^{Utah can’t hold it’s first period lead, and fall at home 4-2}

After a long road trip, and a four day break, the Utah Mammoth returned to the Delta Center for one game. Team Tusk was looking to start a new win streak before heading out for another 4 game road trip, with two back-to-back games coming up on the radar.

Enter the Tampa Bay Lightning, coming in hot after an abysmal start to the year. Winning their last 4, the veteran team was going to provide a test for Utah. Could Utah re-capture the magic of the streak, and cool off the red-hot Lightning?

Utah would face the Lightning back up goaltender today, as Jonas Johansson started in place of Andrei Vasilevskiy. Considering the strength of what Vasilevskiy brings, this was a potential opportunity for the Mammoth to take advantage of.

FIRST PERIOD:
In my preview, I said that the Lightning win games where they score first, and it was important for Utah to jump on the board early. On cue, Utah brought the heat in the first 90 seconds. A diving clear by JJ Peterka made its way out to Dylan Guenther at the blue line. Gunner entered the zone, skated to the dot as a defender was closing, but his shot was denied by Johansson. Immediately on the faceoff, Tampa won, forcing Karel Vejmelka to make a good save on his own.

Utah kept pressure, however, as the usually defensively stout Tampa defense allowed Keller to walk in between 4 Tampa players. The captain held the puck too long, and took himself into a bad angle short-side, allowing Johansson an easier angle to make the save from.

The third rush up, however, was a clean breakaway. Ian Cole sent a clearing pass that connected with Lawson Crouse. The Sherriff skated in on Johansson, ripping a top corner shot over his blocker, giving Utah the early lead. 1-0 Utah

Both teams played fairly conservatively for a while, with neither team giving much in either zone. Utah repeatedly stopped the Tampa Bay rush, and despite a high energy Utah game, the Lightning were swarming pucks, keeping chances to a minimum in their zone.

The Lightning went to the power play about 10 minutes in, and went to work quickly. Vejmelka was tested early. A hard shot from the point was stopped, two immediate stuff attempts were also denied, and the last rebound was shouldered away, as Sergachev pushed the puck under Veggie for a stoppage. Energized from their stop, the Mammoth had a shorthanded semi-breakaway from Kevin Stenlund, who was stick checked right as he was about to shoot, forcing the puck wide.

The Mammoth had one more chance on the PK, with Logan Cooley the recipient of an errant pass. He pulled his defender to the slot, but his shot ended up ramping up a stick and out of play. Despite being down a man, Utah had nearly as many scoring chances as Tampa, but both teams failed to capitalize and the score remained 1-0.

As an bitter Islanders convert, I was slightly irritated that they were able to call a too-many-men penalty in this game… but not in the playoffs… and Utah had their first man advantage of the game with about 7 minutes to go in the period. Utah was stifled the entire time, though, as Tampa batted pucks out of the air, stuffed lanes, and generally caused a hard time for the Mammoth. Utah had a great chance to score late in the PP, as Hayton centered a pass to Peterka which was stopped, and Kailer Yamamoto was denied trying to bury the rebound.

The penalty expired, and in the immediate counterattack by Tampa, Utah lost coverage in transition. A back and forth between Yanni Gourde and Emil Lilleberg left Gourde all alone at the circle. Vejmelka had positioned to play an Lilleberg shot, so the net was completely empty for the Tampa tally. 1-1 Tied

Utah nearly pulled ahead on the most innocent of plays. Dmitry Simashev, looking for his first professional point, sent a clearing attempt down the ice. What looked like icing actually wound up hitting the iron. Johansson seemed almost stunned at the event, and instead of covering the puck played it out to his defense. However, the closest players wore black – but the Mammoth were nearly as stunned and didn’t take advantage of the mistake.

The remainder of the period was fairly uneventful, with only a Hedman chance stopped by Veggie.

SECOND PERIOD:
Utah’s decidedly lost 2nd periods all year. Half of the goals the Mammoth give up come in the middle frame. Would this be any different? Three minutes in, the answer appeared to be no as Utah let up yet another early 2nd period goal to their opponent.

The Lightning captured a weak clearing attempt off the faceoff, and a lucky bounce off a whiffed shot, and Jake Guentzel fed an open Anthony Cirelli in the circle. Hayton appeared to be late covering Cirelli, who beat Vejmelka high blocker side for the lead. 2-1 Tampa

In my pre-game, I told you that the Lightning are dangerous with the lead, Tampa clamped down on Utah for much of the period. Tampa was stingy in their end, and forced the puck deep into the Utah end multiple times. The Lightning forecheck and smothering defense was frustrating for Utah, who were facing a dose of their own medicine.

Yamamoto drew a penalty about halfway through the period. With their best chance so far, Yamamoto took a pass at the blue line and was held by Erik Cernak to prevent a scoring opportunity. With their second attempt with the man advantage, Cooley looked to Keller to net the equalizer early in, but Keller’s shot hit Johansson’s pad. A Cooley hold wiped out the rest of the power play, as Utah’s advantage disappeared.

The Mammoth kept the Lightning power play to the perimeter for the truncated power play, and no shots or scoring chances arose for Tampa.

Yamamoto caught old Utah friend Charles-Edouard D’Astous in a spin move, forcing a trip in the offensive zone. The Mammoth had a pair of good attempts from Guenther on the play, but one shot sailed over the net and a shattered stick caused another golden attempt to fail. Despite several shots on goal, Utah was unable to get the equalizer.

Both teams probed but no major chances occurred for either team. A pair of penalties with seconds to go would give us almost a full 2 minutes of 4 on 4 play as we headed to the final frame with Utah down one.

THIRD PERIOD:
The Mammoth needed to come out strong in the third. Through 40 minutes, Utah only managed 15 shots, and the most dangerous of those came early in the first period. A 4 on 4 situation opened the ice up for Utah’s speed and skill players, and early on, the Mammoth did all they could to push this advantage.

The blueliners got into action, with Sergachev and Schmidt taking early shots – the latter of which required a tough pad save by Johansson.

The 4 on 4 ended, but Utah kept pressure in the offensive zone. A broken stick by a Tampa defender left a lane wide open for Ian Cole to hit Yamamoto at the far dot. Yams roofed it short side for his first goal of the year, and the Mammoth and Lightning were once again knotted up. 2-2 Tied

The ice completely opened up for both teams after the goal. Both teams were back and forth with stretch passes, each offensive push was met with blocks, stick checks, or pressure to the perimeter on each end of the ice. John Marino had a good opportunity with a wrister from the point that Johansson didn’t snag cleanly, but Utah couldn’t cash in. Yamamoto, already with a goal in the game, had two back to back great shifts, with a penalty that should have been drawn, and then a great dish to Tanev, who barely missed his first Utah goal.

More back and forth play ensued, with few chances on either end. About the 10 minute mark, Vejmelka was forced to make a few saves – first on a rush, and then on a bad turnover by Marino at center ice.

An icing led to a defensive draw for the Mammoth. After losing the draw to Tampa, Jake Guentzel picked up the loose puck, circled behind the net, and squeaked a shot past a cheating Vejmelka. Veggie left a small spot open by the post, which may or may not have been exacerbated by a scrum in the crease, but it doesn’t matter how it goes in, it matters if it does. 3-2 Tampa

The kid line was quiet all night, but Peterka almost scored a quick equalizer. His deadly wrister from high in the slot was snagged by Johansson. A few shifts later, Keller from nearly the same spot had the same result – no damage despite a great attempt. Tampa forced play in Utah’s zone until the 3rd line had a chance, but a Jack McBain whiff left him on the ice, puck under his body for a stoppage. A scrum ensued, somehow Carcone ended up with a 10 minute misconduct, and Utah was down to 3 minutes to find an answer.

The Mammoth pulled Veggie with about 2 minutes to go, trying to get their first ever 6 on 5 goal. Tampa almost sealed the deal with a minute to go, as what would have been an icing on a miss saw Nikita Kucherov streak past the Mammoth defense, but Guenther got just enough to disrupt a gimme goal. He grabbed the puck for one last rush, but Tampa defended, got the puck to Brandon Hagel, who skated in untouched for the dagger. 4-2 Tampa

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3 GOALS (THE GOOD):

Kailer Yamamoto brought it today. A scratch for half the games, he was inserted into the lineup for Liam O’Brien. I half expected LOB to play, simply because Tampa plays rough and heavy. However, André Tourigny saw something in him for today, even though I have something to say about him shortly.

Yamamoto who ended up drawing a penalty, almost drawing a second, scored, and propelled a few more scoring chances between his own shooting (he had 4 shots) and a few plays to Tanev. Yams had a great night, his first goal of the year, and a well deserved star.

The third line played with fire and intensity all night. Until Carcone was kicked from the game, this was the best line of the game for Utah. Other than Yamamoto, the three best players on the ice were the McBain line. With a goal, 5 shots, 11 hits, and a handful of blocks, this line led with energy, determination, and was a great counter to Tampa’s third and fourth lines. Had McBain buried his late opportunity, this game would have very likely netted Utah a point.

Carcone’s misconduct penalty, even on re-watch, seemed overblown. It would have been nice to see him get a little more ice time towards the end of the game, but the stripes are going to do stripe things.

Ian Cole is going to make me eat some crow, isn’t he? I am not a fan of his defense. He’s slow, he gets beat often, which leads to penalties, and he’s prone to getting caught in bad positions. I can give a dissertation on why he leads the league in blocks and how that’s not necessarily a good sign, but what is a good sign is his continued point production.

Quietly, Cole has been assisting left right and center. His 2 assists today mark 4 points in his past 5 games. He’s +5 in that span, and +10 for the year to date. He’s on pace to break his best season stats, and has been doing so while not on the power play or other high-threat opportunities for a defenseman.

So, I’ll give Cole a lot of credit – he’s offensively stepping it up for Utah. He’s no Sergachev, but so far this year, he’s also no slouch.

3 CHIRPS (THE BAD):
John Marino was a really good signing from New Jersey. He was going to solidify the line, giving us a legitimate shut down defenseman. I remember how happy the Devils were when they signed him, and his stats put him in the upper echelon of defensive defensemen.

Fast forward 3 years. In his second season with the Mammoth, Marino is struggling, badly. The most damning evidence is high danger chances against (HDCA). When 2 defensemen are out, Utah has 72 HDCA. Marino was out for 46 of them, or 64% of all events. When accounting for defensive draws, which is already a higher danger situation, Marino’s pairings perform the worst, and it’s not even close.

For non-advanced stat geeks, he’s already seeing his most turnovers per game on average in his career, and is leading the team with 18 giveaways so far. He’s on pace for career lows in hits and shot blocks. Now, I can argue all day that hits and shot blocks aren’t the best measure of a defenseman’s utility and effectiveness, but to see all these stats get measurably worse at the same time is concerning.

Clayton Keller has to be battling something. A 90 point player a year ago, Keller is missing passes, fumbling pucks, and not connecting on his shots. His last game with a goal, which is his last game with a point, was back in St. Louis 5 games ago.

Keller’s hot streak on the last homestand and first games of the road trip still have him at a point per game pace, but lately he seems either distracted, sick, or battling an injury. None of those situations are good for him, or for the team.

As the captain and 1st line winger, Keller’s pulling close to 20 minutes a night. His line has the most time on ice out there for the majority of the game. While +/- isn’t the best stat to go by, the 1st line was -8 collectively today. That’s not a recipe for success.

Coaching decisions are driving me insane. Why can’t a talented Mammoth team ever get a 6 on 5 goal? What’s with the strange defensive pairings out or nowhere after 10 minutes of play? Why can’t Utah show up for the 2nd period? What in the world is going on here?

Keller’s been struggling, and it’s time to shift up the lines a bit for the power play. Three opportunities today, no conversions. The team has been struggling for zone entries because the defense can stack up against the stacked line. PP2 saw the most opportunity, with Yamamoto and Peterka having some success.

Why not spread the wealth and set up 2 decent lines instead of one that is vulnerable to being shut down? If you want a superstar line, why not swap Keller and Peterka for a shift or two, see how JJ works on the top unit where he should be his best?

Utah’s great defensive pairings were jumbled from the first penalty kill. A stout Sergachev – Simashev pairing was split up for some reason. They played a grand total of 3 shifts together after the 1st period. Marino was paired with Simashev after his second goal against, pairing Schmidt with various pairs throughout the game. Why break up the two pairings that works well defensively for you, and put two guys who are turning the puck over the most together on the same line?

How in the world is the 2nd period so consistently bad? You’re giving up more than 50% of your goals in the middle of the game. Utah isn’t old and slow, where a long line change can force long, tired shifts. Coach adjustments against us aren’t just miraculously good for one period. Where is the adjustment? Why can’t they figure it out?

I had a coach tell us once that we didn’t need to win a period, we just needed to not lose it. Maybe Coach Bear needs to teach this lesson to the kids. Don’t lose a second period. We don’t need to win it, but we sure as hell need to stop losing it game after game after game…

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Next up:

Utah re-unites with old friends Michael Kesselring and Josh Doan, while JJ Peterka gets booed incessantly in Buffalo on Tuesday at 5PM local.