^{A slow, painful slog saw the Mammoth fall behind early in the 2nd, then never recover.}

Tonight, the Mammoth start a back-to-back – surprise! – starting in Boston and ending in Detroit tomorrow. The first half of this series sees Utah play old friend, the Boston Bruins, who Utah defeated back in Salt Lake City on October 19th.

The teams have trended in different directions since then, and Utah was looking to get back to what they did against the Bruins last time. Then, Utah knocked off the Bruins en route to a 7 game win streak. Today, their win streak sits at 2. A win today, plus 4 more in a row, would bring us full circle.

Let’s take a look at how that circle went.

FIRST PERIOD:
Boston and Utah exchanged a shot each in the first minute, but the game was very back and forth over the first 3. Kevin Stenlund had a chance when the puck ended up loose in the crease about 2 and a half minutes in, but Jeremy Swayman was able to make the stop easily.

For about 6 minutes, the teams just prodded with little pressure, though a good opportunity for Schmaltz to break all alone was slightly offside and the opportunity was wasted.

The Mammoth would go on their first power play of the evening at the 7 minute mark. PP1 would get good puck movement, but a missed one timer and a bad back pass ended any momentum the first unit had.

Barrett Hayton would make his first direct impact in quite some time. With the PP2 unit pushing – including just missing on a one-timer by Lawson Crouse, a slap-pass from Sean Durzi at the blue line connected with Hayton in the slot. The tipped pass slid through Swayman for the early lead. All of a sudden, Utah’s power play troubles – and Hayton’s allergic reaction to the front of the net – both disappeared. 1-0 Utah

With 9 minutes to go, JJ Peterka snuck behind the defense for a tight-in shot on Swayman, but he went high – but Clayton Keller got the puck on his stick and tested the Boston netminder, who stopped his attempt. Utah continued to buzz for much of the period, with Stenlund getting a whack at the netfront, then a second chance that just wouldn’t settle for him to shoot. Then, Utah’s fortunes for the period and (spoiler alert) game would change.

On a 3 on 2 rush, JJ Peterka got back to his man and harassed him with his stick. Good thing, too, because Vitek Vanecek, starting in place of Karel Vejmelka, was squared for the shot – and no one was covering the open man with the open net. Peterka disturbed the play and kept Boston from scoring, but was called for a slash on the play somehow. Stick never hit hands, stick never went for stick, but hey – needed to get that makeup call. Boston’s power play would get to work.

The kill for the first minute was solid, but as I wrote pre-game, the killer would be Morgan Geekie. Well, on a rush and set up, David Pastrnak hit Geekie cross-ice. All 4 Mammoth defenders were keyed in on Pastrnak… as was Vanecek. The big Czech threw his body across the crease, but he had no chance. Geekie with his 23rd of the season. 1-1 Tied

From here until about the end of the period, teams traded offensive zone times but little else. The one Boston opportunity for a 2 on 2 was sticked aside by Durzi.

Utah had an amazing flurry in the last minute of the period, though. Utah’s 3rd line had a goal mouth push, with a drive by Daniil But to the net, and a try by Jack McBain just couldn’t sneak the puck by Swayman. Vanecek was forced to make a big save with 30 seconds to go, and the horn sounded to end the period.

Utah completely carried play for 15 minutes of the first, outshooting Boston 10 – 4 at the time of the penalty. Boston got the equalizer though, and the period ended with shots still in favor of Utah 13-7

SECOND PERIOD:
The Mammoth played a very strong first period and expect to start off a strong second period with… and Boston scores.

Starting with a face-off loss after an icing 20 seconds in, the Bruins controlled the puck at the line, passed off to Pastrnak at the boards, and saw him throw a shot on net. Vanecek made the initial save, but Morgan Geekie – remember him from the preview? – was all alone in front. Hayton and Mikhail Sergachev were feet away from Geekie, who slammed the rebound from in tight. 2-1 Boston

Not the start Utah wanted, but at least things can’t fall apart fast… and they’re on the penalty kill. Nate Schmidt tripped Pavel Zacha a minute in.

OK, so lets recap the first 60 seconds. 3 shots in 23 seconds, and not covering the best scorer in a calendar year right in front of your goaltender. Going on the PK against a team that’s already 1 for 1, and one of the best in the league. And one of your best PKers is in the box. 19 minutes to go…

The penalty kill was successful, though Geekie almost added another point when his pass to Zacha, who was behind Vanecek, just missed connecting. Vanecek also stook tall when Michael Eyssimont got behind the defense for an attempt, but the puck was deep and the angle was well covered by then.

The Mammoth and Boston would trade zone time, again, like they did in the 1st. Utah got sticks in lanes to disrupt passes in the defensive zone, stopping most of Boston’s offense from setting up and plays developing, while the Bruins aggressive defense and physicality prevented shots and kept Utah to the perimeter.

14 minutes to go, broken plays led to a puck coming to the slot for Geekie. He was in the perfect location to finish the hat trick, but Olli Maatta was able to cover the shot and deflect the puck up and over. They did get a power play a minute after the deflection, meaning that defensive stop could be the difference between being down 2 and being tied – if the PP could do their job.

The PP, however, could not do their job. Keller did rip a nice one-timer from high circle after a nice pass, however that was stopped by Swayman. Hayton then got a Durzi pass from just a tad bit close than Keller, ripped a snap shot at Swayman, but it was gloved for a whistle.

Did you like the recap of those two shots? That’s all Utah would get on the power play. Oh, and up until the last 45 seconds, that’s the only 2 shots the Mammoth would put up all period. Needless to say, the power play ended uneventfully.

Honestly, much of the rest of the period for the Mammoth was a cacophony of lost board battles and passes into sticks to kill offensive zone chances.

Boston gave themselves chances, however. With 8 minutes to play, Victor Soderstrom threw a puck to Elias Lindholm at the side of the net – behind Vanecek again – but the pass didn’t connect for a certain goal. They also had a number of chances on a power play, as Hayton got called for interference on Fraser Minten. The Mammoth, however, were unable to get any possession on the puck for nearly 90 seconds, fighting off a 6 on 5 delayed call to give Boston, effectively, two power plays. They almost didn’t need any, as they almost connected on a cross-crease pass right at the net, but Utah touched up finally to get the whistle and get tired defenders off the ice.

On the ACTUAL power play, the Bruins had several golden chances; Zacha missed a few shots, then was fed right in front and Vanecek barely knocked the puck out over the net, Lindholm hit the post, and Geekie and Pastrnak both had open one-timers that were aborted because the play was too slow to develop. All said and done, the PK stood on business, holding the deficit to just 1.

Stenlund got Utah’s third and final shot from the boards when he threw the puck at the net, which Swayman easily turned aside as the period ended. Utah got a total of 3 shots in the period, along with 6 blocks and a miss. 10 total shot attempts while down a goal. That’s not good, that’ll surely change next period, right?

Total shots in the period Boston 8, Utah 3. Total for the game – Utah 16, Boston 15.

THIRD PERIOD:
Down a goal in the third is exactly where Utah was on Sunday, so the one goal deficit wasn’t too daunting to overcome. Utah would just need to get some sustained pressure and put a few pucks on Swayman.

Utah’s third line got some solid pressure within the first 2 minutes – a pair of blocked shots later and the Mammoth would again get a man advantage as Mason Lohrei would sit for slashing But.

The 2nd power play unit got the nod to start the play, which saw a big rip by Michael Carcone head high – but after the change the 1st unit would get a shot on net when Keller at the dot circled wristed one that Swayman gobbled up. No damage on the advantage, Utah still down 1. After the PP expired, Peterka threw a shot on net from the blue line, but the tip from Schmaltz never came and the save was routine from there.

The next three minutes was all Boston; Utah got one shot attempt off in that time, and wouldn’t get one on net for more than 6 minutes.

Since Utah wasn’t doing anything, Boston decided they would. 5 minutes in, Minten took a big wrister on Vanecek as the Bruins had a 2 on 1 develop. A blocked slapshot from the blue left a rebound a few feet out of the crease that Tanner Jeannot missed wide.

10 minutes to go, Boston would go up 3-1 on a rebound putback by Casey Mittelstadt. Mittelstadt got a fortunate bounce when a shot by Zacha missed wide, but the shot was short-side of Vanecek. The angle of the rebound on a short side shot means there’s more chance the puck comes out towards the slot. Guess what it did? Mittelstadt hammered home the rebound before Vanecek could recover. 3-1 Boston

For their part, the 4th line put pressure on Boston for their full shift. No less than 5 shot attempts were blocked – with no attempts making it on net – before the puck was knocked out of play. While the Mammoth didn’t capitalize, their push after the Boston goal was encouraging, and the hopes would lie on the momentum continuing with the other lines.

The third line threw a couple of chances to the net to no avail. Then, the teams went back to the slog. Realistically, the last thing that mattered was a goal by Eyssimont, who stripped the puck from Maatta at the offensive blue line, then treated him as a pylon on his rush to the Utah zone. He slid the puck 5 hole on Vanecek, and that was it. 4 -1 Boston

No further efforts from Utah, except for temper tantrums at the end of the game. By then, too little, too late.

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3 GOALS (THE GOOD):

Coneheads Michael Carcone and Daniil But continue to develop fantastic chemistry on the third line. Though the line didn’t get on the board today, they had chances to put Utah up 2 with a few minutes to go in the first, and just barely missed.

Carcone plays with serious energy and no fear for a kid his size. But plays like a kid his size. Neither are afraid to drive the net, look for rebounds, or fight for pucks in the corner. I’d like to see them have a more dynamic center than McBain with them, because together they’re pretty damn fantastic.

Size Queens JJ Peterka is 6 foot tall and 190 pounds. Michael Carcone is 5’9″ and 180 lbs. Kailer Yamamoto is also 5’9″, 180.

Aside from Daniil But, who stands at 6’5″, these three guys are the ones that have the biggest motors, try to win board battles with guys that have 5+ inches and 20 pounds or more over them. They consistently play bigger than they are; Peterka will gain muscle as he ages, so he’ll get more effective as time goes on, so a heavier, older Peterka playing the way he does now? Oh boy.

What’s the Maatta? Olli Maatta had a really good second period, with a massive block on Geekie, as well as a fantastic sliding play to break up a 2 on 1 with Zacha breaking at the net. As a 31 year old coming off an injury, Maatta isn’t the fastest skater on defense, but he held his own for most of the game.

Sure, he got burned with 4 minutes to go as Eyssimont completely undressed him and walked around him for the final goal, but the game was effectively over at that point. There’s a lot of bad I can point out in Maatta, but his effort has been there each game – even if his body hasn’t quite kept up.

3 CHIRPS (THE BAD):

Mini-Mammoths For the accolades I’ve thrown at Peterka, Yamamoto, and Carcone above, I’m wondering where Stenlund, McBain, and Crouse are in the corners and the net and the general dirty areas? Crouse has been playing well elsewhere, so I’ll give him a 75% pass here, but two of your biggest players aren’t getting to the net, aren’t winning board battles, and generally aren’t using their size to their – or the team’s – advantage.

Schmaltz’ net front presence has been awful too, but he’s taking on a different role right now so I’m a little forgiving at the moment. Call it pre-surgery emotions.

My biggest issue with Nick Bjugstad from last year is that he is a 6 foot 6 guy who has size and weight and didn’t use either. At least last year Hayton and McBain and others got to the net. Hayton gets a one game pass for going to the net tonight, but there are no excuses otherwise.

Stenlund can help his putrid shooting percentages if he could get to the net a little more frequently. Hayton saw a bump in his stats today, maybe Stenny can too.

Simply offensive Let’s face facts – when you’re down a goal in the 2nd period, being outshot isn’t the worst thing in the world. It is, however, terrible when your two scoring opportunity shots are on the power play in the middle of the frame. No shots anywhere else? The one person who DID shoot it has a shooting percentage in the negatives??

Yes, Boston is good, but 3 shots against in the 2nd, and 5 shots against when behind 2+ in the third? The tagline “simply offensive” should suffice.

Tick, tock What’s going on with Utah and the first and last minute of periods? Last game, they gave up a goal in the first minute of the first period to give up the lead. Today? First minute of the second period to give up the lead. Florida? Goal to give up the lead with less than a minute to play. Anaheim? Tied up with less than 10 seconds. Calgary? Goal in 15 seconds.

The period is 20 minutes guys, not 18, not 19, not 19:30, but a full 20.

Dishonorable mention:
The 1980’s Called What was up with the video feed today? For those old enough to remember, that was some Max Headroom videography a few times tonight. For those of you too young to remember or care, Max Headroom was a weird computer graphic on MTV, back when television played music and music videos. His vibe was sitting in front of a bunch of random lines, not unlike how the video feed worked today.

The difference was, 1980s graphics with Hedroom were fairly clear. No idea what was going on today, but probably for the best considering that was more entertaining than minute long stretches in the game.

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Next up:

2nd game of a back to back against Detroit, who is also on a back to back.

No write up, or recap tomorrow as I am in a non-contact jersey for a surgery. Will return on Friday as (hopefully) I see them live at the Delta Center.