Tag: NHL

Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) lays on the ice looking at the puck after giving up the game winning goal to the Vegas Golden Knights in overtime in game 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs first round at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Mon Apr 27, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

The Utah Mammoth started out looking dead in the water only to come back with a fury before surrendering to the Vegas Golden Knights in overtime 5-4 to even the best-of-seven series at 2-2 Monday night at the Delta Center.

The Mammoth hosted the Knights at Delta Center on Monday night for Game 4 of the Western Conference First-Round Series in which Utah led 2-1 in the best-of-seven contest following last Friday’s 4-2 home victory.

Vegas came out swinging from the drop of the puck, desperate to avoid falling into elimination game status if they failed to prevail in the match. The early desperation paid off as Pavel Dorofeyev connected on a pass from Ivan Barbashev just 72 seconds into the game to put the Golden Knights up 1-0.

At 16:44 the Mammoth had an opportunity to tie things up when Cole Smith went to the penalty box for tripping against JJ Peterka. With six seconds remaining in the man-advantage, it was the Golden Knights who came up with a shorthanded goal by Brett Howden, assisted by Mitch Marner, to take a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room. Utah, who managed just 12 shots on goal on Friday, finished the opening frame with just 3 against Carter Hart. Vegas converted two goals on eight shots against Vejmelka.

The Golden Knights picked up where they left off at the beginning of the second period when Smith scored his first goal of the series at 3:26, assisted by Noah Hanifin and Colton Sissons, to make it 3-0 as Vegas continued to dominate both ends of the ice.

Just past the eight minute mark the Mammoth broke onto the scoreboard as Nick Schmaltz picked up the loose change of a shot by Lawson Crouse to score his first post-season goal, assisted by Crouse and Mikhail Sergachev. 29 seconds later Utah defenseman Ian Cole trimmed the deficit to 3-2 with his first goal, blasting a one-timer from above the faceoff circle on a feed by Sean Durzi to bring the Delta Center crowd to life and suddenly make a game of what had been a lackluster effort by the Mammoth to that point.

Michael Carcone completed the Mammoth comeback at 1:45 of the third period with his first goal of the postseason as he one-timed a pass from Dylan Guenther into the back of the net to make it 3-3. With the momentum overwhelmingly shifted to Utah, Clayton Keller gave the Mammoth a 4-3 lead at 5:10 when he gloved down a pass from Nick Schmaltz and shot it at the Vegas goal where it bounced off the body of Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore and into the net. The Golden Knights were down but not out, and at 10:25 Brett Howden tied the game at 4-4 with his second goal of the night, assisted by Hanifin and Eichel, which is how the period ended.

The Mammoth were the only team in the NHL not to participate in a shootout during the regular season, and in the post-season shootouts aren’t a thing, so Utah and Vegas began a sudden death overtime period in which either the Mammoth would come away with a dominant 3-1 lead in the series, or the Golden Knights would even the series at 2-2.

With 9:38 remaining in the overtime period, Vegas thought they had won the game when Pavel Dorofeyev tipped in a loose puck, but upon video review it was determined that the Golden Knights were offside and play continued. With 52 seconds remaining in the bonus period, Shea Theodore took advantage of Karel Vejmelka having lost his stick and drilled the game-winner into the back of the net, sending the series back to Las Vegas on Thursday tied at 2-2.

Mikhail Sergachev, who assisted on the goals by Carcone and Keller, talked about Utah’s ability to fight back from the 3-0 deficit. “It was a determination. We came back from three-nothing. We were up in the game, and it was a good playoff hockey game.” Sergachev continued, “We had a slow start to the game and didn’t play our best. But in the second period, we came back, our fans were rallying and brought us back into the game, and we came back. We just got to fix the start, and I think we’ll be fine.” Asked about what will need to change in Game 5, the Assistant Captain said, “We need a better start; we need more pace in the neutral zone. And when we have an opportunity to score a goal, we’ve got to put it in. We had some opportunities (tonight) where we maybe passed on the shots (and) didn’t create enough traffic. Next game, we gotta focus on that.”

“I loved our fight,” Keller told the media. “We’re still playing confident. We got down in the game, but kept going. Everyone was contributing. Got some momentum there from the fans as well. All in all, we fought well until the end. We’ll learn from this game and still be really confident, for sure.” Talking about the second period turnaround, Keller said, “Just splitting the puck all over the ice, no hesitation, guys were making plays with the puck. Just being around the net and hungry. Guys want to make a difference, so that’s a good thing and we have a group of guys that are confident and want the puck on their stick.”

“Obviously, we haven’t been happy with our starts the past two games,” said defenseman Ian Cole. “We’re going to have to rectify that going forward. As the game went on, I thought we played better. You get into overtime and anything can happen. Unfortunately, we’re not happy with the outcome. But we’re going to move on to Game 5.”

Utah Mammoth Head Coach André Tourigny began his post-game remarks saying, “Obviously, (Vegas) had a great start. I liked the way we responded after their third goal. Even then, we got in the box; right away after that’s where we started rolling and got back in the game a little bit. So I’m proud of the way our guys responded to adversity. That was a hard-fought game. We know how good they can be and I think we responded well (in) the second half of the game.”

No matter the outcome of Game 5 on Wednesday in Las Vegas, there will be a Game 6 on Friday at Delta Center. The only question is whether the Mammoth will enter that game with a chance to clinch the series, or if they will face a must-win situation to stay alive and force a Game 7 back in Nevada.

Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) blocks a shot by the Vegas Golden Knights (center) Brett Howden (21) in the second period of game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thu Apr 24, 2026 (AP News photo)

Mammoth Stomp Golden Knights 4-2 In Historic First NHL Playoff Game In Utah

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Lawson Crouse scored twice as Utah built up a 4-0 lead halfway through the game and then held on to complete the 4-2 win and take a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference First-Round series.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs made their official Utah debut on Friday night before a noisy, sold-out crowd at Delta Center in Salt Lake City where the Mammoth hosted the Vegas Golden Knights for Game 3 of the Western Conference First-Round Series.  The two squads split the first two games in Las Vegas, with the Mammoth evening up the series on Tuesday with their 3-2 victory.

The festivities began outside Delta Center at noon when as many as a thousand fans turned out to take advantage of an offer to switch allegiances and exchange a licensed Golden Knights jersey for a new Mammoth jersey.  Prior to the arrival of the Utah Hockey Club two years ago, the Golden Knights and the Colorado Avalanche had been the closest thing Utahns had to a home NHL team, with Vegas games being broadcast on local television, and the Smith Entertainment Group has actively sought to win fans over with much success.  Then at 3:00pm the community was invited for a giant outdoor playoff party with a live band, face painting, food, games, and even an opportunity to take pictures on the Zammoth.

Prior to puck drop, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Utah Mammoth Governor Ryan Smith held a press conference where Bettman announced that next season’s Winter Classic between the Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche will be held New Year’s Eve at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Smith elaborated that Utah is planning a series of events over the weekend including a New Year’s Eve concert at Delta Center.

It was two years ago today that members of the former Arizona Coyotes landed in Salt Lake City, having just been acquired at the conclusion of their season by Smith Entertainment Group. They were overwhelmed to be greeted at the airport by legions of kids wearing their own hockey gear and holding up signs welcoming them to their new home, and later that night being introduced to thousands of screaming fans at the Delta Center.  As loud as the arena was on that night, or on the night of their first ever home game on October 8, 2024, against the Chicago Blackhawks, nothing compared with the volume on Friday night at Delta Center where the decibel level reached such peaks that players couldn’t hear Head Coach André Tourigny shouting out line changes.

MacKenzie Weegar got things going for the Mammoth at 12:59 of the first period, collecting a loose puck and scoring his second playoff goal of the series and his first ever at Delta Center, assisted by Liam O’Brien and Kailer Yamamoto.  On the assist, O’Brien, who has played parts of 9 seasons in the NHL, notched his first career playoff point.  With three and a half minutes remaining in the frame, Brayden McNabb was whistled for high-sticking against Logan Cooley to give Utah its first power play opportunity of the game. With 45 seconds remaining in the man-advantage, Cooley sent the puck across the ice to Dylan Guenther’s office at the top of the faceoff circle where he one-timed a bullet into the net to give the Mammoth a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room.  The goal was Guenther’s second of the playoffs, with the additional assist going to Captain Clayton Keller.  Courtesy the Mammoth stat crew, Guenther is one of just four players in the expansion era (since 1967-68) to light the lamp in any franchise’s first home regular-season and playoff game, joining Ray Cullen (Minnesota North Stars), Larry Keenan (St. Louis Blues), and Mark Messier (Edmonton Oilers). Golden Knights Head Coach John Tortorella defended his netminder after the game, saying, “No one is stopping Guenther’s shot, and that’s just a bomb.”  Vegas outshot Utah 13-6 in the period, but Karel Vejmelka successfully kept them off the scoreboard.

Four minutes into the second period, the Mammoth kept the momentum going as Associate Captain Lawson Crouse attacked the net and tipped in a pass from Nick Schmaltz to take a 3-0 lead with Weegar picking up the additional assist.  Schmaltz’s assist was his first career playoff point.  Halfway through the period Crouse struck again with a blast from the top of the faceoff circle to give Utah a commanding 4-0 lead. Crouse’s second goal of the game and the series was assisted by Keller who picked up his second assist of the night for his first multi-point playoff game of his career.  Thus far in the playoffs, Crouse’s two goals at 5:42 apart are the fastest two goals by the same player.  At 13:20 of the second period, Jack Eichel spoiled the shutout, knocking in a rebound in front of the net for his first post-season goal, assisted by Ivan Barbashev and Mark Stone. Once again Vegas doubled up Utah in shots on goal, 10-5, but the Mammoth doubled up the Golden Knights in goals to head to the locker room with a 4-1 lead.

Throughout the third period Vegas continued to attack, ultimately outshooting Utah 9-1, but could only muster a late goal by Nic Dowd with three minutes remaining to cut their deficit in half. The Golden Knights pulled Carter Hart from the net for an extra attacker the rest of the way, but Vejmelka and the Mammoth closed the door on Vegas despite having been outshot 32-12 in the match. Utah’s penalty kill was a perfect 4-0 against the Vegas power play.

“Right when we came out, it was electric in the building,” said Weegar in the locker room after the game. “It was loud, and I saw the towels going, introducing the starting lineups, and felt it after that. The first five minutes give you goosebumps. That’s sort of what it’s about. You know, feeling it with the fans and the players. Both sides appreciate each other so much. But we really felt that.” On the mental test of holding onto the lead in the third period against a club like Vegas, Weegar said, “I think that’s a big topic with our group, you know, that’s the maturity. Learning from the end of the season, closing out those games when it matters. I thought we did a great job. Veggie, obviously, the start of his game was really why we were in that game the whole time. So he closed it out for us. A lot of character, and it was similar to that game two, closing out and finishing the job. So we have to continue that.”

Guenther talked about the difficulty hearing Tourigny calling out line changes. “It’s tough, especially when it’s loud in there, and a couple times, you know, he’s barking off the lines. I think it always just comes back down to just work and speed. So I think if we’re kind of getting off our game a little bit, I think just simple, simple speed.”

In the media room, Keller and Crouse stepped up to the microphone to field questions from local and national media.  On his team’s effort, Keller began, “Yeah, I think we used our speed a lot tonight. I think we stuck with it. They’re a great team, and they make you work for everything. I think just having a simple game getting pucks to the net, I know we didn’t have a ton of shots, but we had some attempts, and some looks where we may have missed the net. Veggie was unreal, PK was unreal tonight, so I think we’ll make adjustments and go forward into the next one.” On the energy in the arena, Lawson said, “Yeah, the fans have been incredible ever since day one, when we’ve shown up here, and it seemed like they took it to a whole new level tonight. We can start to use that to our advantage. They really energize us. I was looking up in the stands after the first goal, and just seeing all the rally towels going and just feeling the energy and the passion from them really gives us that boost.” Talking about the team’s emotions taking the ice for the franchise’s first playoff home game, Keller said, “It was amazing. We were so jacked up to play tonight. I think even just in warm ups there was an amazing feel. You could tell that they (the fans) were invested, and they were super excited as well. It’s great to get a huge win here at home, the first playoff game in franchise history. It’s pretty cool, and I’m sure the crowd will be even better the next one.”

“I think we did a good job of weathering the storm,” said Head Coach André Tourigny at the beginning of his press conference. “We scored a big goal on our power play, then we scored a big goal five-on-five, and then our power play took the lead from there. I think until we took the 4-0 lead, it was a hard-fought game, and it was really good. Obviously, in the third, they had a big push, and they played well. They’re a good team. They played really well. Proud of the way we defended and the way we weathered the storm in the first period.” On the team’s successful penalty kill, Bear added, “It starts with your most important player on the PK, your goalie. I think Vej was rock solid. Made key saves at key moments. Our PK was tuned in. A few good block shots, and a few good clearings. I think they were solid. Our power play as well. Like I said before, a big goal. We had a great performance from our special teams.” Tourigny also commented about the noise level, “That will be an adjustment. Seriously, we had some confusion on the bench. Guys did not know who was up, and for the people who know me, I can be pretty loud. The crowd beat me, no doubt about it. There are a few things we did as a staff to get better during the game to make sure there was less confusion. Because, if you look at the tape, there are two situations in the second period where there was a little bit of confusion.”

If you’re going to have any confusion, an arena full of screaming fans is the way you want it to be.

The Mammoth take a 2-1 series lead into Game 4 this coming Monday night at Delta Center.

Utah Mammoth defenseman Mikhail Sergachev (99) and center Logan Center (92) celebrate after Cooley’s goal against the Vegas Golden Knights in third period in game two of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at T Mobile Center in Las Vegas on Wed Apr 22, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Tom Walker

Logan Cooley became the youngest American-born player to score goals in each of his first two playoff appearances in Utah win over Vegas 3-2.

The Utah Mammoth squared off against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday for the second game of the Western Conference First-Round Series hoping to tie up the series following Sunday night’s Game 1 loss.

Vegas received a golden opportunity eleven minutes into the first period when Utah forward Logan Cooley was whistled for interference against Mitch Marner. On the ensuing power play, Mark Stone scored his 2nd goal of the playoffs on a shot which deflected off the skate of Mammoth defenseman Mikhail Sergachev to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead.

Jack Eichel and Marner assisted on the play. With 3:01 remaining in the frame, Vegas defenseman Rasmus Andersson reciprocated by kicking the puck into his own net, with the tying goal being credited to MacKenzie Weegar who was the last Mammoth to touch the puck.

At 14:56 of the second period, Dylan Guenther one-timed a slap shot from the top of the faceoff circle for his first goal of the post-season, assisted by Kailer Yamamoto who had gloved down a clearing attempt by Vegas and sent a cross-ice pass to the waiting stick of Guenther to give Utah its first lead of the night. That lead was short-lived, as Ivan Barbashev split two Mammoth defenders 62 seconds later and put the puck past Karel Vejmelka for his second goal of the playoffs, assisted by Eichel.

Exactly 14 minutes into the third period, Logan Cooley banged in a rebound off a shot by Guenther for his second goal of the playoffs to give Utah a 3-2 lead with six minutes remaining, with Yamamoto picking up the second assist. With the goal, Cooley made NHL history as the youngest American-born player to score goals in each of his first two career playoff games, edging out his captain Clayton Keller who had previously held that record at the age of 22 while with the Arizona Coyotes.

Earlier in the playoffs, 19-year-old Philadelphia Flyers forward Porter Martone, born in Peterborough, ON, became the youngest player overall to achieve the feat while also becoming the third rookie in NHL history to score game-winning goals in consecutive games to start a postseason, joining Brett Hull (1988) and Cooney Weiland (1929). Vejmelka shut the door on the Golden Knights the rest of the way as the Mammoth split the two games in Vegas and return to Delta Center on Friday where they currently enjoy home ice advantage in the series.

Yamamoto, who assisted on the goals by Guenther and Cooley, said of those teammates in the locker room after the game, “Those two are unbelievable. Everything they do, very easy to play with, they just use their speed. They’re so quick, and heavy on pucks. They may not be the biggest guys, but very heavy on their sticks and win a lot of battles.”

Cooley said of Yamamoto, “He’s such a smart player. He reads off of me and Gunner really good. It seems like he’s always in the right position, really poised with the puck. Positive guy too. Keeps us loose and I feel, like Gunner, we just have a lot of speed, we read off each other really well, and it’s clicking right now.” On Utah’s performance in the game, Cooley added, “There’s a lot of emotions in these playoff games. A lot of ups and downs. I think you have to just find a way to stay level-headed. Different things happen. Good calls, bad calls, different momentum swings. We did a good job of staying level-headed, and that’s what we need to do moving forward.” Guenther, who was seated next to Cooley for the interview, said, “I think it’s contagious too. When everyone’s lifting each other up, it’s a good feeling. I think it feels like we ‘re always in it no matter what.” Cooley continued, “It’s nice to get the win, and to have a big goal in a big moment, and it’s nice that we could get the series tied up heading back home. … It’s so exciting playing in these games. You’re playing for the Cup. It’s what you dream of since you’re a little kid, and you just want to leave everything out there. The games are so intense, physical, fast, and I think that kind of fits my game. Just trying to add those attributes into these games and it’s clicking right now. Just gotta keep moving.”

“That was a hard game,” said Head Coach André Tourigny to begin his post-game remarks. “Not a lot of space out there. I like the way our guys responded. … You need to have the right balance, need to have poise, you need to be patient, you need to be aggressive, and you need to be intense. … You need to be 10 out of 10 in your drive, but at the same time you need to be calm. You need to be urgent, but you need to be patient. You need to be disciplined.” Asked about how impressive Cooley’s play has been, Bear responded, “I don’t know if it’s impressive when you see him every day. We know how competitive, how good he is, for us it’s just stay in the moment I think Cools has been really good for us since he’s with us – 3 years now – and right now his head is at the right place, he’s in the moment, and I think everybody in our room right now is focused and in the right place and we need to keep it there.”

On Friday night the State of Utah will host its first-ever NHL playoff match as the Mammoth and Golden Knights square off for Game 3 of the best-of-seven series.