^{The Utah Mammoth complete a back to back in Florida with a massive two points in Sunrise}

Tampa Bay was unkind to the Utah Mammoth yesterday. The Mammoth rolled into Florida masters of a 10 game point streak, and left emptyhanded – both on the scoreboard and on points. They left Tampa with a streak broken, goalied and shut out, and potentially without one of their main defensemen.

Today, the Mammoth traveled down to Sunrise with the hope of starting a new point streak. Newsworthy, though, was Dylan Guenther out for the Mammoth. In his place, Kailer Yamamoto starting again. Dmitry Simashev recalled, which may have meant bad news for Sean Durzi – but ultimately all good everywhere other than Guenther.

FIRST PERIOD:
The Mammoth, coming off the aforementioned game against Tampa yesterday, had a bit of a slow start. This, however, was not something Florida was able to take advantage of – as Florida also seemed to have a slower start than expected. The two teams traded some low level chances – but anything higher danger was missed or the play broke down. A close Utah chance came when John Marino threw a puck through traffic, which was tipped wide by Liam O’Brien. On the other side, Vitek Vanecek was tested by Anton Lindell on a wraparound, but was able to keep the Panthers scoreless. Carter Verhaeghe fanned on a shot from the slot, and A.J. Greer got stripped of the puck as he tried to split the Utah defense.

All in all, Utah was giving up more chance attempts against, but great defense helped break up chances. How tight was the defense? Through the first 10 minutes, both teams combined for 5 shots, no high danger chances, and probably double the hits than shot attempts.

The first real chance for either team came with 6 minutes left to play. Mikhail Sergachev got the puck at the blue line, but found space to walk in a little. His shot was initially saved by Sergei Bobrovsky, but the rebound sat right in front of his pads. Daniil But tried to poke the puck past, but it was sent wide, and the chance ended.

Branden Tanev got the Mammoth shorthanded as he “tripped” A.J. Greer. Greer was able to take a step after the “trip”, but the Panthers got the game’s first power play. Florida has been good, but not great, with the extra man – but are far better on special teams than they are 5v5. So, with 5 minutes to go in the period, Utah’s PK team went to work.

The Mammoth penalty kill has been OK lately, but not the dominant force they were back in November and December. However, after a solid clear from the zone, Kevin Stenlund denied a zone entry from Eetu Luostarinen. With the puck between two Florida players, Nick Schmaltz scurried up the middle, taking the puck with a head of steam. His speed led to a clear breakaway against Bobrovsky, and a fake shot allowed him to pull the puck to his backhand. He roofed the puck over a sprawling goaltender, right into the open net. Short handed? No problem! 1-0 Utah

This was Utah’s first game with an opening goal in their past few games, which also broke the shutout streak. Good sign for Team Tusk. The Mammoth, still on the penalty kill, were able to make some big blocks and play disruption over the next minute, killing any momentum from Florida.

Florida’s best push came after Tanev left the box. A stretch pass to Evan Rodrigues saw him pull Vanecek out of position as he circled the net. Trying to stuff in a wraparound goal, he was just short and the puck hit the side of the net and slid out in front of an open goal momentarily, before being corralled by Utah and moved out of the zone. Florida got chippy on their next zone entry, with Greer knocking Vanecek back into his net, stopping play.

Utah gave the Panthers some life late, with a handful of chances with less than 15 seconds to go, but the Mammoth were saved by the be… er, horn.

Utah outshot 10 – 7 for the period.

SECOND PERIOD:
The second period started out as slow as the first, with a possession battle over the first two minutes. However, at two minutes in, things got spicy for Utah when a cross-ice tip was just missed at the top of the crease, then Verhaeghe ripped a shot from the slot but it was directed wide.

Sandis Vilmanis was the recipient of a pass from a giveaway in the defensive zone, with a shot kicked aside by Vanecek. However, an awful, headscratchingly bad turnover by Ian Cole from behind his net came out straight to Vilmanis. Uncovered in the slot, as Liam O’Brien was caught between trying to get that pass from Cole or skating out, Vilmanis rifled a shot past Vanecek to break the ice for Florida. First career goal for the kid, gift wrapped by a veteran defenseman. Ouch. 1-1 Tied

Utah’s counterpunch was swift, however. After some initial push by the Panthers, a great rush started by Kailer Yamamoto saw the puck forced to the side boards. Michael Carcone threw a phenomenal pass from the boards to the far side of the opposite dot, right on the stick of Jack McBain. McBain held the puck long enough to cause Bobrovsky to come way out of position to challenge, leading to a pass to Sean Durzi who cut to the middle of the slot. With no goaltender in front, it was a simple wrister dead center into twine. Utah regains the lead in 54 seconds. 2-1 Utah

The fourth line, partly responsible for the goal against – came out on the face-off and had a really good shift. Stenlund got two clean shots off on Bobrovsky, but both were turned aside. Florida, however, would regain momentum from those saves, as Nate Schmidt got called for a delay of game.

With one of their key PK defensemen in the box, Utah would be stresses on their special teams. Right off the drop, Florida would nearly tie it back up after a huge blast was just tipped high. Big shoutout to Lawson Crouse, going one on 4 after nearly getting a breakaway, to kill about 25 seconds on the penalty kill. A few good saves by Vanecek later, and Utah was able to get back to even strength again, with no damage done.

With about 11 minutes to go, Florida got another big push. Lundell went wide on a great look, while Luostarinen took a shot that Vanecek trapped under him, as Panthers assaulted him with their sticks. The Panthers would get the equalizer on their next attack, though, as a failed clear by Durzi hit a Panthers player. Sergachev, likewise, couldn’t get the puck out of the zone as JJ Peterka got outmuscled at the zone. Durzi had one last chance to get a clear, but the puck was just attacked by Greer – until Cole Schwindt picked up the loose puck and with traffic in front screening Vanecek, was able to get the tally for the Kitties. 2-2 Tied

Florida nearly had a breakaway chance right after the face-off, but Nate Schmidt and John Marino were able to tag team and shut down the chance.

As with large stretches in the first period, the second saw about 4 minutes of play without any dangerous shots going to either net at all. What was dangerous going into the net, though, was Daniil But with about 7 minutes to go. After hitting skates with Sam Bennett, But went into Bobrovsky and the net. Bennett had his hands on But, presumably either holding him down for a moment or, more likely, checking on him from the collision, when noted feminine product Matthew Tkachuk came in attacking the youngster, throwing punches and a cross check to his face. This naturally resulted in a power play for… just kidding. Florida doesn’t get called from shenanigans from the most dirty players in the league. Silly me.

While the league fines referees for calling penalties on Florida for roughing (probably), they do call them for holding. So, Stenlund drew one of those for Utah, putting them on their first power play of the night. Utah got less than nothing on their power play, however, giving up a chance to Evan Rodrigues and generating not a single shot attempt off in nearly 2 minutes. Good thing, then, that Clayton Keller recognized their power play was trash, and took a cross-checking penalty to end the power play with 2 seconds left.

The third penalty kill for Utah saw a lot of pressure from the Panthers, and they would bend and bend but not break. Vanecek was the best penalty killer for the Mammoth, making two gigantic saves in a row against Tkachuk and Bennett in a span of 10 seconds, then Verhaeghe as time wound down and the penalty expired. Keller almost had a break out of the box, but couldn’t control an outlet pass.

With a minute and a half to go, But nearly had a breakaway. A pass by Nick DeSimone from behind his net off the boards just missed connecting, and But was denied his chance. With under a minute, and after a shift of multiple big hits, Jack McBain had a centering feed from Carcone just miss, and a shot by Schmidt from the line was snagged by Bobrovsky, closing out the last chance for either side.

Surely catching a fine for breaking the rules of what to call against Florida, Lundell got called for roughing Carcone at the end of the play. Utah would have a power play carry over nearly a minute and a half into the third.

Utah still being outshot, doubled up 10 – 5. For the game through 2, Utah outshot 20-12.

THIRD PERIOD:
An improvement for the Utah power play came when they actually got a shot off with the extra man this time, though no zone possession continues to haunt their efforts.

Reinhart got a long range shot in on Vanecek after returning to full strength, and a follow up shot came from behind the goal line, catching the side of the net.

Carcone got called for interference, giving the the Cats their 4th power play. Brad Marchand nearly beat Vanecek, but somehow the puck stayed out. Mackie Samoskevich, Marchand, and Tkachuk all had good looks blocked or sent wide, and Ian Cole had a great block as time expired to get them back to full strength. Verhaeghe had a chance after a broken stick and failed clear, but once again Vitek was able to answer the call.

After a failed connection in the offensive zone, Utah raced back as Florida had a 2 on 1 chance. Vilmanis, looking for his second career goal and second of the game, wristed a shot that Vanecek was able to knock down.

The Mammoth would be rewarded with 9 minutes to play. A face-off win by Nick Schmaltz started some offensive pressure when Sergachev shot from the point. Utah was able to maintain possession after the save, as Sergachev got in the way of the clearing attempt. With the puck played around by Sergachev, Durzi gathered the puck at the point and threw the puck at the net. Sergachev, from behind the net, circled up through the dots, and got a stick on the puck for a redirection. Bobrovsky was unable to react, and Utah once again regained the lead. 3-2 Utah

Utah did a phenomenal job of shutting down the Panthers for most of the rest of the period. Team Tusk did not allow a shot from before the goal until, well, I’ll get there.

Tkachuk got a penalty for roughing Liam O’Brien, giving the Mammoth another advantage late in the game. Immediately on the face-off, Hayton and Rodrigues got offsetting penalties for interference and embellishment (I hate that penalty, by the way), resetting the power play with just a slightly different look on both sides. As with all previous power plays, nothing transpired, save for a shot by Peterka that was shanked and an easy save.

With the net empty for Florida, Clayton Keller almost got the goalless monkey off his back against Florida when he was interfered with on his way to a clean breakaway, but it went uncalled. Then, the Panthers crowd went apoplectic when Schmaltz tripped Tkachuk, but Tkachuk also got called for embellishment for Superman diving after the contact. Instead of a 6 on 4, the teams would go 4 on 4 (5 with Bobrovsky pulled), acting like another Panther power play – though with Utah’s best PKer and the Cats top agitator sitting.

With one minute to go, Stenlund made a great play at the blue line to knock the puck away from Marchand, and Hayton outraced Florida to the puck for the easy empty net goal to put Utah ahead. 4-2 Utah

Remember the shutting down I alluded to before? Well, the Mammoth kept the Panthers from a single shot on net from before the Sergachev goal until after the Hayton goal. Now, down 2, the Panthers called a time out, then pushed hard at the end to try and get the 2 goals needed. They did get one from Verhaeghe at the dot with 16 seconds to go as Vanecek was screened. 4-3 Utah
, but with just 16 seconds left in the game, the Panthers were unable to get the tying goal, and the good guys walked away with 2 gigantic points.

Shots tied in the third period, 8 – 8, as Utah was outshot for the game 28 – 20. The big news, though, was shutting down Florida’s shot attempts for 13 minutes at the end of the game.

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3 GOALS (THE GOOD):

Shortly After Special teams has been bad for the Mammoth all year long, save for some great penalty killing in November and early December. Since then, the power play and PK both have been struggling. However, with their second short handed goal in January, Utah is tied for third in turning the tables on the power play.

The Mammoth got their 5th short handed goal tonight from Nick Schmaltz. With their second SHG in January, the PK unit has given up 12 goals against, but scored 2 for. This gives them a goal differential of -10, which is known as an “effective” or “net” PK rate. Their penalty kill, giving up 12 goals, is a terrible PK rate of 74.5%. However, net PK with the shorthanded goals, brings that total up to nearly 80%.

If you can keep a moderate PP team honest, and respecting your ability to sting back, it can only help further efforts for your penalty kill.

Yes He Can-ecek Vitek Vanecek got his first win in 10 games tonight, which is great for him. The numbers are a bit misleading for him though – in his 10 losses, he gave up only one goal twice. He lost three games where his save percentages were .917, .955, and .962.

He got credited with a loss coming in relief of Karel Vejmelka against San Jose, when a game was already out of hand. He had an OTL against the Sharks when they had a 4-3 power play, and another against the Blue Jackets after the Mammoth basically flubbed the game in front of him for 55 minutes.

Sure, his goals against average put him at 52nd of all goaltenders that played 5+ games since his last win. Sure his save percentage put him down at 60. But for a backup, these aren’t absolutely terrible numbers, and his run support hasn’t always been there.

Big win for him tonight, though, in front of the team that got him a ring and his name on the Cup. Big win for his confidence, and hopefully, for being able to give Vejmelka a few more nights off before April’s potential playoff run.

We-fence The Mammoth take an all-hands approach to their defense, and it shows. While they were tired and outplayed for stretches, at the end of a tied game, after a back to back, Utah found a way to suppress shots for exactly 13 minutes. During that time, they got not only a go-ahead goal, but an insurance goal, which turned out the be the game winner.

10 shot blocks from the defense helped keep Vanecek from facing too many high danger chances. Sticks in lanes and disrupted power play setups were also instrumental in keeping the Panthers off the board. When they were needed most, Utah’s defense also contributed to the score sheet, with Durzi notching a goal and an assist, as well as a goal from Sergachev.

The Utah defense has had problems, sure, but nothing that some creative movement at the trade deadline can’t fix. With the calling up of Simashev, and the opportunity to deal an extra defensive piece currently on the low end of the roster, Utah can shore up some of the lapses while adding even more scoring touch to a defense that is working hard for the tendy behind them.

3 CHIRPS (THE BAD):

Tick Tick… Utah doesn’t seem to know when the period is over when playing against the Florida Panthers. Tonight, the Mammoth gave up a goal with 15 seconds to go. Take that with the push in the first period with 15 seconds left, and Utah seems to play a good 19 minutes against the Cats.

Yes, it was a back to back game. Yes, fatigue. Last month, the Panthers scored with 50 seconds to go to open the scoring at the Delta Center. They then scored with 50 seconds left to steal a game from us.

Maybe it’s the old person smell that Florida brings, but Utah needs to not go to bed early against the Panthers ever again – especially if these teams meet somewhere in the post season (knocking on all the wood).

The Young Getting Restless It’s known that last year I was a big Michael Kesselring fan, and was devastated when we traded him along with Josh Doan. JJ Peterka was supposed to be a jewel in the crown for a team brimming with talent. However, Peterka’s hit a big, bad slide, and there doesn’t seem to be a way out of it.

His last goal was awarded to him, and his last actual goal was the work of Daniil But and a puck that in all honestly could have been whistled dead. While that’s not against him, what is against him is the fact his lethal shot has been only lethal to goalie’s crests.

With Josh Doan crushing it for Buffalo, the trade is starting to look worse and worse for the Mammoth, and that’s devastating considering how Josh Doan’s numbers showed he was about to be the player we see him there.

Peterka’s in a massive slump and his defensive play isn’t good enough to cover his shortcomings. He needs to figure it out, and figure it out FAST.

Set an Alarm The Mammoth power play is, for lack of a better description, an absolute flaming dumpster fire. With yet another 0-fer, the Mammoth in January are dead last with a 14.7% power play rate. Utah’s got the lowest per-game power play goal rate as well. Utah is in the top 20 drawing power plays, but conversion is a different problem altogether.

Turnovers by lazy forward play has killed so many opportunities, and led to defensive zone time while a man up. Tonight, Evan Rodriguez had a chance served up to him, but he missed his shot wide. There’s a lack of urgency, a lack of effort, and a lack of a proper framework.

It’s clear the coaching is sleepwalking their way through special teams. There are many things to talk about with the power play, but it comes down to three specific things:

1) The power play is not using an effective system.
The 1-3-1 layout is just not working for Utah. I’ve mentioned before that the best the team has looked is either on broken plays, when the team goes to a 2-1-2 or umbrella formation, or when the team gets a rush off a clear. When Utah dumps pucks into the corner, the pucks are retrieved and cleared before a Mammoth player can get there.

Utah’s fast, so dump-ins should work. Additionally, the drop pass to a speeding player from their defensive end should allow for a breakthrough. Instead, bad zone entries are killing time from even allowing setting up – not that it’s mattered much when you’ve got…

2) The wrong personnel on the power play units.
When you look at a power play, you want shots on net. Naturally, you want high-value shots on net, but any shot with an extra man should allow for one player at the net-front to get a potential tip in. So, what do you need? You need a player strong at the front of the net. PP1 has Barrett Hayton, who has been weak there all year. PP2 has

On PP1 JJ Peterka, on a notably bad slump, has 3 shots on goal in January. He’s logged 35 minutes of PP time in that span. He spends nearly 60% of all power play time on the ice, and has 1 assist to show for it. Meanwhile, Michael Carcone spent half that time on the ice, on a second unit, and has double the shot totals on net.

Nick Schmaltz as a center is a good playmaker, but putting him out there with Hayton ruins the line’s chemistry.

The coaching staff needs to figure out better combinations of players who want to shoot vs. players who don’t fit at all.

3) The personnel on the power play are not in ideal roles.
An ideal setup for a power play is a good defenseman as a quarterback to lead a unit. Currently, Sergachev and Durzi are fine in these roles. Then, you want a sharpshooter or two. Keller, Guenther, Peterka, and But have all shown fantastic shooting ability. You want a setup man, which Schmaltz as a center is showing to be quite adept as. Carcone, with his constant motor, has also shown to be a good setup guy, as has Crouse. Then you want a big body in front of the net. McBain, Hayton, and But all can do this role.

Players like Jack McBain and Daniil But – strong, big bodies, are not being parked in front of the net (or, in McBain’s case, barely played at all). JJ Peterka has a lethal shot (that he’s not using) and he’s not in shooting positions at all and expected to be a playmaker. As mentioned above, Schmaltz as a playmaker is great, but not when Hayton’s out there and they’re not sure who’s going to be in what position.

If the team can’t figure out a system, they can at least put players in their proper roles. A lineup of:

PP1:
Shooters: Guenther, Keller
Playmaker: Schmaltz
Body: McBain
QB: Sergachev

PP2
Shooter: Peterka
Playmakers: Crouse, Carcone.
Body: But
QB: Durzi

Unconventional? Definitely. Am I insane for suggesting McBain on a top PP unit? Yep. 100%. But he’s proven to be better net presence than Hayton this year. Ideally, But on the top line gives a better body to work with, but when Cooley returns, there would be some reworking needed for the units.

The PP isn’t working, and it’s time to get someone to fix it. If not a weird adjustment like this, any other major system (Spread, Umbrella, etc.) could get some better use than trying and failing at the one-timer option they constantly look for.

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Next up:

Looks like Hurricanes on the forecast this Thursday for a 5PM game in Raleigh.