several positives in the game. “I thought we battled hard. A few missed cues led to a few goals, but at the end of the day, our primary focus was in the right place: tracking hard on their top guys, in a lot of situations, five-on-five, playing a team game. Direct and how we want to play. You see flashes of it. We’ve got to bring it, and can’t let those miscues cost us.”

Head Coach André Tourigny began his post-game comments by saying, “I think we played a good game, but unfortunately we got beat on our strength. Our (penalty kill) has been our strength since the start of the season. Tonight we were not as sharp on our PK. [To have a] power play score and a big goal was important for us. (Montreal) is a good team defensively and we generated a volume of shot quality and inside game. We had a lot of traffic there. I think (Montreal) scored two goals off of their rush; that’s unfortunate.” With regard to Durzi’s return, Tourigny added, “He played good; he made good plays with the puck, he was focused, he was urgent. He did a good job. But the toughest game when you come back is always the second one. The first one, you have all the energy and everything. He passed the test, no doubt about it. We’re happy to have him and he did a really good job. No doubt.” Comparing the second period with the rest of the game, Tourigny said, “That we managed the puck (in the second). I think we allowed ourselves to have five guys with energy all the time by managing the puck in the neutral zone. (We) allowed everybody to get the right changes so that we had guys with energy and with pace…I think we played a good game, period. That’s a good team on the other side…If two teams play a good game, what will happen? One team will pull the goalie with one minute to go–and hopefully we’ll be on the right side. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of it. We cleaned up our second period, we made some adjustments in our defensive zone. We’re satisfied about that. That was pretty good. The guys were really tuned in. We were at the net, we generated speed, we moved the puck good on the breakout. We need to clean up our PK. I’m not blaming our PK; they’ve been the best part of our game. That unit has been our rock since the season started. So I’m not blaming them; it’s just a matter of fact (tonight). We’ll clean that up and we’ll be ready for our next game…I think we can be a little bit better.”

Utah (12-9-3) split the four games of the homestand and will play the next six post-Thanksgiving matchups on the road against Dallas, St. Louis, San Jose, Anaheim, Vancouver, and Calgary before returning to Delta Center on December 8 to open a three-game homestand against the Los Angeles Kings.

Utah Mammoth game wrap: Logan Cools Vegas in 5-1 Mammoth Stomping

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Utah Mammoth center Logan Cooley takes control of the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Vegas Golden Knights, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Anna Fuder)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah forward Logan Cooley scored four goals and assisted on another to exact revenge on the Golden Knights 5-1 from last week’s loss.

The Utah Mammoth (11-8-3) welcomed the Vegas Golden Knights (10-4-7) back to Delta Center on Monday night, just four days after Vegas defeated Utah 4-1 in Salt Lake City.

Dylan Guenther broke open the scoring at 14:54 of the first period with a top shelf blast for his ninth goal of the season, assisted by Logan Cooley and Nate Schmidt. Barely a minute later, Guenther returned the favor to Cooley, setting him up for his tenth goal of the season with the additional assist to Nate Schmidt to give the Mammoth a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room. Karel Vejmelka turned away all 8 Golden Knights shots in the frame.

At 5:24 of the second period, Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev cut the Utah lead in half with his eighth of the season, assisted by Jack Eichel, and Braeden Bowman. It would be the only goal allowed by Vejmelka on 15 shots in the period, while the Mammoth were unsuccessful in all three of their shot attempts.

Whereas Vegas seemed unstoppable last Thursday, Utah turned the tables completely on Monday, particularly in their dominant third period. Logan Cooley deflected a puck for an unassisted goal at 4:19 for his 11th of the season to put the Mammoth up 3-1.

Down by two goals with less than five minutes remaining, Vegas rolled the dice and pulled netminder Carl Lindbom early. The house won on the Golden Knights gamble as Cooley recorded the natural hat trick with goal #12 into the empty net as hats rained down on the Delta Center ice to give Utah a 4-1 lead. With a little more than three minutes to go in the third, Mammoth forward Kevin Stenlund went to the sin bin for holding against Cole Reinhardt.

Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy rolled the dice one more time with nothing left to lose, pulling Lindbom again to go for broke with a 6-4 advantage in the offensive end. The strategy failed as Cooley netted his 4th of the night and 13th of the season into the empty net at 17:43 to seal the 5-1 victory with the shorthanded goal.

Logan’s run of goals resulted in the first four-goal game in Utah franchise history, and the first in the NHL this season. The last player aged 21 or younger to record four goals in a game was Patrik Laine who scored 5 for Winnipeg against St. Louis exactly seven years ago to the day.

Cooley joins Macklin Celebrini (San Jose) and Connor Bedard (Chicago) as the only players with two hat tricks so far this season, and the Mammoth join the Blackhawks as the only teams with three hat tricks so far on the year.

Cooley talked about his feat in the locker room after the game. “It’s awesome. Any time you do that, it’s special. Just to see how excited the guys were for me too, you get a cool feeling when you get the support of your teammates. I just think in general, we have such a tight group. Guys really care about each other and want everyone on the team to have success. So it’s awesome.” Talking about his mental process going into the game, Cooley said, “Yeah, I think it’s a long season. I think the big thing is consistency, and that’s something that for me, personally, I’m always trying to work on. … It wasn’t the easiest path to tonight, but I think just finding a way to stay with it. It’s a grind of a season, mentally, physically, but I think just leaning on guys that have experience, family, little things like that, get you out of it. And, I was fortunate to have kind of a big game tonight.” On the team’s improvement, he added, “I think just the way we kind of handled the lead too. I think that’s a big thing. I feel like in the past, we’ve been up and kind of get comfortable and teams start to bury us. I think the game against the Rangers and tonight, that’s how we know how to play. When we’re doing that, you see the results we get. For us, it’s about staying consistent with this process and not changing anything. There’s still stuff to clean up, but overall I was really happy about our performance the past two nights.”

Winning goaltender Goaltender Karel Vejmelka, who stopped 33 of 34 shots on the night, said, “Yeah, obviously, this one feels really good. It’s a big two points against a really good team, one of the best so far this season. So it feels really good.” Talking about how the team handles adversity, Vejmelka remarked, “Yeah, I think we are a really good team, and if we want to be successful, we need to find a way every night, and that’s part of being one of the best teams in the NHL. So we need to find a way every single night, no matter what, and we did it tonight. We showed up, and it feels really good.”

Utah Mammoth Head Coach André Tourigny said of Cooley, “He didn’t complicate his game. He didn’t try to get the play of the week. He will be on the play of the week because he scored four, but it was speed and space behind, and when he does that it’s special.” The second period has often been challenging for Utah this season, so it was particularly important to defend the lead. Tourigny commented, “Obviously in the second, they had a hell of a push. Like I said, they’re a good team. They’re a Stanley Cup contender for a reason. So we knew they would have a say in what will happen out there, but the intensity and the urgency we have in those situations and the way we protected that front, even if we’re not perfect and even if there’s a number of things we would like to get better at, I think the mindset is always the most important thing. I think the guys were really good with it. We were composed, we were intense, and we were even-keeled.” Last Thursday, Tourigny said that the team’s emotions got the best of them. Tonight was much different. “There was emotion and there was stress, you don’t want to lose the game, you don’t want to lose the lead, etc, etc. I think we did a pretty good job at staying composed. We did not do a perfect job. You could see the nerve, we didn’t make plays at the same pace, and we didn’t connect as much on our passes. So there’s stuff we can be better at, but that’s why there’s 82 games. We still have a lot of things to get better at, but the mindset of the guys was really good.”

Utah (12-8-3) wraps up the four-game homestand on Wednesday night against the Montreal Canadiens after which they will hit the road after Thanksgiving for six games away.

Utah Mammoth game wrap:Mammoth Snaps Losing Streak with 3-2 Victory Over The Rangers

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) and left wing Lawson Crouse (67) celebrate their victory over the New York Rangers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sat Nov 22, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–JJ Peterka scored his fifth goal in six games and Nick DeSimone netted the game-winner on his 31st birthday as Utah gets back on track with win over New York.

The Utah Mammoth (10-8-3) hosted the New York Rangers (10-10-2) at Delta Center on Saturday night for the second of four games on the current homestand. Both teams entered the night’s contest looking to snap losing streaks, with Utah having lost its previous four and New York having lost its previous three.

Midway through the first period, Thursday’s lone goal-scorer for the Mammoth, Nate Schmidt, put the puck on the net with the rebound tipped in by JJ Peterka for his 9th goal of the season with the additional assist to Jack McBain.

The goal was Peterka’s fifth over the past six games. That Utah lead would last a little more than 5 minutes before Rangers defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov tipped a shot from Adam Fox into the Mammoth net for his 3rd goal of the season. The period concluded with the clubs knotted up at 1-1. Jonathan Quick turned away 12 of 13 shots in the frame while Karel Vejmelka denied 11 of 12.

Eight minutes into the second period the Rangers went up 2-1 on a snap shot goal by Artemi Panarin, his 6th of the season, assisted by Vincent Trocheck and Gavrikov. At 11:15 of the period, Mammoth fans erupted in cheers believing their team had just scored, but the on ice officials did not signal for play to stop and coaches on the Utah bench waved their arms frantically and screamed for their players to get back on defense.

About 15 seconds later, with the puck now behind the Mammoth net, the goal horn sounded and play on the ice stopped. It was determined that the fans weren’t crazy and Utah captain Clayton Keller Goal had indeed scored his eighth of the season, assisted by Kailer Yamamoto tying the score at 2-2 which is how the period ended in which Quick turned away 7 of 8 Mammoth shots and Utah’s defense continued its season-long trend of limiting shots on goal by their opponents with Vejmelka turning away 2 of just 3 total shots.

At 7:32 of the third period, with Utah applying pressure around the New York net, the Rangers attempted to bat the puck out of the zone but instead found the stick of Mammoth defenseman Nick DeSimone at the top of the red circle who one-timed a slap shot through traffic and into the back of the net for his second goal of the season, unassisted, to regain the Utah lead 3-2.

Both DeSimone goals this season have come against opponents from his home state of New York. At one point near the middle of the frame, the Rangers were all over the crease as Vejmelka gave his best ninja impression to fight off the attack. With a little more than three minutes remaining, Mammoth forward Michael Carcone crashed the Rangers crease leaving Jonathan Quick keeled over inside the net.

After an extended break it was determined that Quick could remain in the game, but the damage was already done as Utah snapped its losing streak while New York extended theirs. The Mammoth improved their home record to 6-2-1, with Vejmelka stopping 20 of 22 shots on the night.

DeSimone’s goal held up as the game winner as he also celebrated his 31st birthday. When asked if it was the best birthday present he had ever received, he was torn between saying yes and ultimately wisely crediting his wife. It was the second game-winning goal in his career.

DeSimone was all smiles addressing the media in the locker room after the game. “Everyone bought in tonight. Every guy was playing out the game, and we just stuck with it for the whole night, and we got rewarded for it.” Speaking of the team gaining momentum later in the game, the defenseman added, “Each game, we have a different plan of how we want to create. We always want to get the middle or get pucks to the net and reward our forwards, or take cross-checks. We just want to get the puck there and let him get some chances.” Asked about how he stays ready for big moments, DeSimone said, “It’s my job to be ready whether I am playing or not playing. Just being in a good mood, being grateful for every day, and showing up. If I’m playing, I just try and do what I can to help.”

JJ Peterka began his interview opining on the team’s overall performance. “Good team effort throughout the whole game. Even when we went down tonight, we found a way to get back in the game and stuck to the game plan.” Regarding his team’s mindset and goals for the game, he remarked, “Competing harder. That was the message over the last couple of days. We got a little away from that over the last couple of games, and I think today we did a much better job of getting to the shooting line and getting second chances. That gave us a win.” The German forward praised Karel Vejmelka’s performance in the net, saying “Super consistent game. Huge saves. In the third, with four or five rebounds, it kept us in the game the whole game, and we did our job on the other side.” Peterka added, “Keeping it simple was the message for the game. It turned out to be good. Just a lot of pucks to the net and a lot of second efforts to the net. That won us the game.”

Mammoth Head Coach André Tourigny was in high spirits as he entered the media room. “Saturday night. The Rangers. Two points. What a beautiful night in Utah, huh?” Tourigny continued, “I cannot be more proud of the battle level, the way we drove the net, the way we moved the puck quickly and we won battles forward. There’s a lot of guys I’m proud of, a lot of guys. There’s a lot of guys who could have, and should have been on the ice in the last minute of play. Hard to pick, but I had to pick guys, but it was fun to coach that game.” With regard to momentum swings, the coach said, “We had a tough shift in the third where we turned it over, and then Cool’s (Logan Cooley) line went on the inside, and we talked on the bench about momentum and how to get the momentum back. And not just by their decision, but they scored a goal on top of playing the right way on that shift. So that was good, and we need to give credit to Vej (Karel Vejmelka), because that key moment, like you just mentioned, he made a key save.” He concluded, “what we could control, we did it with pride, with intensity, with focus, and with determination. So it’s good, I’m happy about the way we play, but at the same time, it’s midnight rules, great, celebrate, good job. But it doesn’t mean anything anymore, we just have two more points. We need to be ready for the next game in front of our fans against Vegas, and have a bounce back game.”

Utah’s Thursday night opponent, the Vegas Golden Knights, return to Delta Center again on Monday for the 3rd game of 4 on the current homestand.

Utah Mammoth game wrap: Golden Knights Spear Mammoth 4-1

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel (9) shoots into an open net while four Utah Mammoth defensemen and a goaltender look on at the Delta Center on Thu Nov 20, 2025 (AP News photo)

Utah snaps overtime loss streak with regulation loss to the Vegas Golden Knights

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–It took 18 games of the 2025-2026 season for the Utah Mammoth to suffer its first overtime loss, 3-2 against the New York Islanders last week at home. The Mammoth were less than five seconds away from victory in Anaheim on Monday when Troy Terry found the back of the net to force overtime, and Olen Zellweger scored in overtime for a 3-2 Ducks win.

The next day in San Jose, Macklin Celebrini scored twice in the first six minutes to put Utah in a hole which JJ Peterka dug them out of with two goals of his own in the third period. With the Mammoth on the penalty kill due to a too many men on the ice penalty,

Celebrini would celebrate a game-winning hat trick to hand the Mammoth its third consecutive 3-2 overtime loss. It was Utah’s 8th loss in the past ten games, with both victories coming at the expense of the Buffalo Sabres home and away.

Utah (10-7-3) returned to Delta Center on Thursday to open a four-game homestand against the Vegas Golden Knights (9-4-6). The first period saw a lot of action but no scoring as Akira Schmid turned away all 9 Mammoth shots while Karel Vejmelka kept Vegas off the scoreboard stopping all seven of their attempts.

Jack Eichel opened the scoring for the Golden Knights at 3:09 of an action packed second period with his 9th goal of the season, assisted by Pavel Dorofeyev and Shea Theodore, just moments after the conclusion of a full two-minute 4-on-4 which felt more like a Vegas power play as the Golden Knights offense swarmed the Utah net for nearly its entirety.

19 seconds later, Ben Hutton netted his second of the year, assisted by Cole Reinhardt, to give the Vegas a 2-0 lead. At 6:16 of the period both teams dropped their gloves in a brawl in front of the Utah net which involved everyone but the goalies.

When the dust settled, Reinhard and Kaedan Karczak were charged with roughing penalties for the Golden Knights, while Mikhail Sergachev and Logan Cooley each received roughing penalties for the Mammoth.

Cooley was assessed two separate roughing penalties in the scrum, but got his money’s worth at the expense of Karczak’s face. 11 seconds later the Mammoth went on the power play when Braeden Bowman was whistled for interference against Ian Cole, and eleven seconds into the man advantage Utah’s Nate Schmidt cut the deficit in half with his first Mammoth goal, assisted by Ian Cole and Clayton Keller. At 16:51 Jack Eichel regained the two-goal Vegas lead with his tenth of the season, assisted by Bowman and Theodore.

Less than a minute into the third period, Braeden Bowman tipped in a shot by Jack Eichel for his 3rd goal of the season, padding the Vegas lead at 4-1 where it would remain until the final buzzer. Throughout the period Utah came across as outmatched on both ends of the ice.

Every flash of offensive opportunity fizzled with broken up passes and routine stops by Akira Schmid. The Mammoth squad which dazzled during its seventh-game winning streak, impressing to the point of reaching second on The Athletic’s Power Rankings, have now dropped 9 of their last 11 while falling to sixth place in the Central Division standings.

Captain Clayton Keller expressed frustration in the losing locker room. “I think it was a pretty emotional game. Maybe we didn’t get some calls that we should have, or there were some weird ones, but that’s part of the game, and those are things that we have to be able to tune out and get back to our game quickly. Whether it goes our way or doesn’t. So I think that’s something that we can take from the game for sure.” Keller continued, “You know that there’s going to be adversity. It’s a long season, it’s hard, it’s the best league in the world and I think our group has continued to stay motivated and confident, while still going through tough stretches. When there’s something that we want to attack and get better at, we address it and respond right away. So tomorrow we will have a good practice. We’ll break down the game tonight, talk about it, figure out how we can be better. That’s the good thing about, sometimes losing is that’s when you learn the most about your team and yourself and it makes it even that much better when things do go your way and you kind of get out of it.”

Utah Mammoth Head Coach André Tourigny opened his post-game remarks by saying, “I obviously did not like the way we responded to the emotion of the game. We had a good first period, then we arrived in the second, and stuff happened to Stenny (Kevin Stenlund). I didn’t like the way we reacted to it at first. We got emotional and got out of our game. They took over, and it was difficult for us to get back at it. That was disappointing. We got a push in the third, but it’s clear we cannot have five-minute, two-minute, a few shifts where we lose our focus like that, and that costs us dearly.” Tourigny added, “Adversity and frustration are part of the game. We cannot lose our focus like that because of a call, a goal, a hit, or whatever. We can’t lose our temper and start running around. Vegas is a good team, and as soon as we started to run around, they made us pay for it. We need to learn from that. There are other things we need to do better in our 5-on-5 games. We need to play way faster, move the puck faster, and be more predictable with each other. It comes from a good place, from the player; they want to do more and do great. But, often less is more. We need to make sure we play with a lot of pace and play fast. That means moving the puck, moving the puck into space, and skating, support, and those kinds of things. We will address that, but the emotion thing is a big deal.”

Utah (10-8-3) will attempt to turn things around Saturday against the New York Rangers (10-10-2) who are currently in last place in the Metropolitan Division.

Utah Mammoth game wrap:Islanders Kick Mammoth To The Curb 3-2 In Overtime

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Utah Mammoth Lawson Crouse (67) takes the puck against the New York Islanders Alexander Romanov (28) at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Fri Nov 15, 2025 (nhl.com photo)

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah surrendered its third period lead on a controversial kicked in goal by New York and fall to the Islanders in overtime 3-2.

The Utah Mammoth (10-7-0) laced up Friday night for the final game of the current homestand against the New York Islanders (9-6-2), and their 100th game as a new franchise. Utah snapped a 3-game losing streak on Wednesday against the Buffalo Sabres, and entered Friday’s contest with a 5-1-0 home record.

New York captured the early lead on a snap shot by winger Emil Heineman at 7:13 of the first, his 8th of the season, assisted by Tony DeAngelo and Alexander Romanov. Just past the halfway mark of the period, the horn sounded for what appeared to be a goal by Utah forward Nick Schmaltz, but on video review it was ruled that the puck hadn’t crossed the line. The Mammoth quickly shook it off, however, as winger JJ Peterka hit the score sheet moments later with his second goal of the homestand, his 6th of the season, a tip-in from a shot by Lawson Crouse with the additional assist to John Marino. With less than two minutes remaining in the frame, the Islanders gifted Utah a lengthy 5-on-3 power play as Matthew Schaefer was called for interference against Clayton Keller, and then 7 seconds later Simon Holmstrom sent the puck over the glass from the defensive zone for a delay of game penalty. The Mammoth took advantage of New York’s miscues as forward Dylan Guenther fired off a slap shot which found the back of the net for his 7th goal of the season, assisted by Mikhail Sergachev and Keller. Utah went to the locker room sporting a 2-1 lead. Islanders goaltender David Rittich stopped 11 of 13 Mammoth shots in the period, while Karel Vejmelka turned away 5 of th 6 New York shots he faced.

The second period was a scoreless defensive display from both teams as Rittich stopped all 10 Utah shot attempts, and Vejmelka kept New York off the scoreboard on 7 shots.

At 13:44 of the third period Jonathan Drouin kicked the puck into the Mammoth net. Though the call on the ice was no goal, video replay officials overturned the decision despite clear video of the kick. Anyone searching the internet to see it for themselves will be stunned at the call. Nevertheless the goal stood, and the score at the end of regulation was 2-2.

In the overtime period, New York added insult to injury when Matthew Schaefer found a hole past Vejmelka to give the Islanders the overtime victory and handing Utah its first overtime loss of the season.

Utah Mammoth Head Coach André Tourigny addressed the media after the game. “We had a really good first period, and for a number of reasons, we lost our momentum in the second period. They did a good job at keeping our guys tired on the ice, and we had a tough time changing. We didn’t turn the puck over a lot today, but we had a few costly ones which did not let us make good changes, and that wore us down a little bit. I think we were on our heels too much in the third period. We were protecting the lead, but we did not have the same aggression. I talked to you a lot about that. About the way we’re at our best to defend. It’s when we have aggression and pressure, and I did not like the way we closed that game.” Talking about the Mammoth special teams, Tourigny said, “Big goal on the power play for sure. I think that our power play had the opportunity to separate us during the game, and we didn’t. That’s unfortunate, because I think that was a key moment. On the flip side, the PK came up big. I think on the power play, we had a few good looks where the hole was there and the opportunity was there. We need to get clutch.”

Utah (10-7-1) now hits the road for games in Anaheim and San Jose on Monday and Tuesday, returning to the Delta Center for a four game homestand next Thursday beginning with the Vegas Golden Knights.

Utah Mammoth wrap up: Mammoth Rattles Sabres 5-2 To Sweep Season Series

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

By Tom Walker

 JJ Peterka #77 of the Utah Mammoth skates with the puck as Peyton Krebs #19 and Beck Malenstyn #29 of the Buffalo Sabres defend in the third period of a game at Delta Center on Wednesday November 12, 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Eli Rehmer/NHLI via Getty Images)

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah defeated Buffalo 5-2 for the second time in eight days to sweep the season series, improving to 5-1-0 at home.

The Utah Mammoth (9-7-0) returned to Delta Center for a two game homestand on Wednesday night, having played eight of their previous nine games on the road.  Former Utah Hockey Club favorites Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring, who were traded to Buffalo in the offseason for JJ Peterka, were recognized on the Jumbotron for the visiting Sabres (5-6-4) who lost to the Mammoth 2-1 in overtime on their home ice a week ago.

Buffalo forward Isak Rosen gave the Sabres the early lead at 5:33 of the first period with his second goal of the season, a deflection, assisted by Jack Quinn and Bowen Byram.  Buffalo netminder Colten Ellis turned away all 12 shots he faced in the frame, while Utah’s Karel Vejmelka stopped seven of eight.

Rosen hit the scoreboard again at 6:42 of the second period with a slap shot which got past Vejmelka, assisted by Noah Ostlund.  Utah forward Nick DeSimone, a native of the Buffalo area, trimmed the deficit to 2-1 at 10:42 of the period with his first goal of the season, a slap shot one-timer on a carom off the boards which Michael Carcone had shot from behind the net, with the additional assist going to Nate Schmidt. As the buzzer sounded to end the period, Ellis had saved ten of 11 Mammoth shots while Vejmelka again turned away seven of eight.

Less than a minute into the third period, JJ Peterka tied things up against his former team, smashing a sweet snap shot past Ellis for his fifth goal of the season, assisted by John Marino and Mikhail Sergachev.  Just a couple of minutes later Peterka fed a pass to Lawson Crouse who launched a sharp angle shot over the shoulder of Ellis to give Utah its first lead of the game, 3-2. 

Jack McBain picked up the additional assist on Crouse’s fourth goal of the season. Halfway into the period, Mammoth forwards Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz battled hard for the puck in the offensive zone.

Keller came up with the puck behind the net and found Schmaltz in front who netted the third Utah goal in a ten minute span for his tenth of the season, giving the Mammoth a 4-2 lead. Keller has assisted on seven of Schmaltz’s goals this season.

With Ellis pulled for an extra attacker, Schmaltz returned the favor, feeding Keller the puck for an easy empty net goal, his seventh of the season, icing the game at 5-2 with 26.6 seconds remaining. Logan Cooley recorded an additional assist on the play.  On the ensuing faceoff both teams dropped the gloves resulting in game misconduct penalties to Josh Dunne and Peyton Krebs of the Sabres, and Barrett Hayton of the Mammoth.

In the lively winning locker room, JJ Peterka commented on the team’s comeback. “I think just how much belief there is in each other. Never giving up. We know how good we can be offensively. We know even when we’re trailing, we can easily come back. So I think just the belief in each other here.” With regard to DeSimone’s goal, Peterka said, “It’s awesome, especially him being from Buffalo makes it even better. Since he came into the lineup, he has done a heck of a job for us. Played super solid. So, obviously, super nice to see him score.”

DeSimone weighed in on the team’s turnaround after surrendering the first two goals. “That obviously was not our best start. We stuck with it and kept trying to play our game. We kept working on it, and we fought through a little adversity, and then we found a couple of shifts in a row and got rewarded for it. It just kept rolling after that.” When asked what the team learned about themselves with the comeback, DeSimone added, “It is big for us to go through this fight of adversity and kind of claw our way back into one and end up getting a win. It is definitely a learning moment for us, and it shows a lot of maturity in our group.” Many considered his second period goal to be the turning point in the game, and DeSimone walked the media through what happened. “Bear (André Tourigny) called that time out, and we hit a reset button there. Everyone was trying to do the right thing and get us going, but for whatever reason, it just reset us. It’s fortunate enough that it goes in and gets us going. It could have been a hit; it could have been just getting a puck deep, just little things kept getting us going as well.”

Utah Mammoth Head Coach André Tourigny entered the media room with a bit of pep in his step. “I think we played good, I won’t say all game; obviously we could feel the nerves a little bit the first two periods. I think JJ Peterka broke the game down when he scored that big goal. From there, there was a boost of confidence and we knew we were playing well. I think that the tweak in the lines helped a little bit for everybody. I’m really happy about the way JJ responded in the third. (Lawson Crouse) and (Jack McBain) played unbelievable again. That’s about it.” Speaking of what contributed to the successful third period, Tourigny said, “We addressed it this week. One thing our team is really good at is defending. We defend with a lot of pace and we force opponents to execute quickly. That’s a strength of ours. Lately in the third period, we’ve not had the same pace and same pressure. That was allowing our opponents to execute and create offense. The last three games, more than 50% of the offense we gave up was in the third period–because we were trailing, chasing, not defending hard enough. Tonight, we gave up zero grade A and zero grade B (chances). We defended hard and we played good with the puck…Everybody was engaged. Everybody was detailed, resilient, relentless. That was fun to see.”

The Mammoth (10-7-0) wrap up their brief homestand on Friday night against the New York Islanders (8-6-2) before hitting the road again for a brief California swing through Anaheim and San Jose.