Mammoth captain Clayton Keller, who scored the game tying and game winning goals in Utah’s 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night, addresses the media after the game on Wed Jan 21, 2026 (photo by the author Tom Walker)
By Tom Walker
SALT LAKE CITY–Down 4-3 and Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka was pulled from the net with moments left in the third period, Nick Schmaltz strips the puck from the Flyers enabling Clayton Keller to strike for the tying and overtime game-winning goals to help defeat Philadelphia 4-3 in overtime.
The Utah Mammoth (25-20-4) wrapped up their season-long seven-game homestand on Wednesday night against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers (23-17-8). The new year has continued to go well for Utah, which has posted a 7-1-1 record since January 1st, and entered Wednesday’s game with points in all six home games while going 5-0-1 at Delta Center.
Philadelphia jumped out to a quick start in the first period with Cam York scoring his 4th goal of the season just 30 seconds into the game, assisted by Travis Sanheim and Travis Konecny.
Four minutes later, the Flyers put the Mammoth in a 2-0 hole when Christian Dvorak netted his 11th of the season, assisted by Konecny and Noah Juulsen. Samuel Ersson was perfect in goal for Philadelphia in the period, stopping all 7 Mammoth shots, while NHL wins leader Karel Vejmelka surrendered two goals on 14 shots.
The Flyers opened the second period on the power play, resulting from a high-sticking penalty by Nick Schmaltz against Owen Tippett as time expired in the first. 58 seconds into the frame, Bobby Brink put Philadelphia up 3-0 with his 12th goal of the season, cashing in on the power play opportunity, assisted by a pair of former Anaheim Ducks, Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale.
Mammoth forward JJ Peterka brought Utah back to within two goals of the Flyers, putting a wrist shot past Ersson from the top of the crease at 5:35 unassisted.
36 seconds later Mammoth forward Lawson Crouse narrowed the gap to 3-2 assisted by Schmaltz and Clayton Keller. Crouse’s 13th goal of the year in 50 games surpasses his 2024-2025 season mark of 12 goals in 81 contests.
Philadelphia got one back just past the halfway mark of the period when Dvorak scored his 2nd goal of the game and 12th on the season, assisted by again by Zegras and Drysdale. The Flyers skated to the locker room holding a 4-2 lead at the end of the period, with both netminders stopping 8 of 10 shots. Courtesy the Mammoth stat crew, Utah has gone 4-14-1 when trailing after two periods, while the Flyers have gone 15-0-2 when leading after two.
Tempers flared at 11:49 of the third period when a roughing minor by Noah Juulsen against Jack McBain turned into a lopsided fight where McBain pummeled Juulsen before tackling him down onto the ice. Utah capitalized on the ensuring power play with Barrett Hayton narrowing the score to 4-3 tipping in his 6th goal of the season, assisted by Dylan Guenther and Nick Schmaltz.
With 87 ticks left on the clock in regulation and Vejmelka pulled for the extra attacker, Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway had a breakaway with no one standing between him and an empty net when out of nowhere Schmaltz streaked up behind him and stripped the puck to keep Garnet from sealing Philadelphia’s victory.
With 35 seconds remaining, Mammoth captain and Team USA Olympian Clayton Keller drove to the net and put the puck past Ersson with a backhand shot, unassisted, for his 14th goal of the season to tie things up and send the game to overtime as the 16,000+ fans at Delta Center erupted in disbelief and celebration.
The 6-on-5 goal was the first in Mammoth franchise history and was the latest game-tying goal in franchise history, the previous latest game-tying goal having been scored with 1:54 remaining by Josh Doan in a 2024 game against the New York Islanders.
Doan, who was traded along with Michael Kesselring to the Buffalo Sabres in the offseason for JJ Peterka, signed a seven-year, $48.65 million contract extension on Wednesday to keep him locked up in Buffalo through the 2032-33 season.
At 2:01 of overtime it was Keller again with a snap shot, assisted by Guenther, to stun the Flyers with his 15th of the season as he launched his stick over the glass into the stands in celebration. The 5-4 victory gives Utah a 6-0-1 home record in 2026 and 8-1-1 overall in the new year.
The win further pads Vejmelka’s NHL-leading 24 victories. Once again, courtesy the Mammoth stat crew, the Mammoth are now the 13th team in NHL history to earn points in each game of a homestand of at least seven games, the last time being the Los Angeles Kings which went 5-0-2 during a stretch of the 2022-2023 season.
The Utah’s eight-game point streak matches a franchise record set last season, and the seven-game home point streak extends a franchise best run.
For the sixth time on the homestand, the Mammoth locker room blasted their victory tune, “Beer For My Horses” by Toby Keith and Willie Nelson, followed by Eric Clapton’s “Cocaine.” Dylan Guenther was first on the docket to meet with the media as the locker room cleared. “Resiliance” is how he defined the game. “We did stick with it, the talk was all positive, and we all thought that we could come back and win. It was a huge character win.” What did he say to Keller on his tying goal? “Just ‘nice play, nice shot.’ To get a 6-on-5 goal –we haven’t had one this year– it was a really nice individual effort by him. Nice route by him, too. Kind of a 2-on-2, caught his guys sleeping with nice shots, so he had a good game tonight.”
Commenting on the team’s overall effort on the night, Keller said, “It was great. We stuck with it, even when we knew that we weren’t playing great, creating a lot of mistakes, but we just kept fighting. So many guys made key plays, especially Veg making saves. We talked about it in the room after, none of this happens if Nick Schmaltz doesn’t backcheck and give everything he’s got to strip them before they score on the empty net. And that’s the difference sometimes.” Of Crouse, whose goal Wednesday night surpassed his total from last season, Keller said, “He is such a great player, person, guy in the locker room, does everything for the team, and does everything right. I can’t say enough good things about him and it’s great to see him get rewarded. He’s been working on his shot a lot. He’s doing the little things, the rest of you guys might not see. So it’s great to see him get rewarded and he’s going to bring that same effort every single night.” Asked about how he is able to perform under high-pressure situations, the captain responded, “I think a lot of it is belief, and the mental talk that I’m saying to myself in my head. I’ve always trusted my training. I know I’ve done everything possible to leave myself in a good position and let the rest take care of itself. I skate every day in the summer with a couple other guys, I work on those touches and all those things.”
A joyful head coach André Tourigny took to the podium and said, “Entertainment business, heh? … What was the attendance, sixteen something? I think they all got entertained tonight.” He continued, “I’m really happy about our comeback. Obviously, that was a big goal on the power play at a key moment; we often talk about producing on the power play but also producing in key moments–and that was a key moment. Our first 6-on-5 goal in our franchise’s history was a clutch one, obviously. And in overtime, that was a really good goal. I liked the way we turned things around in the second period. There’s things we didn’t like about the game; it’s obvious if you watch the game. But I would like to focus a lot on the positives, because if I talk about what we didn’t like I think it will overshadow the good things…The key goals, the comeback, the grit we showed in the second period. We had a good push. I think the fight of (Jack McBain) was a turning point. And we all know the play of the game was (Nick Schmaltz’s) strip. Those are a lot of positives, and I don’t want to take the spotlight off those things.” Asked about how this type of game develops the team, Bear responded, “It’s a good development for our team to understand the good, the bad and the ugly. When we didn’t do what we had to do, what should have happened–we got what we deserved. And when we did what we had to do, we were successful. So we need to learn (from) that. It’s part of a long season, a process, a grind. It’s great to do it in victory and get the two points. But we need to learn from it.” The buzz at Delta Center was all about the strip by Schmaltz, without which the Mammoth would have lost in regulation. “You know what I’m happy about,” Tourigny asked. “I’m happy that everybody saw that. Because that’s what we see from (Schmaltz). I talked about it last year and I’ve talked about it this year and I’ve talked about his play away from the puck and his effort and his IQ, the way he defends, the way he strips pucks, how he gets body position and battles. Not everybody will see that and you need to pay attention. And when there’s a highlight play like that; I liked his performance and how he impacts our team. I’m glad for him and for everybody–who were here at the Delta Center or at home watching our game–who sees that. It can highlight what Nick Schmaltz means for our team.”
The way things are going, the Mammoth may not want to hit the road right now. Nevertheless, Utah (26-20-4) plays its next four games on the road beginning with an early Saturday afternoon tilt in Nashville followed by games against Tampa Bay, Florida, and Carolina before returning home on January 31 for a three-game homestand against Dallas, Vancouver, and Detroit before the Olympic break begins.
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