Klayton Keller (9) of the Utah Mammoth had two assists against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Delta Center on Sun Jan 11, 2026 (Fox 2 News Salt Lake City file photo)
By Tom Walker
SALT LAKE CITY–Clayton Keller’s first period shot went wide of the net, but bounced off McBain’s back and into the goal in first period of the Utah Mammoth’s first home ice loss of 2026 to the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 in overtime.
The Mammoth (22-20-3) welcomed the Blue Jackets (19-18-7) to Delta Center on Sunday afternoon for the third of seven games on the current homestand. Struggling backup goaltender Vítek Vaněček, entering the game at 2-9-1 on the season, got the start in place of Czechia Olympian Karel Vejmelka.
Not quite three minutes into the game, Columbus hit the scoreboard first on Mikael Pyythia’s first goal of the season, a wicked shot that was in and out of the net so fast that one could barely tell it was a goal at all, assisted by Danton Heinen and Ivan Provorov.
With just a few minutes remaining in the first period, Utah tied things up on a fluke goal when Clayton Keller sent the puck wide of the net and off the back of linemate Jack McBain into the Blue Jackets net. Keller has now registered assists in five consecutive home games which ties his own franchise record.
Whether it was an errant shot attempt or a mysterious pass, it resulted in McBain’s 5th goal of the season with the additional assist going to Nick DeSimone. This one is worth finding a replay on the internet to watch. Columbus netminder Jet Greaves finished the period stopping six of seven shots, while Vaněček turned away eleven of twelve for the Mammoth.
Utah started off the second period quickly at 1:02 when defenseman Mikhail Sergachev fired a bullet from the center of the blue line past everyone between him and the net for his 7th goal of the season, assisted by Keller and Nick Schmaltz, to give the Mammoth its first lead of the game.
With two and a half minutes left in the frame, McBain went to the sin bin for holding against Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, and Columbus made Utah pay for it a minute later when Charlie Coyle shot the puck off the near goalpost and then passed the rebound to Adam Fantilli in front of the net.
Vaněček stopped Fantilli, but Coyle finished the job for his seventh of the season, with the additional assist credited to Kirill Marchenko. The two squads completed the period knotted up at two apiece, with Greaves stopping seven of eight and Vaněček turning away twelve of thirteen.
The Mammoth and Blue Jackets were scoreless in the third period, but Daniil But put Utah at a disadvantage in overtime when he tripped Fantilli with 24 seconds left in regulation. Benefitting from the 4-on-3 overtime power play, Columbus dominated the 61 seconds necessary for Dmitri Voronkov to record his 16th goal of the season to put Utah away, assisted by Zach Werenski and Marchenko.
Despite saving 33 of 36 shots in the game, Vaněček’s losing streak increased to ten games, his last victory coming against the Winnipeg Jets on October 26. In the locker room after the game, Mikhail Sergachev expressed support for Vaněček “He was amazing. He held the ground for us. We gave up a little too much. He was big for us tonight. We just couldn’t get it done for him.” When asked about defending defending 4-on-3 in overtime, Sergachev said, “It is hard, but it’s easier than 5-on-3. … Pucks were flying around; high sticks everywhere; we just didn’t get to set up in our formation and didn’t get to defend that well. (Columbus) attacked right away–good on them.”
Jack McBain, who initiated the scoring with perhaps the most unusual goal of his career, said, “It wasn’t our best game, for sure. Everybody knows that. We gave up too many chances. I think we tried to overcomplicate the game. We got a little away from our identity there.” Asked about staying strong late in the third period, McBain added, “Every point matters. The kill did a good job to get it into overtime. It was unfortunate that (Columbus) was on the 4-on-3, that’s tough. But every point matters all the way through the rest of the season. … We got a point out of (tonight). It wasn’t our best game, but we’ll learn from it and move on. We have to learn…to win, how to close out games. Not our best, but we’re on to the next one.”
Utah Mammoth Head Coach André Tourigny began his postgame remarks by saying, “I think I’m disappointed about the way we process that game, the way our thought process, mindset, our play with the puck, our play without the puck. I think V gave us an opportunity to get a point, which is a big point, which is important. I thought against St Louis, Vej bailed us out. So I was expecting definitely better from today.” When asked how the team can improve, Bear responded, “First of all, you need to sting a little bit. It’s not just about moving on. It’s about learning from it. I think there’s a lesson to learn from that game. Like I said, it’s not a matter of execution or effort. It was a matter of mindset, be ready to play the game the way it should have been played, and our decision with the puck. There’s many things that were not on par.” Tourigny was visually disappointed for Vaněček, and said of his performance, “Really good, I think. Tough situation, he didn’t play for a little bit, and came in and the guys did not play their A game in front of him, and he kept us there. I think he did a great job.”
Utah (22-20-4) returns to the ice on Tuesday for their fourth game of the homestand against the Toronto Maple Leafs (22-15-7).
NHL Note: Ten years ago today (January 11, 2016), Washington Capitals forward and future unanimous first ballot Hall of Famer Alex Ovechkin passed the 500 career goals mark. Now at the age of 40, Ovi has 19 goals in the current season, and 916 for his record breaking career, 24 more than the previous record holder, Wayne Gretzky, who retired with 894 career goals.
Ovechkin also has 77 career playoff goals for good measure, which means he is 7 away from 1000 combined career regular season and playoff goals, still behind Gretzky whose combined regular season and playoff goal mark is 1016, still very much in reach for Ovechkin who continues to be productive while most of his contemporaries have been long retired.
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