^{Utah gives up two special teams goals in the first period and can’t recover in a 3-2 loss against Dallas.}

The Utah Mammoth returned to the Delta Center to take on divisional rival and guaranteed playoff contending Dallas Stars team. The last time these two teams faced off at the Tundra, Utah won 2-1 in a tight game that featured a bad PK goal against, a multi-point game and GWG for John Marino (and fun interview after the game with him) and a physical, grinding game.

Tonight was no different, except instead of 1 bad PK in 2 attempts, there were 2 back to back bad PKs and the physicality was way more one-sided.

FIRST PERIOD:
Before the National Anthem stopped reverberating in the rafters, the Mammoth were on a penalty kill.
Sean Durzi had a delay of game penalty just 48 seconds into game, after Karel Vejmelka made a great save from in tight. The second best power play in the league would get to work, though the first minute of the kill was handled very well. A rush from Utah saw Kevin Stenlund pin the puck to the back boards, and on the ensuring breakout, Nick Schmaltz stole the puck for a breakaway. Casey DeSmith was able to keep the 5-hole secure just enough to kill the early shorthanded chance.

With about 45 seconds to go in the power play, Mavrik Bourque threw a shot from the blue line that Thomas Harley tipped from the slot. As Vejmelka positioned to save the shot on the left, the tip went right – and just missed going in. Hitting the pipe, the puck bounced right back out to Hartley, who beat his defender, John Marino, to swipe the puck past Vejmelka, who was trying to recover position from the initial redirection. With about 2 minutes in, Utah was already down and the Dallas power play degraded a terrible PK rate for Utah even further. 1-0 Dallas

Dallas didn’t allow Utah a very hard pushback at first, but Schmaltz had his second golden opportunity about 5 minutes in. The Mammoth lost the face-off but stole the puck in the offensive end. Fed in the slot amidst 3 Dallas defenders, Schmaltz ripped a shot that beat DeSmith, but couldn’t get the good bounce he needed off the post.

Following the Schmaltz post, Dallas pushed into the Utah zone for some offensive pressure of their own. Wyatt Johnston got the puck in behind the net and tried a wraparound shot that Vejmelka was positioned to defend.

With 13 and a half to play, a shot from the slot by Dallas was deflected by Vejmelka. The puck hit the crossbar, and landed behind him. The puck came to Jack McBain at the boards, and he promptly threw the puck over the glass for another delay of game penalty.

Vejmelka was in good position to stop an early chance from the low dot, and Utah’s penalty kill was decent enough for the first 45 seconds. However, the Stars power play is great for a reason, and when they were able to cycle the puck, they were able to get their players in the right position. A shot from the point by Mikko Rantanen was tipped in front by power play specialist and best PPG player in the league Wyatt Johnston. 2-0 Dallas

Utah found an answer with just their third shot of the game. Just past the halfway point in the period, a gorgeous stretch pass by Marino to JJ Peterka saw the youngster streak into the offensive zone. With fantastic vision, he saw Kailer Yamamoto sneak high into the slot. An immaculate pass hit Yamamoto on the tape, and a quick release would beat DeSmith. 2-1 Da… wait a minute. Hayton’s skate touched DeSmith in the crease. Dallas would challenge for goaltender interference.

With the third delay of game of the night, a 30 minute review determined that there was not interference on the play. Goal counts, Utah also up a man after the celebration. 2-1 Dallas

The Mammoth power play is struggling, so it’s a great opportunity for them to bust a slump against a team that’s gone just 70% in January on the PK. Somehow, Dallas’ PK is worse than Utah’s in January? Well, let’s go then!

And… they didn’t go. In fact, the only dangerous chance that either team saw was a shorthanded 2 on 1 that Schmaltz raced back to stick-lift away from Dallas. No shots on the power play, nothing even resembling a chance at a shot. Stenlund had a look after the penalty expired, throwing a backhand on DeSmith but that was denied.

Brandon Tanev drew a tripping penalty from decent player turned thug in Dallas, Mikko Rantanen. Rantanen looked to just miss a knee-on-knee hit, which wouldn’t be his first of the year, and Tanev was down in pain. Thankfully, he was able to return to the bench on his own, and resumed shifts shortly thereafter, but the anemic Utah power play would again be called upon.

Clayton Keller had a shot go wide, Dylan Guenther had a shot blocked, and the two offside stoppages, and a pass by JJ Peterka to the point where no player was effectively helped Dallas take a 2 minute breather.

Marino got his mouthguard tested by a Dallas stick in the offensive zone, with no call, and Dallas would get a 2 on 1 break. However, Vejmelka was able to stop Rantanen’s shot to keep it a one goal game. Not to be denied, Jamie Benn on a follow up rush tried to bully Daniil But off the puck. His turnaround pass caught Matt Duchene right in the slot for a rip against Vejmelka. Sean Durzi tried to get back in position to block the shot, but was unable to do so, and the puck hit Vejmelka’s glove, but not enough of it. The puck hit the upper corner of the net, right under the crossbar. Dallas regained their 2 goal lead, scoring three times in the first 17 minutes, while Utah mustered a total of 4 shots to that point. 3-1 Dallas

The Mammoth came back with a great opportunity, as Yamamoto won a puck battle behind the Stars net. He threw a beautiful feed to Barrett Hayton, streaking in from the slot and Hayton just threw a spinning, blind pass into the slot straight to Dallas. That killed the last good chance for Utah for the period, though Guenther would get a final shot off in the last minute, and Dallas was content to go into the locker room after a good road period.

Utah being outshot by a 2 to 1 margin, trailing 10 – 5 in shots after the first.

SECOND PERIOD:
The second period was slow. The first two minutes saw back and forth zone possession time, with the only potentially exciting chance for Dallas a race for a breakaway. Ian Cole, however was somehow fast enough to disrupt any breakaway, and Utah brought the puck to safety.

Utah had a pair of chances that were missed in the first 6 minutes, as Hayton wasn’t able to finish from a feed down low, and Schmaltz nearly had a shot in tight from a feed behind the net from Lawson Crouse – who beat out an icing to save Utah a defensive draw – but the puck was sticked aside a half-second before it hit Schmaltz’ tape. Later in that pressure, a pass to the skates and a failed cross-crease tip in frustrated Schmaltz and the packed house in the Delta Center.

JJ Peterka nearly brought Utah to within one, when he got a feed from behind the net from a pinching Durzi. Peterka’s shot glanced up off DeSmith’s blocker, up and over the net. A half inch of elevation, and we’re looking at a tighter score. Dallas came back and put a few shots on Vejmelka, who was not tested in the second period until 8 minutes in.

Jack McBain and Roope Hintz got into a mutual roughing situation, putting the teams 4 on 4 for a few minutes. Utah had some really good zone time with just over 6 minutes left, but Keller took the puck, skated around the offensive zone, behind the net, and back out. He left a drop pass for nobody at the blue line, and Dallas took the puck out of the zone and cleared. Neither team had a shot on goal, or an attempt, during the penalties.

Nick DeSimone went over the top of the net on a shot, and Utah wouldn’t get another shot until late in the period. Meanwhile, Dallas would throw very low value shots on Vejmelka.

Utah had good zone possession times, but continually were unable to do much with it. Yamamoto got a grade A chance late in the period off a feed from a Michael Carcone steal, but he was unable to bury the puck, and a late hooking penalty taken by Nate Schmidt would effectively end Utah’s pressure for the period. A skate-happy and shot-poor Mammoth team would go to the locker room still down by 2.

Shots in the period – 11-5 for Dallas, and Team Tusk would trail 21 – 10 in shots after 40 minutes.

THIRD PERIOD:
The third period saw the Mammoth kill the second half of the Schmidt penalty, as Vejmelka was forced to make some big saves from Hintz and Harley. Once the penalty was killed, however, Dallas would just throw long-range shots on Vejmelka, while Utah struggled to find any offensive rhythm.

4 minutes into the period, a scrum by the benches saw Esa Lindell throw a punch at Mikhail Sergachev, which went uncalled. Probably wouldn’t have mattered, but it could have been a 2 minute rest period…

The Mammoth, on a rare zone entry, cut the lead down to one, when great zone play between Yamamoto and Peterka saw the former throw a pass to the latter on a missed chance. However, Peterka cycled with the puck behind the net. As he was about to turn behind the net, he saw Yamamoto in a soft spot in the slot. Peterka fed Yamamoto for a one timer, but Yamamoto partially flubbed the shot. However, that caused a change of direction that DeSmith wasn’t anticipating, fooling him as the puck fluttered in on his weak side. Yamamoto’s second 2 goal game in 2 days and 5th point in Utah’s last 6 goals. At this point, is Yamamoto effectively all of Utah’s offense? 3-2 Dallas

At the 10 minute mark, Utah had a flurry of chances. The best was a Carcone to McBain tip that went just wide of DeSmith.

The next 9 minutes saw a total of one Utah shot, even with Vejmelka pulled. I could get into more specifics than that, but there was nothing else. Dallas shut the door on Utah, hard, leaving them one shot at the 3ish minute mark, and nothing else.

Utah again outshot, this time nearly by three times; 11 – 4. For the game, Utah had a grand total of 14 shots, compared to 32 for Dallas. Utah was outshot at least 2 to 1 in every period.

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3 GOALS (THE GOOD):

Going HAM-amoto The acronym HAM was coined by Jay Z in the late 1990s to stand as going Hard as A Mother, and that’s exactly how Kailer Yamamoto plays. Listen, I’ve been saying since early December that the numbers for Yamamoto were really good. That his shooting percentages were high, that his looks and offensive mindset were solid. Given an opportunity, with Dylan Guenther and Lawson Crouse out, Yamamoto hasn’t just shined, he’s gone HAM.

4 goals in 2 games, Yamamoto has contributed to all but one Utah goal in the past two games. In his career, Yamamoto has 6 multi-goal games. 2 of them came back to back.

One other fun fact, with 2 goals on 2 shots today, Yamamoto also upped his scoring percentage to almost 30% on the year. 9 goals on 31 total shots while averaging just about 11 minutes per game in a stunted campaign (about 60% of the games played).

Tonight, Yamamoto logged the 8th most minutes out of 12 forwards. Only the 4th line wings, Carcone, and McBain had less time. Imagine if Yamamoto had power play, 6 on 5, or increased minutes? If only there were someone who’s Your Favorite Hockey Guy pointing this out for 2 months now…

Schmalslke The stellar defensive play of Nick Schmaltz continues to be on display. As an impromptu center, Schmaltz has taken the role and responsibility seriously. His defensive play on the PP1 unit helped prevent a 2 on 1 shorthanded chance. His defensive play on the PK early in the game led to a breakaway shorthanded attempt.

Schmaltz isn’t going to be getting any Selke nominations for best defensive forward, but it’ll be important to see how much value Bill Armstrong places on the versatility of Schmaltz in potential contract negotiations. For a player I was gung-ho on letting go in free agency (or for prospects at the trade deadline), I think Utah needs to seriously consider looking at Schmaltz into a semi-locked in contract of 4ish years. Complementing Keller’s playstyle (usually), offering defensive strength on the PP and PK as needed, and able to play center as a depth piece – and a top line C at that – certainly is an embarrassment of riches. And as long as those riches don’t take up too much term or cap space, why not find a way to try and feast for a few more years?

Playoff, playa The past 5 games have been a gauntlet of post-season style games. Dallas, the 2nd best team in the division. Tampa, the best team in the East. Carolina, the second best team in the East. Nashville, just 2 games behind Utah for the final WC spot. And Florida, who isn’t what they used to be, but still a bunch of rats and goons.

5 games, 2-3-0 for 4 of 10 points. This is below .500, but most of those games were on the road. Tonight’s game is the first game back since, and closing out the month 6-1-1 at home? That’s pretty damn good.

Utah’s got a non-playoff team on Monday in Vancouver, which should be a palate cleanser of sorts, then Detroit to close out the pre-Olympic portion of the season. It’ll be a few weeks of rest for most of the roster, and they come back in hot against a suddenly human Colorado team at the Delta Center.

It’s good that they’ve hit a tough stretch just in time to recoup, recover, and recharge – all while an impending return of a certail Cool customer awaits…

3 CHIRPS (THE BAD):

Sesame Street Once upon a time, when we watched Sesame Street, the show would have a random letter and number “sponsor” the show. Today, a letter has offered to sponsor Salty Stampede!

Today’s sponsor is the letter D

D stands for Dumb, as in dumb penalties that cost Utah the game out of the gate. With a power play that is one of the most lethal in the entire NHL, the easiest thing to account for drawing penalties. Some are necessary, like in the defensive zone on a clear look against your goaltender. Some are not, like a hook on a power play. Then some are absolutely atrocious. Jack McBain and Sean Durzi had these to start the game, because they had time and space to make safe plays. What kind of plays did they make kids? ones.

Then, as Utah started to get their footing late in the game, Nate Schmidt played the puck with a broken stick. As a veteran, and knowing what was at stake, what was that decision kids? Dumb.

D’s D While having a double D can be quite appealing for some of us, simply not a good night for Utah. The big D’s other D, Defense just absolutely crushed Utah in all aspects of the game.
Physicality? Dallas had the lead and out hit Utah 25-18. Dallas wasn’t a desperate team trying to tie, but they outshot Utah by almost 2 and a half times.

Dallas turned their Defense into an art form late in the game, not allowing Utah any zone time, pressure or shots. When Utah took Dumb penalties, Dallas had the Defense rest and recover, keeping them fresh for late in the game.

Dallas stopped Utah at the line and prevented rush scoring chances. Aside from an early Nick Schmaltz shorthanded chance, Utah had no breakaways. Utah barely had any odd-man opportunities, because Dallas was able Defend early after a gifted two goal lead. Once their Defense established themselves, Utah couldn’t break that stranglehold.

D…uh Do you want to guess how much I make from my hockey takes? Nothing. Do you know how much I’ve done professionally with hockey? Nothing. Do you know that I can put together a better power play unit by throwing together names in ChatGPT?

While that’s facetious, I’m about 60% certain that outcome would be better.

There are some other D’s in here that could work, but the word of the day for the coaching staff is Defeated. Utah was Defeated because of special teams. This is not a one-off occurrence. This is a systemic problem that dates back to mid-October. Once teams figured out how to cover Utah’s 1-3-1 power play, the Mammoth have been nearly completely neutered in their special teams play.

It’s painfully obvious the 1-3-1 isn’t working as it’s intended, and it’s Disturbing to think nothing is being done to fix it. The power play is Dead last in the NHL. The penalty kill is in Dire straights, and special teams is simply Dreadful to watch.

With the fact that there have been no coaching changes on the special teams unit, it may fall to Bill Armstrong to use another D word for Blaine Forsythe. DISMISSED immediately.

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Next up:

Monday, the Vancouver Canucks come to the Delta Center, sans Quinn Hughes who we still owe some love to.