^{Utah beats the second best team in the NHL in a game that felt like a playoff one.}

The Utah Mammoth faced off against the Dallas Stars at the Delta Center tonight. Dallas, the second best team in the NHL by points, was coming off a bit of a slide – just 2-3-2 in 2026, and 2-4-4 in their last 10. Dallas’ vaunted defense had been porous over this slide, giving up an average of 3.5 goals per game, far worse than their 2.57 goals the first 37 games.

Utah, meanwhile, is having itself a homestand and a half. Four games at home has resulted in 7 of 8 possible points, with victories over Toronto, Ottawa, and St. Louis and an OT loss against the Blue Jackets. Utah also got 4 of 6 points on their previous road trip, making Team Tusk 5-1-1 in January for 11 of 14 points in the calendar year. This puts Utah on track as the third highest point producer and point percentage team over that time.

So, both teams are trending in opposite directions. However, a divisional opponent that’s struggling usually isn’t going to struggle against you, and Dallas isn’t the second best team out of nowhere. A team able to shut you down and score opportunistic goals, while being borderline with the rules, is a dangerous team any time of the year.

FIRST PERIOD:
The Mammoth started out with an early chance when Nick Schmaltz stole a puck deep in the Dallas zone. Trying to thread a pass low-to-high and cross-ice to Clayton Keller, the play was disrupted by the Dallas defense recovering from the mistake. Shortly after, Dallas saw Matt Duchene whiff on a puck that had bounced over the net into the slot. On the following Dallas rush, Duchene followed that up with a drive deep into the Mammoth zone. John Marino disrupted him just enough during the drive, forcing Duchene too deep, and his backhand shot from a wide angle was stopped by Karel Vejmelka, who sealed the pipe perfectly.

This start would make us think the period would be a wide open, run and gun kind of game. However, Dallas soon settled down into their normal defensive scheme as Utah did the same, and the game chances would be much more limited after this.

Jamie Benn beat out an icing on a missed stretch pass, but a solid defensive stand by Sean Durzi saw that saw the Dallas captain had no outlets to get to from behind the net, keeping Dallas from any scoring chance while Utah cleared. That clear ended up on Lawson Crouse’s stick, where he pulled a forehand, backhand move while driving to the net, but Jake Oettinger was able to get position to deny Crouse the opening goal.

At the 16 minute mark, Mikhail Sergachev coughed up the puck, and Dallas had a centering feed come through from behind the net, but a falling Durzi was able to keep the puck off any Dallas stick and the puck eventually was cleared after solid defensive pressure by Jack McBain.

Several minutes of failed offensive possessions by both teams followed, with Wyatt Johnston ripping a shot on Vejmelka at the 13 minute mark that the big Czech was able to contain. Roope Hintz then gave Utah a power play 30 seconds later, as he hacked Nick Schmaltz’ stick into kindling.

I’ve mentioned that the Utah power play has really struggled, however while Utah would not score, the unit looked very strong. While Utah was great on the draw most of the game, they lost their PP draw, but once zone time was established, Dylan Guenther got a few looks. The first was blocked on a great defensive play, then the second, a wide open Guenther wasn’t able to collect the pass cleanly. His shot was late, allowing Oettinger to set to keep the sheet clean behind him. Clayton Keller drover the net and threw a shot, and hacked at a rebound, but Oettinger was too big and Dallas was able to clear. Utah was unable to get anything going with the second unit, and Dallas killed the play off successfully. 4 big shots on the power play, no luck, but there were some good looks and opportunities.

After the power play, Durzi led a rush that saw him blast a shot from the high circle, forcing a rebound, but Dallas tied up Lawson Crouse coming to chip in the loose puck, killing the chance. After that, both teams locked things down. Defensively, Utah had a fantastic shut down of a rush chance with about 8:30 to go, as McBain kept up with a streaking Radek Faksa to protect his zone and a follow up shot was high and wide.

Play was back and forth with no actual shot attempts until the 5 minute mark, when Daniil But was blocked, and no shots were registered until Kyle Capobianco tested Vejmelka with a wrister that Karel sticked aside.

The rest of the period was, basically, uneventful, as no shots or any sustained zone time for either team occurred.

Utah doubling up on shots in the first period for the second straight game. 10-5 after the first.

SECOND PERIOD:
The Stars opened up the second period quickly, with Rantanen testing Vejmelka in the first 15 seconds. A sliding Vejmelka was able to get position, stopping the early chance against and setting the tone for the period. Not to be outdone, however, Dylan Guenther took a pass from Durzi and had a half-step in on Oettinger, but was unable to slide the puck 5 hole as the US team’s Olympic netminder was able to keep Guenther off the scoresheet on that try, and a blast from the circle seconds later.

Dallas would go on their first power play as Utah was caught with too many men on the ice just 55 seconds in. The Stars power play has struggled, going just 2 for 20 since Christmas, but for the year remain 2nd best overall in the league. Team Tusk’s penalty kill, however, stood strong against the vaunted Stars stars, disrupting passes to Rantanen and Hintz, not allowing either to get pucks at the net. However, with 15 seconds left in the kill, Mavrik Bourque got in deep, going east to west trying to shoot tight in on Vejmelka, who made a spectacular save and cover for the whistle, effectively ending the Stars advantage.

The Stars, however, controlled play for another solid 45 seconds after the penalty was over. In the defensive end, Utah’s defense was able to block 3 or 4 shots from getting to the net finally getting a desperately needed clear with a bit over 16 minutes to go. The next two minutes were fairly uneventful, as Utah kept getting denied entry into the Dallas zone. Thomas Harley had a one-timer that Vejmelka was in position for with 14 and a half to go.

Utah finally started to get pressure in with about 13 and a half to play. Guenther tried to do a Michigan move (lifting the puck and scoring lacrosse style), and while that failed, he did get a second attempt to beat Oettinger when rebound from a point shot by Nate Schmidt lay unprotected right outside the crease. Guenther’s shot had just a bit too little elevation, catching a sprawled out Oettinger in the pad. After the Dallas clear, JJ Peterka took a stretch pass in all alone on Oettinger from the near boards, but his 5 hole attempt just didn’t have enough to go all the way under the pads and the game remained scoreless.

Peterka stole the puck deep in the Dallas end after a faceoff loss, nearly catching Oettinger napping, and the rebound in the slot was available for Barrett Hayton to put home, but he whiffed on the chance. The counter attack by Dallas saw some dangerous opportunities, as Ilya Lyubushkin’s slap shot was saved, and the rebound was just pushed wide of a vulnerable Vejmelka.

After some traded zone time, Jason Robertson got in free on a partial breakaway, but Vejmelka made the pad save to keep the Stars from taking the lead. After those shots, the teams then spent several minutes exchanging zone time, but blocked shots and disrupted passes saw back and forth play without any solid chances.

John Marino had a clear look from the inside circle on Oettinger with 7 minutes to play, after Utah held about 30 seconds of zone time, but his shot couldn’t solve the Dallas goaltender. Schmaltz, behind the net, took the first of several uncalled penalties, being put in a headlock and dragged to the ice as play continued.

With about 4 and a half minutes to go, Peterka again up the wing took a shot at Oettinger, who punched a rebound out to the slot. Kevin Stenlund, now centering a broken line, had the puck in the slot, but he couldn’t bury his opportunity.

Matching minors were called right after the play on Capobianco and Peterka as the teams would battle 4 on 4. Utah spent the first 30 seconds with control and zone time with the puck, but could not get a shot. Then Dallas, inexplicably, spent nearly 45 seconds playing catch in their own end and only attempting a zone entry late into the special teams situation. Hintz took a shot, then Dallas controlled the rebound and possession for most of the rest of the 2 minutes. Utah would get the puck late, but turnovers in the defensive end led to another shot right after the penalties expired, which Vejmelka would catch for a stoppage.

Utah would pressure the zone in the final minute, with the Michael Carcone a whirling dervish out there as has been his playstyle lately. A failed wraparound led to a clear, but Utah’s momentum just continued. After a defensive zone draw, Utah had one final rush in the last 15 seconds. Clayton Keller lost the puck to a back checking Jamie Benn, but the puck took a fortuitous path right to John Marino. Marino laid out a perfect pass to a streaking Schmaltz who was crashing the net. Marino’s pass was expertly chipped by Schmaltz who extended his stick out with just one hand, and the redirected puck slipped in the near post right under Oettinger’s pad. With just 7 seconds left, Utah capped a tight period with a monumental goal, causing the crowd to explode and Schmaltz an elated celebration to close the period. 1-0 Utah

Shots favored Dallas in the period – 12-10, but Utah led in shots 20-17 through two.

THIRD PERIOD:
The Mammoth started the third doubling the lead… almost. Not really almost, as Lawson Crouse high sticked the puck into the net. That high stick wasn’t even remotely close, he basically had the stick above his head. You can’t do that. No goal, though ironically if he didn’t touch the puck, a Dallas defender behind him may have likely deflected it in instead. Oh well.

Nick Schmaltz would take the dirtiest of all hits on the faceoff at the 19 minute mark, as Hintz made sure that Schmaltz was wearing his cup. Down on the ice for a bit, Schmaltz nevertheless came out fine… though the play was unpenalized. What wasn’t unpenalized, though, was the slash from Peterka on Hintz, who had a near breakaway. However, the hands thrown up was a classic embellishment, but that, too, went uncalled. So, with 2 penalties on Dallas on the same sequence, it was Utah going to the box for the one penalty the refs did decide to call.

That series of non-calls against Dallas burned Utah on the penalty kill. Wyatt Johnson drove to the net, shooting on Vejmelka while going east to west. Vejmelka made the initial save, but Rantanen was able to pick up the rebound and lift the puck just above Veggie’s pads for the equalizer. What’s that chant they say? Ref you suck? 1-1 Tied

Following the goal, Utah had a decent response. The Mammoth forced play in the Dallas end for some time, interspersed with an icing, to give them some momentum. After the third zone entry pressure led to a deflected puck out of play, the Hockey Gods decided to give Utah back the goal the referees gifted to Dallas. John Marino, off the faceoff win, threw a puck on Oettinger from the point. Perhaps a screen by Crouse and Schmaltz contributed, but the puck hit Oettinger up high as he couldn’t see or set properly. The puck jumped about 9 feet in the air, and with a stroke of fortune and revenge, the puck fluttered and fell behind the netminder, spinning its way in the correct side of the far side post giving Utah the lead back just 2 minutes after it was surrendered. 2-1 Utah.

Utah did not allow the Stars to get momentum or a massive response after the goal, controlling the faceoff, playing keep-away, and getting the puck in the Dallas end forcing them to come a full 200 feet.
Then Matt Duchene forgot that a stick in the skates is a no-no, tripping Sergachev. Utah, looking to seal the game, would get their second power play of the night.

This power play, however, was far worse than the first. Sergachev turned the puck over deep in the Mammoth zone, which was fortunately covered by Keller and Schmaltz. Sergy got a good blast off from the point to make up for his mistake, but Oettinger tracked it and Dallas cleared. After a struggle to get into the zone, Sam Steele nearly got a shorthanded breakaway, but Durzi recovered and prevented a shot. The final 20 seconds were played in the Utah end, killing the penalty off without much opportunity to advance the lead.

Just before the halfway mark, Esa Lindell had a great look from the mid-slot all alone, but Vejmelka was able to fight off the screen and set up for the stop, and on the recovery Guenther took a stretch pass and had a partial breakaway that beat Oettinger, but hit the far post and went wide. Vejmelka swiped the puck from coming around with a great sweep, keeping Dallas from a scoring play, and preserving the lead.

The game then saw several big moments over the next few minutes. With 9 minutes left, Peterka nearly doubled the lead. Getting his stick on a back-door feed from But, the tip missed the mark just wide. 7 minutes to go, chants of Veg-gie rained down on the ice, as Vejmelka made a windmill save on a wide-open Steel, keeping Utah ahead. On the other end, great offensive efforts by Daniil But saw Hayton not once, but twice, miss padding the lead. One blocked shot, then a wide open attempt in the slot just could not fall his way.

The last 6 minutes, Utah had no further shots, selling out the offense to bolster the defense. Utah was content chipping the puck to the neutral zone every time they had a chance, and Dallas was forced to start play from deep in their zone several times.

Dallas pulled Oettinger with over 3 minutes to play, giving them a 6 on 5 advantage. Utah did a great job to limit shots and chances, and the few times they went through Vejmelka was huge in net, stopping Rantanen’s tipped blast with a beautiful pad save with just a minute left after stopping Hartley a couple of times.

Props to Kevin Stenlund, winning 5 of 8 faceoffs with the extra attacker against Utah, forcing Dallas to play catch up and burning valuable seconds off the clock. Time expired as Stenlund spent nearly 4 straight minutes on the ice to seal the game for Utah. What an amazing effort by Stenny!

Shots were 27 apiece at the final horn, but Utah led where it mattered most and gets 2 big points as they continue a highly successful homestand.

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3 GOALS (THE GOOD):

Shooting Star John Marino has been Utah’s best defenseman for a year and a half. Since returning from injury mid-year last year, Marino is the go-to guy when you need something shut down. Generally able to play with any partner, Nate Schmidt and Marino make a dominant defensive pair for Utah.

Today, however, Marino wasn’t just being hailed for his defense. A lucky bounce, sure, but his shot deflecting up and ultimately over Oettinger was the game winning goal. This was the second game winning goal that Marino has notched with the Mammoth. The other? He was the GWG of record to start the homestand against Ottawa back a week ago.

2 game winning goals in a week for the top Utah defenseman? Looks like someone’s trying to challenge Dylan Guenther for that captain clutch moniker.

Lone Star Karel Vejmelka tracked almost everything the Dallas Stars threw at him tonight. The only goal conceded was a power play goal, but otherwise his 26 saves on 27 shots left him with a save percentage on the night of .963.

Since returning from injury on January 1st, Vejmelka is 6-1-0 with a .929 save percentage and just 1.85 goals against. The only bad game for him during that stretch was a 4-1 loss at New Jersey, which is also the only game he had less than .900sv%. In the other 6 games? Veggie’s posting a .951 and a 1.49GAA.

In January, Vejmelka is 6th in save percentage and 4th GAA for any starting goalie (3+ starts in 2026), and leads all goaltenders with 6 wins in 7 games, 2 more than the next best goalie.

It’s safe to say that Vejmelka stole another 2 big points for the Mammoth today, the second such game he’s stolen for Utah this homestand, and his efforts were reflected in earning first star of the game. His gameplay has been stellar lately, and a big reason the Mammoth are on a roll.

Supernova It was a playoff game, and the Mammoth treated it as such. Defensively, we talked about the pairing of Schmidt and Marino, but Durzi had another great game for the Mammoth. Ian Cole, while starting to show some slowing after such a grueling schedule, also had a top-notch game. Daniil But, Lawson Crouse, Barrett Hayton, and Nick Schmaltz were all over both sides of the ice, providing key blocks and takeaways at critical times.

Then, when it was needed most, Utah delivered on a chip goal right at the end of the second. With the game tied, a fortunate bounce gave Utah the lead. That doesn’t happen without the team playing hard in front, though. Crashing the net led to the Schmaltz goal. Zone pressure forcing offensive zone faceoffs led to the Marino goal. Defensive checks limited dangers for Karel Vejmelka. Overall, this was a playoff winning effort, even if if was regular season. Play like this in the playoffs? Sky’s the limit.

3 CHIRPS (THE BAD):

Seeing Stars The Dallas Stars are known for being a borderline… or over the borderline dirty team. Jamie Benn has a reputation for a reason, and noted goon Mikko Rantanen has ended a season with a dirty board this year already, plus a few other dirty hits on others. So, it’s no surprise then that Mammoth players saw a bunch of cheap shots and terrible plays by a Dallas team doing everything they can to win.

DeSimone was the recipient of a hit where Robinson left his feet. Schmaltz had the family jewels violated. Ian Cole got his stick pulled out of his hands by Rantanen to no call or response. Crouse got slew footed by Duchene. What was the response? Nada.

We play an enforcer in Liam O’Brien to protect our stars, but tonight when both Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller took shots, Spicy Tuna was flavorless after the whistle. His 4 hits were second on the team for the night, sure, and 2 blocks were tied with Hayton and Tanev for the lead, but there’s just no threat when O’Brien is on the ice – either to score or get extremely physical. We need to solve not just the O’Brien problem but the physicality problem, or we’ll see a lot more Utah players taking cheap shots and risking injury without a proper response from anyone but McBain.

Not So Big D The defense was great tonight, but there were two defensemen that struggled for Utah at times. Mikhail Sergachev saw a number of turnovers in his zone, especially early on, that could have led to Stars opportunities in high-danger areas.

Nick DeSimone likewise had a bad game. His turnover at the 15 minute mark of the first period could have been catastrophic, had he not been bailed out by a great block and defensive play by Daniil But. Several unnecessary icings made things harder for Utah than they needed to be. He seemed to panic when Dallas brought their 2 man forecheck, leading to several concerning passes and dumps – though fortunately the team was able to keep them from becoming a problem.

Turnovers and misplays like icings that don’t need to be could have really hurt the Mammoth. However, really good defensive play by the forwards, especially Lawson Crouse, Daniil But, and Barrett Hayton, really bailed out the miscues.

Sergachev has the ability to outscore his mistakes, but DeSimone doesn’t. He needs to tighten up his game fast, or we need to find someone that can.

Officiating Is just so suspect at times. Against Toronto, several questionable calls – and a disallowed goal due to a quick whistle – could have been far worse for Utah than they let on. Tonight? The referees forgot what embellishment was. After seeing so many of those calls against Utah, the Hayton hooking call on Hintz was a thing, but Hintz reaction was far, far more flagrant than what Sergachev and Cooley were called on in consecutive games in November. Schmaltz was the recipient of a headlock, hold, and tackle that wasn’t worth of a call, and his future children suffered while another non-call left the Stars momentum to get a breakaway mentioned above, and no infraction on the embellishment.

It’s clear the NHL has a referee problem when in two games several questionable calls against, multiple non-calls, and a complete disregard for a loose puck in the crease really disadvantages one team far above their opponents. I get it, refs make mistakes, but there’s some mistakes that seem less human error, more human neglect.

Bonus:
The Meh – Barrett Hayton had an amazing game on the circles today, winning all 11(!) of his attempts. That’s extraordinary work from someone we’re not used to seeing do that well at the dot. Additionally, Hayton’s backchecking has been fantastic, disrupting plays and providing massive defensive support for the team.

On the flip side, Hayton’s offensive ability has disappeared faster than a snowball in a Texas summer. Hayton hasn’t scored a goal in a calendar month, last lighting the lamp on December 16th against Boston. No goals in 13 games, Hayton joins Brandon Tanev, O’Brien, and Kailer Yamamoto as forwards without a goal. The difference? Tanev has half the games under his belt, Yamamoto only 3, and O’Brien went an entire calendar year without a goal.

Hayton’s an enigma, giving you great defensive support – he’s +7 in those 13 games – but also is a spot where offense goes to die. He has 4 goals on the year with a shooting percentage of just 5.8% – below half of where he was last year. He’s not just getting fewer shots, he’s not making them count.

So, where do we value Hayton? As a 2C, he’s terrible at his role. As a 3C, he’s great as his role. Problem is – with Jack McBain as the assumed 3C, where does Barrett Hayton fit long term?

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Next up:

Homestand’s penultimate game, as Seattle comes calling on Saturday for a 3PM game.