^{Logan Cooley sets a scoring record at home, while improving the Mammoth’s playoff position with the win}

The long awaited rematch against the Vegas Knights finally arrived in the Delta Center tonight. Utah lost to Vegas just a few days ago, here in Utah, and the Mammoth were looking to trample the Knights to even the series.

It was a retribution game in more than just the win column; Thursday, Kevin Stenlund was hit high in the head against the Knights – an unpenalized play that actually put the Mammoth shorthanded for retaliation. Suffering a broken nose (likely), Stenlund has been in a bubble helmet since the incident.

Utah was flat against the Knights on Thursday, but since had a massive bounce-back game against the New York Rangers. The team seemed fired up, mostly disciplined, and was the polar opposite of the team that played on Thursday.

Which team would show up tonight? The Utah that got manhandled by Vegas, or the Mammoth that stampeded over the Rangers?

FIRST PERIOD:
The game started out a bit slower than Saturday’s game against the Rangers. Vegas, a heavy hitting team, pushed Utah with some hits early, as well as the attempt to get a net-front presence established early, but neither team had a lot of room or movement in the beginning of the game. Just 3 minutes into the game, Brandon Saad took a holding penalty in the Mammoth zone, allowing Utah to go on an early power play.

The Mammoth have been terrible on the power play all month, so this was going to be a good chance for them to break out. The play started out well, winning puck battles and getting some good puck movement, but a puck to the mask and a blocker save kept Utah off the board. Utah had solid play from both units. but they were unable to convert and the penalty expired.

Ian Cole had a good stick poke that forced a pass to Saad wide, neutralizing what would have been a Saad breakaway on Karel Vejmelka.

Utah had good offensive pressure again about 6 minutes in. Mikhail Sergachev threw a shot from the point that had some dangerous rebound potential, but Vegas was able to stall the attack. Keller and Nick Schmaltz nearly connected on a one-timer from the dot, but Schmaltz lost an edge and couldn’t get the puck. On the next rush, JJ Peterka tried to feed a pass through the slot, but it was blocked, so he took a shot on Carl Lindbom (starting in place of Akira Schmid from Thursday) which missed wide.

When Vegas tried to apply pressure, Utah’s defense shut them down. Saad had the best chance, with a rush against a defending Sergachev. Vegas had a winger lined up against Nick DeSimone, but DeSimone shut down the pass and eliminated the Vegas chance without giving up a shot.

At the 10 minute mark, Utah held Vegas to only 2 shots, while winning more board battles than they lost.

Dylan Guenther and Cooley nearly connected on a back-door tap in, with Cooley barely taken out of the play by the Vegas defense. In response, Vegas got their third shot of the period – a slap shot from just inside the blue line, that Vejmelka stopped. The Knights nearly broke the ice with 8 minutes left in the period. Jack Eichel led a 3 on 2, passed to Braeden Bowman who skated past Vejmelka towards the near boards. In his path was Sergachev, who slowed him down just enough that Veggie was able to get his skate blade out far enough to deflect the puck to the boards. Half an inch separated Utah from a deficit.

Both teams had a little back and forth play, with Vegas pressing Vejmelka for multiple chances. A Mitch Marner shot was kicked out by the big Czech’s pads, and a Pavel Dorofeyev shot rang the crossbar and out.

Amazing forecheck pressure by Utah helped get them on the board towards the tail end of the period. Pressure by Kailer Yamamoto, Guenther, and Cooley on the forecheck, caused a turnover from Eichel. A tip by Yamamoto went wide, and the Knights cleared momentarily, but Logan Cooley from center ice rushed the middle, drew two defenders, and dropped a pass back to a trailing Guenther. Gunner rifled a shot up above Lindbom’s shoulder before he could even react, and the good guys got on the board. 1-0 Utah

The Mammoth continued to use their speed and forecheck efficiently, countering any push by the Knights. Then, just 90 seconds after Guenther and Cooley connected for the first goal, they would strike again. From a center-ice face-off, a flip into the zone landed on Cooley’s stick. A quick give and go saw Cooley feed Guenther, who drew both defenders before skillfully dishing back to Cooley, who was able to get behind Lindbom. All of a sudden, we were one goal away from breaking the 3 goal glass ceiling. 2-0 Utah

Both teams matched evenly the remainder of the period, though Utah pushed hard the last 20 seconds. A 3 on 2 led by Jack McBain ended with an Ian Cole blast going high, a shot by Peterka from the dot, and a goal-line stuff attempt as time expired. No further damage to Vegas, but Utah had themselves a period.

Shots 9 – 8 in favor of Utah.

SECOND PERIOD:
The dreaded second period came, and a desperate Knights team came out motivated. Within 30 seconds, Vegas threw a puck through the crease into the slot, but Utah’s defense kept Vegas from getting to the puck. A kick save off a quick shot from a lost face-off kept Vegas frustrated a minute later, and a minute after that, Cole Reinhardt had a semi-breakaway that deflected up off the crossbar.

The Vegas pressure continued, as Utah failed to get any offensive zone time at all. This eventually caused Utah to crack. Eichel led a charge over the Utah blue line. He hit a crisp pass to Braeden Bowman, who went to feed back to Eichel for the back door play. The puck was disrupted by the Mammoth – the pass never arrived – but Ivan Barbashev saw the loose puck and threw it towards the net. Vejmelka, who went east-west-east to stop the backdoor play, was unable to recover and the puck slid by. Hard hustle play by the Knights, and Utah was just unable to get the positioning to stop Barbashev. 2-1 Utah

The Utah pushback after the goal didn’t happen – Vegas tried to capitalize quickly with a 3 on 2 rush moments after face-off, but Vejmelka stood tall. Time and again, the Knights rattled off shots that the Mammoth defenders either blocked, or Vejmelka was able to fend off. Time and again, when Utah tried to counter, they were unable to get more than 15 seconds of zone pressure in response. Vegas was relentless.

Utah, though, finally got their first shot attempt of the period when Lawson Crouse stole the puck from the stick of Ben Hutton, and went in alone on Lindbom. Crouse lifted the puck just wide. This opened the door, however, for Team Tusk to apply a little pressure of their own. Sergachev, Peterka, and Crouse all threw pucks on net as Utah put about a minute of pressure on Vegas for the first time in the period.

Vegas wouldn’t back down, though, as they finally regained control and Barbashev had a chance that may have beaten Veggie who was out of position a bit, but it was blocked by Sergachev’s skate. After a faceoff, Bowman had a chance to score after pulling down DeSimone and taking the puck. This resulted in a massive pile of bodies in front of and on top of Vejmelka, as the puck was free for several seconds, before John Marino tucked it back into Veggie’s pads.

Finally, some luck for Utah to relieve them from the onslaught. Vegas took a holding penalty when Reilly Smith grabbed Marino as he was collapsing to the net. After 12 minutes of near constant bombardment, Utah would have up to two minutes of rest for their weary defense.

Right after the draw, Sergachev had a shot on net that was turned aside. Utah had a couple of chances to get control but they failed; the only opportunities that occurred during the play were a pair of shots by Clayton Keller – one that went wide, one blocked. At the close of the power play, with 6 minutes to go, Utah had registered just a total of 3 shots for the period.

The final 5 minutes were an absolute domination by the Knights. Starting from the 5 minute mark, when Kevin Stenlund – bubble helmet and all – was sent to the box for hooking. The Knights had 11 marked shot attempts on Vejmelka during the power play, 5 of which were on-goal. A shot from the draw, saved by Veggie, but Vegas controlled the rebound and all the zone time. Eichel threw two attempts, one saved, one blocked in front. Tomas Hertl, Marner, and Bowman all had shots against Veggie in the following 20 seconds.

Finally, Utah was able to freeze the puck after another dog pile in front of Vejmelka, which allowed the exhausted penalty killers to rest. Vegas didn’t stop, though – Dorofeyev got a one-timer opportunity that was just slightly slowed by Cooley, which bought Vejmelka the half second he needed to get over to rob the Knights of their tying goal.

The Mammoth lost face-off after face-off and kept getting hemmed in, with another save by Veggie made with less than 3 to go. Finally, Utah was able to clear the puck out of their zone – the first time in nearly 4 minutes of play – though Vegas came right back to push the zone, Utah saw just one more shot that Veggie also turned aside, and time mercifully expired.

Utah outshot 16 – 4 in the period. Utah being outshot 24-13 through 2.

THIRD PERIOD:
Vegas did to Utah in the second what Utah did to Vegas in the first – just far more of it, but the heroics of Vejmelka kept the Mammoth up by one. Who would have the upper hand in the third? Would Utah’s play like they did in the first, or the second?

The teams came out evenly matched for the first 2 minutes, as Utah actually had a shot attempt before the halfway mark. Yamamoto took a great feed from Cooley high in the slot, but pushed his shot just wide of Lindbom.

Vegas had pressure down low about 3 minutes in, as Keegan Kolesar laid out DeSimone in the corner, then found a loose puck behind the net, and shot from a sharp angle far side of the net.

Peterka had a backhand-forehand attempt that Lindbom was able to stop, then Vegas threw everything at Veggie. An initial save led to a rebound in front, and several players took swings at the puck. Cooley, momentarily, threw the puck between his legs in an attempt to clear out of the zone. The puck went to Eichel who misplayed it – and Logan Cooley turned on his jets to get the puck on a clean breakaway. Cooley ripped a shot that was saved by Lindbom, but the puck rebounded and hit Cooley’s skate, redirecting in behind Lindbom for the goal. After 19 minutes of domination in the 2nd and a hard push seconds before, Utah somehow came away with the only points of it all. 3-1 Utah

Note for those wondering: The puck was directed in off Cooley’s skate, but counted for a goal. The reason this was a good goal was that Cooley did not kick the puck into the net. Had he kicked the puck, it would not have counted. Incidental contact with the puck (aka a deflection) is perfectly legal when scoring goals.

The goal by Utah shattered the momentum that Vegas had going to that point – Utah out hit, out muscled, and just straight outperformed Vegas for the next 4 minutes. Utah did not allow any offensive zone entries. They applied a ton of pressure themselves, winning board battles and cycling for shots with apparent ease.

Keller and Schmaltz nearly connected for a goal, as Keller barely missed 5 hole on Lindbom, and the Mammoth nearly extended the lead as a loose puck under Lindbom was only stopped by both teams falling on and around Lindbom, keeping the puck out.

Peterka had a rip that was saved, and Vegas had a puck roll on Vejmelka that pinballed for a few seconds before he could capture it. Both teams pushed with little clear scoring chances, but Keller took a holding penalty deep in the Vegas zone, giving the Knights a chance to get back into the game.

The Utah penalty kill was tasked to stand tall again, and Sergachev tried to get Utah’s first shorthanded goal of the year on the face-off. Coming from a rare face-off win, Sergy skated out of the zone, but missed a pass to Stenlund on the near boards. However, he raced to get his own rebound and took a sharp angle shot that Lindbom was able to stop.

The Knights took over as their power play got set up. They nearly cut the deficit when Bowman hit the pipe, and again when Eichel forced Veggie to make a good pad save from the corner, and Crouse gave Utah a good shorthanded chance, going 5 hole on Lindbom who got the puck, but it just laid under his pads for about 3 seconds before he found it and could get it to Vegas. The penalty kill completed their task, and Keller, fresh out of the box, was denied trying to get a back-door deflection from Cooley.

Vegas pulled Lindbom early; after a save by Vejmelka with 4:45 to play, Vegas opted for the extra attacker. Utah nearly immediately made them pay, as Cooley got a clearing attempt right outside the Utah blue line. His shot was true – he hit back of the net 30 seconds into the 6 on 5. Let the hats rain down like Vegas tears. 4-1 Utah

Lindbom back in net, game over. Or, it was until Stenlund decided he was going to sneakily give Utah another chance at an open net. Holding the stick gave him 2 minutes of time out, and on the ensuing 6 on 4, once again Logan Cooley was able to hit from his blue line – no fear of icing against the PK – to complete his hatty + 1. 5-1 Utah

PK ended successfully, +1 for the night – more successful than the power play at least.

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3 GOALS (THE GOOD):

Utah’s Merchandise Sales saw a nice bump tonight as Logan Cooley scored not just a natural hat trick, but 4 straight. The proud owner of 300 new hats, Cooley set a record for total goals by a Mammoth player, while collecting his second hat trick of the year already.

Cooley was struggling a bit since his signing was announced, and tonight was exactly the kind of game that the kid needed for confidence. He already wears a lot of hats for the team, what’s 300 or so more?

Karel Vejmelka has been getting a ton of flak for his play this year. It’s a bit unfair, but considering how he played last year the expectations were high. He made big saves when he needed to previously, but he had not stolen any games for Utah this year.

Well, he stole a game for Utah this year. Tonight, Veggie’s positioning was sound most of the game. Fortunate breaks on metal helped out as well. Utah’s PK was boosted by his big game, and Sergy and Veggie share a highlight reel save today. Overall, a good day for the Czech netminder – one that hopefully makes him feel like his old 2024 self.

Penalty Killing is in the Goals section so many games this year for good reason. Vegas’ power play was the best for the past few games coming into tonight. When the game was on the line – even when that line was a 3 goal lead – the killers stood tall.

It was great to see the first shorthanded goal of the year for this group – even better that it was Cooley who tallied the 4th goal overall. The PK is perfect 5v4 in November. The PK has 1GA, and 1SHG, putting them at net 0 for the month. That’s insane.

STICK TAPS:
Shutting down Jack Eichel was in my keys to success today, and holding him to 1 point in this game was impressive. Eichel has contributed to 5 of Vegas’ last 7 goals, and added another today. 6 of 8 goals have Eichel’s fingerprint on them – 75% – so shutting him down was key. Great job to the defensive gameplan here!

3 CHIRPS (THE BAD):

That Second Period was abysmal. 16 shots against in any period is bad, but generally it’s an open back-and-forth kind of game. Nope, not here. The Mammoth were caved in for minutes at a time in their zone. They were shelled from all over, losing turnovers, puck battles, and icing the puck for unforced errors when they had a chance to change. The Vegas power play hemmed the Mammoth in for 2 minutes plus extra time after the kill was over.

This was how Utah played Thursday. Periods 1 and 3 were how they played Saturday. Let’s get back to the Saturday kind of play, ok guys?

Power Play I keep having to put this here, and it’s still bad, but tonight you saw things start to seem to improve. However, it’s not how much you improve – it’s how much you score. Against a shaky goalie, the team should have been able to bury a PPG, but instead were unable to do so.

Utah’s PK has the same total goals as the PP this month. That’s really, really bad.

Face-offs were terrible today. Half of the reason that second period was as bad as it was came from not getting control of the puck early on. At one point in the game, I saw face-off stats in the Delta Center, and it was like 72% – 28%. I played goal, I never got to take a face-off, but maybe you guys can get Vejmelka in there to take one or two?

It ended up as a more “respectable” 56%-44% at the end. Utah won a lot of key face-offs in the third period, which they dominated, to make the numbers look way better than they were. But, for the discerning eye, they were not better and they almost paid dearly for them.

Good thing there was the Wasatch Wall able to steal them a game tonight, otherwise this would have been the #1 problem… well, #2 after that awful 2nd.

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Next up:

The Canadiens visit the Delta Center on Wednesday. We’ll try not to commit vehicular homicide this time.