Delta Center, Florida Panthers, Game Recap, utah-mammoth

A Game of Seconds

Your Favorite Hockey Guy in Utah

December 11, 2025

^{Dylan Guenther scores his second goal on his second breakaway in the second period, but Utah loses in the final seconds.}

Tonight, Utah played a depleted and struggling Stanley Cup champion, Florida Panthers club. The Panthers, without two of their best players, came into town after a few solid home wins. However, they’ve been poor on the road, going just 4-6-0 and with far worse stats than they have at home.

Florida was a previous stop for Utah signings Vitek Vanecek and Nate Schmidt, so this was a homecoming of sorts that should provide good motivation for the team. Additionally, Mikhail Sergachev, former Tampa Bay Lightning member, most likely views the Panthers with some long-burning hatred. Daniil But has been pushing for his first goal, and a goal against legendary countryman, Sergei Bobrovsky would be monumental for him.

So, Utah has youth, speed, home ice, and players with massive motivation personally and as a team to test the benchmark against the best. The Mammoth also have some positives to build on from the LA Kings game, where they were 2 posts away from beating one of the best road teams in the league. This would surely be a good way for Utah to win, get back their momentum, and give the fans something hopeful to build on.

Surely. Surely?

FIRST PERIOD:
Both teams started out with some quick pace, with offensive zone time alternating between the teams over the first 3 minutes. This style of play favors the Mammoth significantly usually, as they’re a quick young team that can counter effectively, and less effective in a heavy, methodical game like the Panthers play.

The first 5 minutes of this game was open skating, but uneventful for either team, until exactly 5 minutes in. Daniil But, after a fantastic dish from Jack McBain, slid across the crease with the puck. He had Bobrovsky out of position and was nearly guaranteed a goal, until his stick was hacked clean in half. Well, at least Utah would be up a man, as Uvis Balinskis would sit for the slash.

Utah’s power play has been improved a bit over the last few games, but generally has still struggled. In the first attempt, the Mammoth lost the face-off and were forced to retrieve the clear. An errant pass at zone entry let the Panthers counterattack, and a sneaky wrister by Sam Reinhart forced Karel Vejmelka to make a quick kick save. The rebound from the save bounced fortuitously to the Mammoth, who led a 3 on 1 break into the Panthers’ zone. Unfortunately, the team didn’t even get off a shot with this massive advantage, as Clayton Keller’s pass attempt was broken up by Gustav Forsling and cleared.

With the first unit unable to do anything, the PP2 unit was able to successfully enter the zone. The first shot on net during the advantage belonged to Barrett Hayton, who shot directly into Bobrovsky’s pads. He immediately got the puck back in the slot, but his second attempt was stopped by Forsling and cleared up out of play.

Utah won the face-off, and Sean Durzi threw a puck on net from the point. It was blocked, but the puck landed right in front of Bobrovsky – the Mammoth had 3 or 4 chances with it, as Michael Carcone’s shot missed, and Hayton tried to push the puck 5 hole on three chances and failed on each, and the power play ended without any damage.

Post power play the game remained fairly open. Utah had a pair of face-off wins and point shots, the Panthers had a good look from Carter Verhaeghe that Vejmelka kicked away, and a rush the other way just fizzled out from a failed pass and an own-clear.

At the 10 minute mark, a deep defensive zone giveaway by Utah forced a Vejmelka cover. To this point, Utah had completely dominated in shot opportunities and zone control.

With 9 minutes to go, a Florida push saw A.J. Greer turnstile Lawson Crouse on his way to beating Vejmelka, only to be denied by the iron. However, the rebound came out to John Marino who found a streaking Dylan Guenther all alone. The Marino pass was a little slow, so Guenther had to momentarily hold up, but he remained on-side on his breakaway. Guenther ripped a quick wrister under Bobrobsky’s pad for the icebreaker. 1-0 Utah

Karel Vejmelka nearly showed why the popularized “If you’re a goaltender, TEND THE GOAL!” from Steve Dangle is a thing, as he misplayed a puck right on the initial dump after the goal, but no harm done this time.

With about 7 minutes left, the Panthers started to apply some zone pressure. Seth Jones’ big blast from the blue line was saved by Vejmelka, and the Cats pinned Utah in for a lengthy shift to no avail.

Keller had a great outlet pass from Peterka, but his breakaway wasn’t clean and Aaron Ekblad was able to disrupt his chance without even an attempted shot.

With 3 minutes to play, the Panthers really turned up the volume. A misplay at the offensive blue line by Maveric Lamoureux let Florida get a rush up the ice. Veggie made a solid save on Brad Marchand, but despite a clear, the Panthers kept pressuring. Mackie Samoskevich shot low on the pads to create a rebound, but Florida was just out of place for the rebound attempt. The Cats kept Utah pinned in their own zone for much of the rest of the period; with under a minute to go, JJ Peterka was pressured at the defensive boards, giving up the puck. Sam Bennett got the puck, but shot wide – and Aaron Ekblad at the dot threw the puck right in front for Carter Verhaeghe, who was able to tap in back-door against Vejmelka. With just 42 seconds left, and after a well played first period, the game was suddenly, dishearteningly tied. 1-1 Tied

A late high stick would give Utah a 30 second power play that saw Guenther hit the crossbar, but that was the extent of anything notable as the horn sounded. 1:20 of PP time kicked to the second.

Good news – Utah led in tempo, attack time, and shots (13-10) but the teams skated off 1-1.

SECOND PERIOD:
The second period was also the second half of the Utah power play. Some good pressure would see Peterka from behind the goal line feed Nick Schmaltz in the slot, but Schmaltz would miss the net high. Florida would push a 2 on 2 in response, with a golden back door opportunity just missed as the pass did not connect. Guenther would struggle to get the puck out, Florida would have another attempt on goal, and the man advantage would end with no further push from the Mammoth.

The Panthers, however, would push after the power play ended. In the rush after Greer left the box, Bennett would take an Evan Rodrigues pass and inexplicably Lawson Crouse and Sean Durzi decided not to play Bennett. So, Bennett picked a spot behind Vejmelka, and put it there. 12 seconds after another awful power play, more awful things. 2-1 Florida

Not even 2 minutes later, Nate Schmidt made a beautiful tape to tape pass to his former teammate Verhaeghe. While this was fun for old time’s sake, it wasn’t fun today. Verhaeghe to Bennett, back door behind Vejmelka, as Nate Schmidt was late to take Bennett out of the play. I absolutely hate hockey. 3-1 Florida

Just as you would be certain the 2nd period Mammoth were 2nd period Mammothing, a funny thing happened. One of the only people with heart on the ice tonight wearing black and blue, Dylan Guenther, decided to not 2nd period Mammoth and got his second breakaway, courtesy of Lawson Crouse’s touch pass. Though the big Russian got most of it, Guenther had just enough on the 5-hole shot, and it squeaked by Bobrovsky and in. 13 seconds after ugly, stupid play we got beautiful, glorious play. I absolutely love hockey. 3-2 Florida

The Mammoth had an amazing sequence closing in on the first half of the period. The energy of Carcone and But, coupled with some massive effort from Jack McBain saw the trio nearly score not once but three times. A Carcone wraparound was denied, with the puck coming to McBain in the low slot. His shot was defended, so it never got elevation, and was saved by a prone Bobrovsky. The rebound, though, came out to But who was robbed in close. On the next entry, Carcone again had a pair of opportunities – one driving to the net, and the other off the immediate rebound. Bobrovsky kept both out, protecting the Florida lead.

To cap this, he had one final last save against Lawson Crouse, all alone in the slot.

Oh, and to cap that, a Schmaltz and Keller 2 on 1 saw Schmaltz actually connect on a pass, only for Keller’s one timer to be absolutely robbed by a sprawling Bobrovsky.

If you counted, in the span of 90 seconds Utah had 7 high danger chances that would have gone in against nearly any other goaltender in the league. Inexplicably and frustratingly, instead of a 3 or 4 goal outburst, Utah remained down 3-2.

To this point, the Panthers had spent nearly 8 minutes defending against Utah’s onslaught. Eventually, they mounted a little pressure with about 8 minutes to go. Forsling, Rodrigues, and Samoskevich had three opportunities within seconds of each other, but were unable to beat Vejmelka.

The Mammoth tenacity finally paid off with under 6 minutes to go. But started the pressure with a wraparound chance, that pinned Florida defenders deep in the zone. Circling the net with the puck, Ian Cole was able to find Durzi at the blue line, with plenty of space. A big blast by the defenseman was stopped, but McBain crashed the net and swept the rebound beyond Bobrovsky’s stretched pad. Finally, Utah had some net front presence when a defenseman put the puck on net, and finally all the pressure on Bobrovsky caused him to break. 3-3 Tied

Utah continued to press, both teams had chances, including a mad scramble at the Florida net with half a dozen players on the ice – that led to a But blocked shot and near breakaway for the Cats, but ultimately the period yielded no further points.

Utah would go on another split-period power play, as Kevin Stenlund took a cross check to the back while facing the boards in a dangerous spot, and Utah would have the man advantage for 1:15 to start the third period.

Shots in the period 13 for Utah (26), 7 for Florida (17) as Utah dominated play after the second Florida goal.

THIRD PERIOD:
The third period power play was about as good as many of their previous ones; Brad Marchand had 2 shots on Veggie after deking out half of the Mammoth PP unit. With a rested squad, and a minute+ on fresh ice, the shot advantage was Florida’s, and Utah didn’t even get an attempt off. Sergachev got called for holding on Marchand, because an arm bar is holding now (and make up calls are an actual thing), which killed off the power play – mercifully – as the teams went 4 on 4 for 10 seconds in advance of the Florida power play.

Florida’s power play has been poor away from the Sunshine state, but they had good pressure against the Mammoth. Utah failed a few times to clear the puck, and the squad was definitely hurting as both Sergachev and Cole were not available – one for a “hold” and one not on the bench. Utah struggled, but persisted, especially as Vejmelka made not one, not two, but 5 saves while on his back with a desperation glove save over and over.

The play was reviewed, but it was upheld – Vejmelka was the man and the score would remain tied.

In 4 minutes, by the way, Utah went from leading 26-17 in shots, to tied. All of those were high danger, just like how Bobrovsky saved Florida in the 2nd period onslaught. Normally, I mention this at the end of a period, but I am doing this for a reason. After being outshot 9-0 in 4 minutes (including over a minute of power play time), things did not improve at all for Utah. Utah would get 4 more shots, Florida 10. Florida, in the 3rd period, had 19 shots. This is more than Utah gave up in several games during their winning streak. In a tied game, in the third period, at home, Utah gave up 19 shots and generated 4.

Vejmelka had to stand up a 3 on 2 attempt after the power play, as well.

Dylan Guenther got a shot attempt off at the 5 minute mark. It was blocked, so it didn’t count as a shot, but it was the first attempt of the period for the Mammoth. Until that point, Florida had 19 shot attempts and 10 on goal. Utah was absolutely getting caved in.

Florida drew a penalty on Durzi for hooking, but for the second time the refs really, really wanted to desperately get those make-ups in. Penalty kill had a lot of shot attempts against – many wide or high, which helped take precious seconds off the clock for them. The power play did see action late, as an odd-man rush on the penalty kill saw a 2 on 1 turn into a 3 on two turn into a McBain shot wide.

Let’s just cut to the chase – that was Utah’s last push and last real chance for anything. And, if I detailed every single chance the Panthers had, we’d be here for another 500 words in the essay.

Jumping to 2 minutes to go, the Panthers nearly took the lead when Marchand beat Veggie clean, but the iron saved the day for the second time for Team Tusk. With less than a minute to go, though, Barrett Hayton lost a defensive zone face-off cleanly, then failed to get back to cover his man in the crease. Anton Lundell tipped the puck by Vejmelka, who made the initial save on the Reinhart shot that was tipped by Luostarinen at the crease. So, instead of a point, with 52 seconds to go, Utah was given a big fat punch in the mouth by the champs. 4-3 Florida

Hey, we have 52 seconds of 6 on 5, we can probably tie… nope. Veggie wasn’t even waved to the bench until 30 seconds to go. Predictable ending, you know how it went.

3 GOALS (THE GOOD):

Are you tired? I’ve called out Daniil But 3 times in his 3 games, but again I need to single him out. The third line had about 12 high danger attempts tonight, many in the 2nd period. But’s wraparound on the eventual McBain goal drew defenders down and let Durzi have space (and forced Florida to recover, just not well enough).

He didn’t get an assist there. He didn’t get a goal on the last of a flurry of shots in the middle of the 2nd. He didn’t even get any credit for his recovery on a blocked shot late in the 2nd that prevented a breakaway (2:30 to go against Studnicka).

A star makes great plays. A superstar makes great players. But’s been around for a handful of games, and each line he’s been on has been elevated. Is that superstardom? Probably not, but if he keeps elevating the play of those around him, it’s not NOT superstardom.

Claws Mammoth don’t usually have claws, but they did that second period. After a team-breaking awful defensive play by Schmidt, Dylan Guenther was able to almost single-handedly will his team back into the game. With his 2nd breakaway goal, Gunner took all the wind out of the Florida sails, and Utah legitimately held the majority of the periods chances and play. Coming back from 2 down against Florida in the 2nd period was probably the best 18 minutes of hockey the team has played in the 2nd period all year.

Dylan Guenther has that dog in him and he definitely took a few big bites out of the Cats tonight. With Cooley out, and with leadership lacking on the ice, Gunner rose to the challenge. Good on you, kid, show the team the leadership needed so we can get you at least as alternate captain next season and beyond.

Tom Hanks starred in a movie where he was really a little kid in an adult’s body. JJ Peterka is like anti-Tom Hanks. He plays like he’s a big dog – going hard into board battles with Florida Panthers that are 40% larger than he is. He stands to screen Bobrovsky over and over, just to be ragdolled away with his tiny frame. Peterka is the guy that would lead the team in a line brawn against a guy 14 inches taller than him, get beat bad, then get up and say “I ain’t heard no bell” and go back for more.

There are three players on this team with heart. Kailer Yamamoto, Michael Carcone, and JJ Peterka. These are also some of the smallest guys on the team. Little dog, big fight. If only that were contagious.

3 CHIRPS (THE BAD):

Tick Tock 12. 13. 43. 52. All but one of those hurt Utah.

13 seconds from the game being completely out of reach, Guenther was able to bring Utah back into it. And, for 19 minutes and 8 seconds while it was tied in the third period, Gunner’s momentum changer (and McBain’s equalizer) seemed to be enough to keep them in it. Until it wasn’t.

12 seconds after a failed power play, Utah gives up a goal. 43 seconds from an intermission lead, and it’s gone. 52 seconds away from a point, and it’s lost.

This game was probably the most angering loss of the year, simply because the team fell apart not once but twice with less than a minute to go. The game against Anaheim a few weeks ago saw the team give up a 6 on 5 equalizer late. This saw Utah give up an equalizer, then a game winner, both with less than 60 seconds to go in the period.

Discipline, heart, and effort go a full 60. The clock ran out, today. Does Tourigny hear the ticking? It just continues to get louder and louder.

A house divided can’t stand, and a team without pillars can’t hold up to pressure. Every single shot and every single Panthers offensive possession had a player camped in front of Vejmelka. The Panthers had 1-2 men on a heavy forecheck. Florida played heavy in Utah’s zone all third period, when their age should have given Utah – the speedy team – a big advantage. Instead, no pillars stood out. No one was able to win their board battles decisively. No one was able to park themselves as a nuisance on Bobrovsky. McBain is really the only option, since Hayton is allergic to contact this year and Peterka, god love him, is just too small to do it consistently or effectively.

When big hits came in, the 4th line didn’t fight for the team. Liam O’Brien can lose every fight, every game, but bring that enthusiasm from the crowd. Anywhere to be seen tonight?

When Sergachev was rocked and boarded, no one came to his defense.

Pillars in front of net. Pillars to stand by your teammates. Pillars to pick up slumping players, and pillars to protect your goaltender.

This team doesn’t have pillars, and the collapse has been evident for weeks. Cooley being out of the lineup is hurting, but this has been going on longer than just 3 games.

Wizard of Oz There are players on the team that don’t lack courage, as shown by JJ Peterka playing in front of the net as much as he was tonight (giving up 4+ inches and 40+ pounds to whoever was defending him), and Jack McBain suddenly remembered he could be in front of the net for rebounds, but Barrett Hayton and Nick Schmaltz – two players that need to be there in front far more often than they are, certainly seem to be sporting some pretty thick manes.

And, while we’re at it, far too much of the team don’t even need Halloween to dress up as the Tin Man. Lacking heart, this team just rolled over at the end of the period twice this game. The only period they didn’t give up with less than a minute to go, they had a power play to compensate.

Misplays, miscues, slow line changes, lazy passes, and just brain farts are becoming more and more common and more and more acceptable. No passion or drive on the power play. Nothing.

And nothing changing on these units and schemes, and some of the lineup decisions (Yamamoto out, again? So Liam O’Brien can throw hits and shoot gimme saves?) make me t throw my hands up in frustration. I’m really starting to think that Dorothy’s friends are all represented ere’s a few Scarecrows behind the bench? What was he known for?

Dishonorable mention:
I said it several times in commentary, but I want to make it crystal clear. That third period was the worst that the team has ever played. They were not just outplayed, if Florida’s passes were crisper, the Mammoth would have been humiliated. The team just stuck it to Veggie that period. It was worse than the Carolina game in 2024, because that team was on a 10 minute penalty kill and did their best to fend it off against a top team in the league.

This? This was against a Panthers team missing its 2 best players, who’ve struggled on the road, and who are led by a guy that could be old enough to be the father of 1/3rd of the Utah Mammoth roster.

Florida had 39 shot attempts in the 3rd period. 16 were missed wide or high, and another 4 were blocked. 19 made it through to Veggie, and one made it past him.

Instead of being disappointed we lost in the third period so late, we should be thankful the game wasn’t a double digit loss the way that period played out. Horrible.