^{The Mammoth face off on all the Kings men, but couldn’t put a win streak together again}

First, let’s get some good stuff out of the way. Congratulations to Matt McConnell who broadcast for the 2000th NHL game in his storied history. Here’s to another 2000.

Would you look at that, the Utah Mammoth suddenly have a home game. It’s only taken 30 games and 2/3rds the season away from the Delta Center in order for us to have a home stretch of… 3 games. Still, we’ll take a busy week of hockey here in Salt Lake than the alternative.

Now at home, and down arguably their best player, Utah faced the Los Angeles Kings for the first meeting of the year between the clubs. Last year, Utah lost all three meetings, going 0-3-0 against LA. Tonight, Utah looks to break the bad record versus LA, as well as turn around what has been a rough 5 weeks of play.

Without Cooley, Utah was forced to make several changes to the lineup. Barrett Hayton stays in at center, likely staying until Cooley and Kerfoot return. When that will be, no one knows.

Additionally, after a few healthy scratches, Brandon Tanev returned to the line-up in favor of Kailer Yamamoto, getting a maintenance day, or whatever they’re calling it now.

Good news and spoiler alert – the Mammoth were not down before i finished my first sentence.

FIRST PERIOD:
The Kings had a few early looks on the Mammoth, with Trevor Moore forcing Karel Vejmelka to make a save right off a face off in the first minute. The Kings also got a shot from the point with a scramble in front of the net right after, but play settled down for both teams for the next minute. We had an early special teams situation as Daniil But, making his home debut, got called for hooking. Somewhat weak call, but hey if they call that, they need to be consistent. So, let’s see what the Kings have.

Well, turns out – not much. The first minute of the PK, Utah’s aggressive kill unit held zone well, forcing the Kings out of the zone repeatedly. About a minute in, the Kings did get a little pressure – a cross ice pass didn’t connect, and Nate Schmidt made a pretty diving swipe on the puck for a clear. Penalty ended, but But stayed out and had a nice look, but just missed the net wide, as the PK unit changed behind him.

Play continued back and forth with limited chances for the next minute, until Utah got the fortunate weak hooking call in response. So, Warren Foegele sat in time out and the Utah power play would get to work for the first time tonight.

The power play has struggled, still, despite breaking their 0-for streak in November with a PPG in Vancouver last week. The Mammoth power play looked quite a bit different than the last time we saw them at the Delta Center. Players had feet moving, and were pulling defenders way more often that what we’re used to seeing – however, the same old pass-first mentality caused issues. At one point, JJ Peterka sent an ill-advised pass attempt through the slot, which was immediately blocked. Utah recovered to feed Dylan Guenther the puck for a one-timer, but Darcy Kuemper was able to get over and position well to stop the shot. The Kings were able to stop the Mammoth from mounting any pressure after that – a faceoff win led to a clear, and then zone entries remain a problem for Utah’s power play.

As the penalty expired, But had the puck come to him low in the slot. His initial shot was saved by Kuemper, and he pounced on the rebound. While this was denied too, But was shoved to the ice going for the momentarily loose puck in the crease. Great show of grit and a net front presence we haven’t seen much of all year.

Unfortunately for But and company, his great offensive attempts burned them on the next shift. A rush led by But and Guenther saw Gunner go wide behind the net. A back-pass towards But missed the mark, and the Kings gained control of the puck and a 3 on 2 rush. Kevin Fiala was able to feed Adrian Kempe who beat Nate Schmidt to the outside slot. Vejmelka played for a forehand shot/pass, but Kempe went around and backhand, beating Veggie and putting the Kings up with just about 8 minutes gone. 1-0 Kings

The pushback from the initial goal was mild, with only a rudimentary push by Utah. The first real chance after the Kings goal came from the Kings. Off an icing and face-off loss, a shot bounced off Vejmelka into the slot. Falling down, Moore fired at the open net, but missed high.

The Mammoth got burned again about 2 minutes later. After losing another board battle, Fiala grabbed the puck from behind the net, and hit a stretch pass to a streaking Joel Armia. Fiala threaded the needle between Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino, who were watching the play and not their man. Armia hit Vejmelka in that sweet spot between the pads and the blocker, which is one of the hardest areas for a goalie to make a save. Veggie got a piece of it, but not all of it, and the puck fluttered in to double the Kings’ lead. 2-0 Kings

The Kings nearly made it three within a minute, as Anze Kopitar skated around Maveric Lamoureux and fed a pass to Alex Laferriere on the far side of Vejmelka. His shot, partially blocked, was caught by the pad of a sprawling Vejmelka, keeping the deficit at 2. That pad save by Vejmelka led to Brandon Tanev’s first goal….

Almost. After sitting a few games, a refreshed Tanev took a stretch pass from the defensive zone, and went top-shelf on Kopitar, who went down to play low. Unfortunately, though, Tanev was about 4 feet off-side. That’s not allowed, and the goal doesn’t count. All that fanfare for nothing. Oh well.

The first unit had a couple of good looks – a tic-tac missed an open look toe, when a Peterka pass was denied by a sliding Kings defenseman. Later that shift, a wrister by Clayton Killer saw a tight-in tip attempt by Nick Schmaltz, but that was denied by Kuemper. Utah’s last attempt with this line saw Sean Durzi puck up an blocked pass, and skate up with Peterka and Keller. His drop pass to Keller was immediately swarmed, and the chance fizzled out.

Joel Edmundson forced Vejmelka to make a good save from a wide-angle shot, Michael Carcone lost the handle on a rush chance, and Vejmelka was tight to the post to save back to back attempts by the Kings in close.

The teams traded offensive zone time over the next few minutes; all of LA’s pressure seemed to be blocked – somewhere close to 10 shot attempts from the 6 minute mark on were blocked by Utah and no shots made it to the net.

Durzi had a great opportunity in close, with a flyby and a tip attempt, but he was about 2 feet wide. However, it was a good view to see an offensive push by a defenseman down low.

Utah got a late power play as Guenther drew an interference penalty on Andrei Kuzmenko. The Utah PP would be split in half, though, with 43 seconds in the 2nd period – as the remainder of the 1st period saw no official shots as we go to break. We also saw Lawson Crouse head to the locker room, a concerning sign for a team already facing significant injury loss this week.

The Kings were aggressive early and often; shots favored the Kings 12-7 in the period.

SECOND PERIOD:
The second half of the Utah power play would accompany the start of the period, along with the return of Crouse. The Mammoth power play finally got set up in the Kings zone with about 20 seconds left in the penalty, when some good puck movement helped open a lane for Guenther close to the blue line. Gunner rocketed the puck past Kuemper’s glove, as Peterka transited Kuemper’s vision, and the Mammoth were within 1 less than a minute into the period. 2-1 Kings

The Mammoth immediately pounced on the faceoff, and gave themselves two great scoring chances from the third line. Carcone crashed the net as Kuemper went to play the puck, almost catching the netminder off-guard. Then, with the puck in the corner, Carcone won the battle and threw a pass back into the slot, but Jack McBain was unable to take the feed for the scoring chance.

The Mammoth momentum pushed LA into making a mistake, as Kempe tripped Carcone as the latter beat him on a board battle. Utah would go on their third power play of the game. However, the first 45 seconds of this advantage was spent passing around the zone. Though Schmaltz had the puck about 5 feet from the net, the Kings disrupted his opportunity to shoot, and the puck ended up behind the net. Utah would then have a good opportunity with the second unit, with Hayton crashing the net with the puck, to no avail, and But giving himself a great chance in front, though he was taken down and the play dissipated as time on the penalty expired.

Drew Doughty took a big blast from the blue line after the Kings returned to full strength, Vejmelka’s first successful save of the period. Liam O’Brien laid out Doughty at his net to force a turnover during that same shift, but Ian Cole’s shot ended up blocked.

JJ Peterka nearly replicated the Kings’ second goal for Utah. Behind 2 defenders, the stretch pass was slightly deflected, preventing the Utah breakaway attempt that Armia had.

Teams had back and forth play after the Peterka miss, until about the 11 minute mark. Utah was about 2 inches from tying the game up, when a wrister by Durzi at the blue line nearly beat a screened Kuemper. However, Kuemper got just enough of the puck that it hit the far post, bouncing out to a Kings defender and cleared from the zone.

Durzi again nearly connected as Utah pressed the Kings with a player without a stick. Durzi at the high dot was man on man against Moore, without a stick, and Durzi walked around him. His shot went high and wide, closing the door on any Utah follow up chance as the puck careened out of the zone.

The Mammoth had one last shot on goal, with about 5 and a half left. But went end to end, rifling a shot with a Kings defender as a screen, but his shot was saved by Kuemper, who was in good position to make the save.

The Kings, content to be more physical and defense minded, didn’t offer much up offensively, aside from a few close calls that went wide – like with about 2:30 left. A puck hit a body off a shot, and the rebound in the low slot just got pushed too far to the near side. Other than that, LA was content to go to the room with a 1 goal lead.

Shots in the period were just 7-6 in favor of LA. The Kings lead in shots after the second, 19-13.

THIRD PERIOD:
The third period took about a minute for anything to develop, but a shifty, nifty play by Peterka deep in the Kings zone saw him steal a puck, spin move to make space, and then threw a pass for Schmaltz at the doorstep. #8 was cross-checked, painfully, and was unable to get ant shot off against Kuemper, and the score remained unchanged.

About 3 minutes in, a weird sequence saw 4 Utah players huddled up, after a puck got caught in Nate Schmidt’s jersey. One Kings player – Corey Perry – was able to keep the Mammoth pinned in that little area, causing a bit of disarray. This spilled over, as a pass to Liam O’Brien in the neutral zone ended up being turned over. LA pushed the zone, leading to a big blast at the point from Joel Edmundson that was actually a shot-pass to Kempe. Kempe was stuffed by Vejmelka, and the rebound came out into the slot. Schmidt got a skate on the puck, which deflected it to Kopitar. Kopitar’s attempt was also deflected by Schmidt’s skate, but the redirected puck landed on Kopitar’s stick. Vejmelka came out to stop the initial shot, and the deflection had him slightly pulled out of position and Kopitar deposited the puck to reinstate the 2 goal lead. 3-1 Kings

About 15 minutes to go, the 2nd line had a chance with a good feed from But to Hayton, but Hayton returned to his habit of hitting the goalie in the chest for the save. Vejmelka was tested much more than Kuemper, with the biggest chance coming from a Fiala one timer from low in the dots that Vejmelka was able to stop. On the other end, however, Crouse had a chance, but put the puck wide – Kuemper didn’t even need to try and make a stop.

The LA Kings are very good at playing defensively. Not quite turtling, they’re content playing in their half of the ice as long as they chip the puck out and deep. This limited a lot of Utah chances, however they did rush a 3 on 2, where Keller ended up hitting the trailing man. Durzi, receiving the pass from the high slot, snapped a wrister that Kuemper was able to track.

Remember in the 2nd period, when a defenseman was about 2 inches from tying the game up? This time, a defenseman was about 2 inches from cutting into the lead, as Sergachev’s wrister from the line hit the pipe. Utah kept buzzing, though, and a rush by the top line saw Schmaltz set up Keller in the near slot. Keller ripped a backhand high, catching Kuemper off guard, and beating him blocker high. Utah within 1, and 2 posts away from the lead. 3-2 Kings

The teams traded a few icings, but the Kings defensive shell made any offensive pressure difficult for Utah. The Mammoth got one chance with less than 5 minutes to play, when John Marino went around the net and dished in front for Crouse; the Sherriff, however, just pulled the puck wide on the near side, on the outside of the net.

Utah would pull Veggie for the 6th attacker with about 2 minutes to go. After 112 games, surely this would be the game that the Mammoth break the curse. Uh… 4-2 Kings Game.

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3 GOALS (THE GOOD):

Sweet Cheeks Daniil But is the real deal, even though he didn’t get on the scoreboard again tonight. Defensive play? Decent. Net front presence? Solid. Shot? Impressive. Tenacity? Very much present.

He’s big, and he may be that forward we need to get to the tough gritty areas. I mentioned tonight to a friend that he seems like he could be the Wish version of Tage Thompson by the end of the year. Here’s hoping that his play continues to get better as he goes along.

Oh man, I just realized that one day we may run a PP unit of Peterka, Guenther, Cooley, and But and that made me happy. And I will use that as a title for an article when he scores. Count on it.

Pushback The best way to play the game is with the lead. Failing that, the best way to play from behind is to push the opposition and take the lead. Utah never had the lead this game, but pressure at points was significant. 2 posts stood between this game being a 4-2 loss and a 3-3 OT game. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, though, and the results are what they are. However, playing like this – minus the breakaways in the first period – is a good way to be on the positive end of close games that require grit and guts.

Roman Numerals Did you know that M stands for 1000 in Roman numerals? And 2000 is MM? And Matt McConnell’s initials are MM? Is that a coincidence?

Yep.

But what an amazing accomplishment for Matt. He’s a great commentator, and the accolades for him tonight were fitting. We appreciate you, Matt, even when sometimes I don’t agree with your takes.

Wishing you another 2000, and perhaps a Cup winning goal announcement or 3 along the way.

3 CHIRPS (THE BAD):

Bananas – as in splits to the defense. I never played the position, but you shouldn’t be able to easily thread a pass between two top level defensemen in the NHL like Kevin Fiala did in the first period. That breakaway killed Utah early. While they were able to fight back, just having that additional goal against when you’re playing a great road team like the Kings just offers them a handicap. Any goals given up hurt this team disproportionally bad, as they’re struggling to score themselves. A 2 goal lead against Utah sometimes feels like a 10 goal lead, so why make it so easy for other teams to get there?

Both times the Mammoth went down 2 goals, John Marino was caught completely out of position. For a defensive defenseman to be so bad defensively, that just drives me, well…

Consistency There are moments of excellence, moments of desperation, moments of joy and flashes of brilliance. Then there’s apathy, like at 4:45 in the second period, when Schmaltz just stopped when trying to beat out an icing. There’s laziness, like when Keller didn’t get off the ice on overtime. There’s just absent mindedness, like when Sergachev forced an offside in OT. There’s just no willingness to shoot, usually on the power play.

This team is frustrating. Why can’t this team find a rhythm? Why can’t this team find an identity? Why can’t this be a quick counter-attack team, or a grindy team, or power play merchants, or the list goes on? Well, grindy won’t happen with forwards this small, but you know what I mean…

Flame retardant Utah, for its faults, is great at drawing and not taking penalties. For a young team, you’d expect to draw a lot more than they do. However, this comes with a drawback – when the fight is brought to them, more often than not, they’re not able to rise to the level of the opponent.

I don’t know why, but the team lacks passion. They lack that killer instinct, that dog in them that wants to play with fire. That burning desire to not just win, but to give everything to not lose. That family style of team where you play for the guy in front of you, the guy next to you, the guy behind you, the equipment manager behind the bench, and the hot dog guy up in portal YY.

This team, during many stretches, is 5 guys playing hockey on a team, instead of a team of 5 guys playing hockey. It’s a semantics difference, yes, but there’s an entire meaning behind those words if you care to look. Sadly, it seems that some of the leadership may not know or recognize the difference.

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Next up:

Hey, we’re still here! Wednesday against the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.