^{JJ has the last laugh with the tying goal and assist, as Utah remains perfect against Buffalo}

Utah returned home to the Delta Center for the first of two games against New York teams, before another extended road trip. The Mammoth came in on a three game losing streak, and despite being strong at home, their loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning kicked off a streak of 5 losses in their last 6 games. After a blisteringly hot start, the Mammoth have been as cold as their namesake.

In a tight Central Division, one in which 12 of the 16 teams are at or above a .500 point pace, any losing streak can harm your playoff chances. Needless to say, even 16 games in, snapping losing streaks is imperative for your eventual playoff push.

Tonight, it was our turn to host old pals the Buffalo Sabres. Seeing each other just last week, this weird quirky schedule has the teams concluding their season series before Utah even played a second divisional opponent at home. The previous meeting saw Utah win in overtime, making their all-time record 3-0-0 against Buffalo.

Last game was a tight, low scoring affair. We’re naturally going to see that again tonight, right?

FIRST PERIOD:
Knowing what they needed to do, Utah came out of the gate strong, controlling the pace of play for the first 5 minutes. Utah’s first two minutes saw a big blast from New York native, Nick DeSimone, playing in just his second game of the season. Another great attempt fell short when Logan Cooley, who forced a turnover in the Buffalo zone, had a chance in the slot, but former Utah Hockey Club legend, Josh Doan, knocked Cooley off his feet to end the chance. Buffalo netminder, Colten Ellis, in just his second career start, was also able to fend off a shot from Lawson Crouse at the doorstep, keeping Utah scoreless.

Despite Utah carrying play for the first 5 minutes, Buffalo drew first blood. A failed clearing attempt by Ian Cole led to Jack Quinn sneaking around Kailer Yamamoto in the corner, and his pass to Isak Rosen snuck in just past DeSimone; Rosen’s skate caught the puck for a deflection behind Karel Vejmelka. One official shot counted, one goal against… 1-0 Buffalo

Buffalo was energized by their goal, pushing Utah for the next few minutes. Josh Doan started hitting everyone wearing black, Michael Kesselring had a shot on goal saved by Vejmelka, and a flurry of saves by Veggie on Josh Dunne left the netminder lying flat on his back, covering the puck. This save seemed to turn Utah’s fortunes around a bit, as Cooley had a great look to a streaking Nick Schmaltz in the slot. Schmaltz’ one timer just didn’t connect on the cross body shot, as Ellis was able to keep the puck at bay.

Utah had a few good looks over the next few minutes, with the defensemen confident to throw the puck on net. After several saves and opportunities, a chip play from Barrett Hayton to JJ Peterka led to a wide-open look by Dylan Guenther on Ellis. Guenther was in too tight, and his shot (and follow up) couldn’t find their way past Buffalo’s goalie, but Guenther was tripped during this sequence allowing Utah to see their power play for the first time in the game.

Utah’s power play has been atrocious lately. Their last power play goal came against Winnipeg back on October 26th, a scoreless stretch of 6 games. Buffalo boasts the top PK in the league, even short Rasmus Dahlin, so the power play faced an uphill battle.

The Mammoth won several key faceoffs, and shots from Sergachev and good puck movement gave Utah a number of looks and chances, but unfortunately the Mammoth remained scoreless on the power play. The pressure post-power play remained solid, but a lack of chemistry between the newly mixed up top lines was obvious. Passes either were too far ahead or in skates; there were a lot of chances that couldn’t develop because of these miscues. Even with lost opportunities, Utah maintained puck and zone control for much of the remainder of the period. However, a roughing penalty to Crouse gave Buffalo their first power play of the game.

Buffalo’s power play isn’t close to as effective as their penalty kill, and Utah’s penalty kill has been very good lately. The Mammoth allowed only one shot through most of the power play, but a high-sticking penalty by Kevin Stenlund gave a short two-man advantage to the Sabres. Two saves by Vejmelka got Crouse back, and only one more save was needed before Utah went 2 for 2 on the PK. Neither team had much pressure for the remaining two minutes of the period, as anything that looked to develop was immediately shut down, and they went to the locker rooms with the score still 1 – 0 in favor of Buffalo, shots 12-8 in favor of Utah.

SECOND PERIOD:
Buffalo came out of the tunnel with a little more jump than Utah to start the second period, but within a minute Utah was back to throwing shots on Ellis. About 4 minutes in, Buffalo nearly doubled their lead, as a deflection off a wrister bounced up awkwardly on Vejmelka, forcing him to make a shoulder-shimmy save. On the counter-attack, some sloppy play with the forwards almost paid off for Utah. An errant pass found its way to John Marino at the point, who shot into traffic. The puck bounced just inches wide of the far side post, and Keller wasn’t able to bury the chance. Open play for both sides, but no change in score despite the chances for both teams.

7 minutes in, Buffalo capitalized again. After keeping Utah from any solid chances, a rush by the Sabres confused Utah’s defending forwards. Two Mammoth players ended up collapsing on the same player, giving Noah Ostlund a wide open lane to Rosen with nothing but wide open cage. All of a sudden, Rosen – who?? – was on hatty watch. The last two goals were goals number 2 and 3 of his career… 2-0 Buffalo

Second period collapse incoming. Sloppy play in Utah’s end led to a scary chance for Buffalo. Playing the puck behind the net, Veggie deferred to Marino to play it, but Marino coughed up a juicy opportunity a couple of feet in front of the net. An unprepared Vejmelka dropped the pads, and just kept the poke-checked puck from crossing the line. Same shift, Marino tried to throw the puck out of the zone, but Dunne knocked the puck out of the air, and with complete clearance on all sides, went in alone on Veggie. Karel stopped the first shot, the rebound, and once again ended up on his back. This time, the puck was loose, but eventually frozen, to keep Utah just down by 2.

Through almost the entire first half of the period, Buffalo was relentless. They nearly doubled their shot totals, had several grade-A chances, and buried a goal. Utah was mostly harmless, though a great rush chance close to the 10 minute mark was met with a fantastic save by Ellis, who went cross-crease to rob Cooley’s one timer from the dot.

The 10 minute mark changed Utah’s fortunes, thanks again to the third line. Michael Carcone drove to the net on Ellis, but coming in tight he tried to hit Crouse who was open on the far side. His pass missed, however a fortunate bounce ended up in the perfect spot for Nick DeSimone. In his second game back, he didn’t waste the opportunity to rip a slap shot past Ellis to score against his hometown team. 2-1 Buffalo

Utah remained energized after the goal, pushing play in their favor for the better part of the next 5 minutes. There were heavy battles in the Buffalo zone, and several shots by Keller, Schmaltz, and even the third line either were blocked by Sabres players, just missed the mark, or were handled by Ellis. Nick DeSimone just missed tying the game, as his one-timer from Keller just hit the bar. Buffalo had one golden chance in between the Mammoth pushes, but like DeSimone, their shot rang iron.

20 minutes left, could Utah pull a comeback off?

THIRD PERIOD:
Andre Tourigny must have given the kids some candy in the locker room, because everyone came out in the third period possessed. From the initial drop, Utah was relentless. Keller and Cooley tried to connect in the first 30 seconds, but Cooley got upended in the slot, no call. Same shift, Keller drove the net, but had to pass back to the blue line for a shot that was grabbed by Ellis.

Utah had an unusual line of Crouse, McBain and JJ Peterka on the ice for the faceoff. Utah won, but the puck ended up along the boards in no-mans land. No worries, Peterka picked up the puck, and with a great individual effort, split three converging Sabres with a move to the far dot. Just 52 seconds in, rubber met net from an absolute snipe by JJ, and the third started off with a bang for Team Tusk. 2-2 Tied

The Peterka goal was throwing gas on an energy fire, as Utah did not cede any level of control over the next few minutes. Like a relentless tide, the Mammoth kept surging into the Sabres zone, kept pushing their defenders. Under withering pressure, the third line again came through. JJ Peterka pressured the Sabres with a shot that went high and out of the zone, but the re-entry from this group saw a give and go between Crouse and Peterka. When JJ crashed towards the net, he drew three Sabres to him. This left Crouse open down towards the goal line. Peterka dished off, and somehow being the Sherriff turned into being the sharpshooter, as Crouse caught the tiniest spot between the bar and Ellis’ helmet to give the Mammoth their first lead of the game 3-2 Utah

Cooley almost doubled up the Utah lead on a one-on-one rush, with a slick attempt to go five-hole on Ellis. The Mammoth kept pressure up on Buffalo. Unlike previous games where Utah had a lead, the Mammoth kept up pressure on Buffalo. This kept the Sabres on their heels, not allowing the Sabres the ability to counterattack or mount much pressure.

The Sabres did get a lucky break about 7 minutes in, as a great individual effort by Josh Doan saw him get behind almost all the layers of Utah’s defense, but some solid positioning by a recovering Dmitri Simashev – and good positioning by Vejmelka – defused that situation.

Utah’s top three lines continued to push Buffalo and refused to sit back passively. After several chances and near misses, the top line finally broke through for the Mammoth. Great board play by the captain, Clayton Keller, gave him the opportunity to feed the puck to Schmaltz. Schmaltz, covered well by the Sabres, was still able to get just enough separation, and he beat Ellis far side to give Utah a two goal lead. 4-2 Utah

Despite there being only 10 minutes left in the game, Utah pushed for the next two minutes, with Guenther and Carcone almost capitalizing. Cooley had yet another dangerous rush chance – beating his two shadows in the neutral zone and crossing over to beat his defender, but his chance just went wide. Not to be outdone, Guenther had a similar break with just one defender back, and he also went wide.

The Mammoth had a stranglehold on the game at this point. The Sabres, down by 2 goals, had no shots from the 12 minute mark. Rosen had one attempt that went wide, and that was the extent of their pressure. Buffalo had nothing going for them for more than 9 minutes.

Ellis was pulled with just about 3 minutes to go, which gave Buffalo some life and opportunity for the first time in half a period. Buffalo kept the puck in the Mammoth zone, but had shots deflected and blocked repeatedly. Meanwhile, Utah played extremely smart hockey – clears were soft enough to not be icings, and no ill-advised shots on net were taken. The Mammoth almost got their empty net goal, but were just offsides. This forced Ellis back in net for a few seconds on face-off. Utah stuffed Buffalo at the line, forechecked Buffalo in their own zone, and barely let the Sabres have any life. It was a masterclass in aggressive play to contain a 6 – 5 situation,

With 30 seconds to go, good work by Cooley and Schmaltz led to Keller getting the puck at center ice. With a clear line to the goal, he wouldn’t miss the dagger, sealing the final score and Utah’s victory. 5 -2 Utah

Utah gave up zero shots in the last 12 minutes of the game, including 2+ minutes with the extra attacker.

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3 GOALS (THE GOOD):

Welcome Back Nick DeSimone! A goal tonight, an assist in Ottawa, and quietly the defenseman is a point per game player. DeSimone also nearly had a second, ringing iron shortly after his goal, but had a lot of offensive push to help give Utah the energy they needed in the second and third periods.

DeSimone still needs to not see the PK or be relied on in intensive defending situations, but offensively he gave Utah what they needed tonight to start their comeback. Great job, kid!

The Best Third Line in Hockey? it’s definitely possible. The Mammoth third line is a high-energy, solid possession, heavy hitting, great on the boards, and ferocious forechecking unit. They drove play to fuel the opening goal by DeSimone.

Michael Carcone led the team in expected goal differential, Corsi, and Fenwick tonight by a large margin. Second? Jack McBain. Third? Lawson Crouse. The unit controls pucks, shuts down chances almost completely, and continues to be the beating heart of this team.

Adding in Peterka in the third period was a masterclass in putting the right pieces in the right places at the right time. Recognizing that the third line was the only one generating chances most of the game – and coupling them with the one guy who capitalizes on chances AND who had something to prove against his old team – was just a marriage made in heaven.

Third Period Resilience is a thing for Utah. Actually, make that a 2.5 and 3rd period thing. Down 2 – 0, Utah had a 5 goal outburst to defeat the Sabres. The Mammoth have struggled with scoring goals lately, and they have played with their energy seemingly sucked out of them if they fall behind. Well, they fell behind, then further behind, then that Delta Center/Third Line/DeSimone energy shook them awake. And once awake, they were going to deliver. Good almost-all-around effort, good focus, and a solid W as they returned home.

3 CHIRPS (THE BAD):

Chemistry just isn’t there with all the line blenders. Several times, Cooley, Keller, and Schmaltz had good opportunities that didn’t convert – either from bad luck, good saves, or because a pass was off the mark. The second line with Peterka, Hayton, and Guenther also saw some misplays as the wingers and centers just were off the mark a few times.

If these are going to be new semi-permanent lines, they need a lot more practice time together in order to make things work. Thankfully the Peterka 3rd period start was a home run for the night, as getting him with McBain and Crouse was absolutely the best call of the game. That doesn’t erase the fact that the top two lines for the first 2 periods were rough.

Also… if you’re going to throw a line blender on the main lines, what’s keeping this from happening on the PP units? Speaking of…

The Power Play is all play, no power, and I’m not even sure about the play. OK, I’m being a little unfair since they had some prime chances and really good looks against Buffalo’s best-in-league PK. But, as I’ve been told before, chances don’t mean squat if you don’t do anything with them. And now, the PP hasn’t done anything with them for 7 games.

When you’re splitting up lines to put a sniper like Peterka with an energy third line in McBain and Crouse, and they’re producing, why in the world won’t you shake up the PP units even once?

A team that has Guenther, Peterka, Cooley, Keller, and Schmaltz has one of the worst power plays in the game. That’s simply not acceptable for the level of talent available. Let’s see some blending on those units, Andre!

Shooting Percentages Against are just confusingly bad. How can a team suppress so many shots, keep shots to the perimeter so often, but then give up wide-open looks in the slot or back door so often?

Veggie won today on a sub .900 save percentage. He stopped flurries in the first and second period that could have buried Utah under a 3+ goal deficit. He stopped deflections, a one-on-one situation in the second with the game on the line, and overall his stats look awful.

Vejmelka stole games for Utah last year. While he hasn’t stolen a game yet this year, he has made bigger saves than anything indicates, and it’s just a shame that his numbers aren’t showing the big-time playmaker he’s been when needed this year.

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Next up:

The New York Islanders head to town, on the back end of their own back-to-back games on the road.