An unchained Mammoth team run Wild, ending Minnesota’s 6 game win streak

The Minnesota Wild, one of the hottest teams in the NHL, looked to improve their 6 game win streak against the Utah Mammoth here at the Delta Center. Minnesota just took down league leading Colorado in Denver, and were looking tighten their grip on the 2nd overall record in the conference. Standing in their way, however, were 2 Olympic medal winners, and a team that shook off all their rust the game before.

Late game-time decisions saw Olli Maatta draw in for the first time since before Christmas, with Nick DeSimone out.

FIRST PERIOD:
The Mammoth nearly started with disaster, with a scary moment just 30 seconds in. A Minnesota stretch pass saw Matt Boldy slip and take out a defending Mikhail Sergachev. Wild defenseman, Jake Middleton, skated 2 on 1 against a hard back-checking Dylan Guenther. Guenther was able to get his stick on a pass intended for Joel Eriksson Ek, killing an early, critical chance against. Not a great start for Team Tusk.

Utah nearly gave up another odd-man chance at the 17 minute mark, when Sean Durzi misplayed a pass by Marcus Foligno. Vinnie Hinostroza had a step in on Karel Vejmelka, but the Utah netminder had a great angle on the shot. His positioning forced Hinostroza to circle back to the half-wall, and the Mammoth defense was able to catch up and get back into position. Then, at the 16 minute mark, Kirill Kaprizov got the puck off a Quinn Hughes deflected pass, and from behind the net fed Ryan Hartman in the slot. Vejmelka made the quick reaction save to rob Hartman from in close, keeping the game scoreless.

Just 15 seconds or so after the last Vejmelka save, Minnesota again had an odd-man rush. Kaprizov went in on Durzi on the near boards, but was unable to stop a pass back to Hartman in the slot. For the second time in a minute, Hartman in a glorious position, was unable to get the puck by Vejmelka.

At the 15 minute mark, Barrett Hayton threw a shot in on Jesper Wallstedt that was almost deflected by a streaking Olli Maatta. Maatta just missed the tip in front of the net, and Wallstedt was able to fight the chance off.

Utah would go the the game’s first power play, when Marcus Foligno cross-checked Nate Schmidt in the back. Utah’s struggling power play would get first crack at things.

The Wild penalty kill isn’t great, going 77% so far for the year, but they do have one of the best short-handed units, making their kill dangerous too. Utah had to respect the potential reversal of fortune, in addition to trying to overcome their own struggles.

Immediately the Mammoth nearly folded. A pitchfork-clear from the Wild end saw Boldy beat Clayton Keller to the defensive zone. Vejmelka came out of the net to try and clear the puck from Boldy, but he misplayed the puck. Boldy, alone in the corner, had an open net in front of him with only a forward (Keller) back-checking. As Vejmelka retreated to his net, he tried to poke-check the puck away from Boldy. This resulted in a shot that hit the net… on the outside. Just like he saw happen in his game a few days ago in Italy, Boldy watched a great goal scorer miss a wide open net. This time, however, it was him and his team that failed to convert the opportunity.

Dylan Guenther had a push in to the net for a chance, but couldn’t hit the 5-hole target he was aiming for. Durzi had a shot on goal, and JJ Peterka and the 2nd unit had some good zone-keeps, but nothing in the way of dangerous shots, and the power play expired.

After a few minutes of back and forth, uneventful hockey, Alexander Kerfoot got whistled for a slashing penalty. He got his stick up just too high on Hartman, putting the Wild power play, and their nearly 45% success rate power play on the ice.

Utah did a great job shutting down the first Wild power play unit, without letting up a single shot in the first minute and a half. Jared Spurgeon, on the second unit, had his pass picked off on a heads up play by Mikhail Sergachev. Sergachev, instead of clearing, saw he had numbers, and took the puck up the ice, shorthanded. Jack McBain, supporting from the center of the ice, picked up the puck from a weak pass attempt by Sergachev, and went deep into the zone. A pass to Logan Cooley at the near dot was sent to the blue line for a shot by Sergachev. McBain tipped the shot in the slot, but instead of going on net it went out way wide – but right to the stick of Cooley. Wallstedt was playing the shot, so he scrambled to recover to get position on Cooley, but Logan was able to slide the puck under the pads of the sprawling Wild goaltender. Shorthanded, against one of the best power plays in the league, Utah got the special teams goal and the lead. 1-0 Utah

The Mammoth killed off the remaining 30 seconds of the power play, getting back to 5 on 5 hockey.

The Wild pressed for about 45 seconds after the penalty expired, with some good zone pressure and shot opportunities, but blocks by Durzi and missed passes ended up crushing any Wild equalizer chances.

With 4 minutes to go, Michael Carcone – in for Brandon Tanev – had a sneaky good shot in that Wallstedt was forced to kick out, but the rebound was collected by Minnesota. Cooley stripped the puck momentarily, but Minnesota got possession back quickly. On the breakout, however, Cooley was extremely aggressive again, and stripped Marcus Johansson at the blue line. Cooley fed McBain, skating far side of the ice, and McBain drove the net for a shot. He banked the puck off Wallstedt’s pads, but the pad-pass just missed Guenther’s stick and a wide-open net. Cooley would again get the puck, this time from a pass by McBain, and from the near board’s goal line, he threw a no-look behind the back pass to Guenther, who was camped at the dot. Somehow, Wallstedt was able to get in the way and stop the shot.

Minnesota got a breakaway by Boldy on the rebound from the missed shot, though. Ian Cole pinched from high up to try and win the puck, but was too slow and Johansson beat him to the puck. Marino played Eriksson Ek initially, but Eriksson Ek was able to hit Boldy streaking up the middle. Guenther was two steps behind, and Marino had to peel away from his man. Boldy, one of the league’s best scorers, had time, but probably felt Marino closing in, and forced his shot high, over the net and a waiting Vejmelka.

The teams traded zone time and attempts, but nothing dangerous and the period would end with Utah holding a 1-0 lead.

Utah outshot Minnesota 15-6, though a lot of those 6 shots were scary – and the ones that weren’t counted as shots were also fairly dangerous.

SECOND PERIOD:
The second period started with a deep zone giveaway by Sergachev, but the shot against Vejmelka was in far too tight and the net was completely sealed. Neither team had much offensive zone time or pressure, until just past the 17 minute mark when Cooley made a great move from the far board’s goal line, up through the crease on Wallstedt, but couldn’t get a handle on the puck and it was covered for a whistle.

A minute later, Cooley fueled another offensive burst, when he blazed past Boldy on the far side boards, hitting a pass to Clayton Keller in the center of the ice. Unfortunately, though, Keller was well defended and unable to get a shot off. The captain did throw a pass back into the slot for Lawson Crouse’s one-timer, but the shot missed.

Nick Schmaltz applied solid forechecking pressure against the Wild, as the teams were changing. Schmaltz forced Quinn Hughes to the wall, stripping him of the puck. Keller, still on the ice with the top unit for Utah, skated to the middle of the ice, opening himself up for a clear path to the net. Zach Bogosian tried to get in between Schmaltz and Keller, but couldn’t stop the pass, and Keller snapped home a quick wrister, right past the blocker of Wallstedt to double up the Mammoth lead. 2-0 Utah

Utah continued the pressure against the Wild, with both strong board play and a tenacious forecheck. This led to increased zone times, with three straight shifts that saw Minnesota pinned for 30+ seconds at a time in their zone. Great keeps by Cooley and Cole kept pressure up, quick re-entries by John Marino and Cooley kept the Wild players winded. Finally, the top line got possession, and taking advantage of some tired Wild defenders, they pressured hard. A fantastic keep-in from Sean Durzi kept Minnesota pinned and the Mammoth top line in the zone. Schmaltz, skating to the boards with the puck, fed Keller at the back goal line, and the captain spotted Crouse splitting 4 Wild defenders in the slot. The perfect pass from Keller connected, and a forehand-backhand shot by Crouse snuck under the arm of Wallstedt. The puck had just enough momentum and angle that it snuck right inside the near-side post, giving Utah a commanding 3 goal lead. 3-0 Utah

With just under 10 minutes to play, the first line nearly made it a 4 goal game, as a 3 on 2 with Keller, Schmaltz and Crouse culminated in a pass to the Sheriff’s shot that just went wide. A minute later, Crouse had a great takeaway at the blue line, but his shot went high.

With 7 minutes to go, Utah jumped up on a 4 on 2. Peterka, crossing the blue line, threw a pass over to Guenther, and a give-and-go saw number 11 bury the puck past Wallstedt, who knocked the net off its mooring. 4-0 U… oh wait a challenge.

Initially thinking that Minnesota was somehow challenging the net off it’s moorings, I realized quickly the challenge was for offside. And, yeah, Peterka passed the puck a good half-second too early, and pulled himself offside with the play. It was such a beautiful play between them too, but it only counts in our hearts.

Weirdly, that play took only seconds to confirm, while a stick against Vejmelka’s glove for an interference took 10 minutes to review. But alas…

After taking the goal away, the refs decided to take away the shutout too. A really, really bad call on Kailer Yamamoto for tripping – which really looked more like a Wild interference than anything – led to the one of the best power play units to get revenge for their last disastrous attempt. While Utah did well to defend the first minute, a Mats Zuccarello cross-ice pass to Boldy at the far boards opened some space in front of the net. Nate Schmidt and Ian Cole had their signals crossed, which allowed Kaprizov to get open behind everyone at the crease. Boldy hit Kaprizov with a perfect pass, and a tap to a wide-open net cut Utah’s lead to two. 3-1 Utah

The teams traded zone time for the next few minutes, until Yamamoto drew a holding penalty with 4 minutes left in the period. Just kidding, somehow being held and spun around wasn’t either a hold or a hook – just like the previous penalty on him wasn’t an interference call. So, 5 on 5 continued.

With 3 minutes to go, Utah had some great zone time and pressure wiped away by a high-sticking call. While high sticking on Schmaltz was the correct call, Eriksson Ek literally flopped around like the world ended. In a normal game, this would have been embellishment, but in a game where a hook-hold on Yamamoto wasn’t called, but a trip on a pick was, who knows what the rules are anymore. So, Utah went down a man for the third time.

Minnesota appeared to get within one when a bouncing puck had Boldy against Vejmelka all alone on the far slot, but Vejmelka was able to somehow keep his pad down and back far enough to keep Boldy from sneaking the puck in behind him. The puck squirted wide, and Boldy fed the puck up high in the slot, while Vejmelka was still recovering. Zuccarello, with multiple Mammoth diving in front of him to prevent the shot, sent a pass back to Boldy. Boldy, from a bad angle, couldn’t get a shot on net, and tried to get the puck back, but his pass missed and cleared the zone. Improbably, after all that, Utah was able to keep the Wild from getting closer and killed off the penalty.

With 30 seconds to go, Bogosian took an interference penalty against Michael Carcone, and Utah would have a split power play to end the period, and start the 3rd.

Utah led in shot totals for the period 10-8, outshooting the Wild 25-14 after 40.

THIRD PERIOD:
The penalty carried over, giving Utah a 90 second power play to start the period. Early on, a great move by Keller didn’t do much to move the needle, and the Minnesota penalty kill looked like they would keep Utah’s power play down yet again. However, some great puck movement, and a full shift from the 1st line, saw Barrett Hayton position himself above the goal line, to the top of the crease. This allowed him to swat home a shot from Sergachev at the line. This exact positioning is something we’ve begged for all year, and now that it was there, it converted. Who knew that running a guy properly like that could result in a goal? 4-1 Utah

Carcone had a pretty cool spin-o-rama move at the 17 minute mark, but he was well defended and nothing came from it. Cool move, though!

A minute later, Minnesota was called for a goaltender interference. This is different than goaltender interference when it comes to a goal being scored, though. In that case, a player touches or moves the goaltender and prevents him from making a play. The penalty, however, is when the goaltender is run and knocked over. Foligno made contact with Vejmelka – though a lot of fans in the stands were whining because Marino made contact with Foligno. Foligno would have hit Vejmelka even harder had Marino not made the hit, though, which prevented a possible injury. So, the Wild whined and cried their way to the box, as Utah’s power play would hopefully tack on another goal.

Tack on another goal they did not. They did, however, manage to almost give one up. While the first unit had some good looks, they missed a few shots. The second unit had no pressure, and a bad play by Cooley at the blue line resulted in a turnover. Boldy had a clear breakaway, with more than 10 feet between him and the backchecking Mammoth players. Vejmelka, alone against Boldy, made a stellar save, extending his left pad just far enough and getting his skate on the attempt, and keeping Utah’s lead from evaporating.

Play was completely open after the penalty for the next 2 plus minutes, with a rush attack by Minnesota stopped by Vejmelka, and a counter rush by Alex Kerfoot and McBain stopped by a good defensive stick in the slot.

At nearly the halfway mark, Carcone had another tremendous effort and attempt, taking a loose puck from the boards in through the crease, but was unable to get past Wallstedt.

The teams traded zone time but no shots or serious pressure until the 8 minute mark. Minnesota had some pressure, good cycling, but great defensive plays from Marino and company kept shots away from Vejmelka. Cooley ended up breaking out a 2 on 1 rush with McBain the other way, but his pass couldn’t connect and McBain flubbed the chance.

The puck remained in the zone, however, and Cooley chipped the puck off the very tip of his stick out to Crouse. Crouse passed to McBain, who was cutting back across the slot. However, McBain had no path at all, and dropped a pass back to Durzi. Durzi walked in a few feet and threw a slot pass right to the waiting stick of Crouse. Crouse had snuck into the middle of the ice, amidst 4 Wild players, and was somehow able to redirect that puck up and over the pad of Wallstedt. 7 minutes to go, and Utah was up by 4. 5-1 Utah

The Wild pushed hard from puck drop. With immediate zone entry, Spurgeon threw a shot on net. The save bounced right out to Hinostroza at the far side of the net. With Vejmelka out of position, having just made the save, Hinostroza had an open net to look at but sent it Nathan MacKinnon levels wide.

Boldy came up the near wing with a dangerous shot on Vejmelka, which he fought off. However, the Olympian would break through Vejmelka after a failed Utah clear. Vladimir Tarasenko found Boldy right in front of the net, and his tip just barely beat Vejmelka. Veggie was angry, too. He got his pad down on time, but the puck just found a way through the 5 hole and in behind him. 4 goal lead down to 3, with six minutes to go. 5-2 Utah

The Mammoth held the Wild to 2 shots through the last 6 minutes, so math alone should tell you it was impossible for the Wild to win. There was one effort that was dangerous from Minnesota, though, with a bouncing puck off a deflection that went wide of Vejmelka. He shut the door from here, giving Utah the 5-2 victory.

Utah outshot the Wild 12-9 in the third period, dominating overall shots 37-23 for a complete game win across the board.

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3 GOALS (THE GOOD):

Precious Medals Obviously, with a game leading 3 points, Captain Clayton Keller deserved the first star of the game. He had a fantastic night, with a goal, 2 helpers, and even a blocked shot! Keller was on fire all game, with several good defensive plays and decent – if not great – movement on the power play.

Keller’s first goal of the post-Olympic break gave Utah a 2-0 lead and helped knock the Wild on their heels. His goal, followed by an assist to Crouse’s game winning goal a few minutes later, deflated Minnesota – who did not get a shot in more than 7 minutes after that second tally. It was a momentum and game changer, and the third goal was just that extra bit needed to twist the knife.

However, under the radar, rarely used other Olympic winner, Olli Maatta, had a quietly solid game. Maatta played a game low 13 minutes for all defensemen, but importantly was neither a defensive liability or noticeable in bad ways. He swapped spots with Ian Cole at a point in the game, paired with Sean Durzi for about 3 minutes, and overall playing a generally error free game in his first action in 3 months.

Finally, Karel Vejmelka was dialed in tonight, being forced to handle a number of difficult odd-man rushes due to defensive breakdowns. After a bad game against a really good team, Vejmelka rebounded strong, with just 21 saves – but a number of big stops when needed, and positioning (mostly) that caused tough angle shots that completely missed the net.

It’s impossible to say if Team Czechia would have won any medals if they started Vejmelka in the Olympics, but he certainly would have been a major factor if they did get to a medal game.

As Cold as Ice Logan Cooley missed 30 games, but watching him tonight you wouldn’t know it. Cooley’s speed, skating ability, and decision making was on point tonight, with a great eye for the play leading to his opening goal. While shorthanded, Cooley positioned himself down low in the Minnesota zone. His spot, a completely open area between the dot and the goal line, was somehow behind a full complement of Wild players. He was in position to collect a rebound going wide or – as puck luck would have it – deflected off a McBain tip in front of the net.

His presence wasn’t exactly net-front, but it’s positioning that has been lacking for the Mammoth for much of the year. For a speedy kid, Cooley’s also smart and able to see the game very well.

Additionally, despite time away from the speed of the game, Cooley was extremely effective at the dot. He went 65% on the dots today, winning 11 of 17, the most of any player on the ice tonight. This is the second game of well over 60% face-off effectiveness, which is impressive considering time away from the speed of the game. Apparently, his rehab time also focused on face-off speed, and it’s showing.

Finally, there were stretches of extremely aggressive forechecking, including a strip late in the first that almost resulted in a Guenther goal. He was physical, attacking the puck and the player, and seems to be singularly focused on winning at all cost. His return is massive for the Mammoth, and it’s great he’s back.

Holes in the Wall Utah outshot the Wild in every period tonight – a total of 37 to 23 – with the closest margin being a 10-8 shot differential in the second period. Utah, after a shaky start, ended up outshooting the Wild 15-6 after the first period, and kept their foot on the gas from there.

Sure, that number is low for the Wild, who had a lot of shots miss the net – or rather hit the net from the outside – and several great chances were shanked, high, wide, or just not handled well.

Meanwhile, Utah was relentless pushing Wallstedt, who started the game off very well – scarily so – but then faltered as the game went on. There were 2 paths Wallstedt could have traveled, and for Utah, it was the better of the two.

3 CHIRPS (THE BAD):

What Time is Puck Drop? The Mammoth have a really bad habit of not starting games on time, and today was no different. Utah outshot the Wild 15-6 in the first period. However, in the first 10 minutes, Minnesota had a few breakaways, three shots from the best point on the ice in the slot, and a shorthanded chance. Luckily, the Wild were tired, out of sync, or angered the hockey gods, because they couldn’t make any of those plays convert.

This is not the first time Utah’s come out exceptionally flat to start the game. Yes, last game there was a lot of rust the first period. However, that rust should have been shaken today. Instead, the first 5 minutes could have been a massive deficit for the team to pull out of, had Vejmelka and some good stick-checks not kept Utah in it.


Whatsa Maatta? Nick DeSimone could have easily played his last game with Utah. Filling in for a potentially DeSimone, Olli Maatta was able to more than cover the 13 minutes he was assigned. No massive turnovers. No delay of game penalties. No missed checks, no out of place errors. Sure, Maatta played a simple game, but it’s what was needed.

It also highlighted the extra player we have that is completely expendable at the trade deadline. DeSimone can easily be used to get at minimum a pick, or as part of a better package to get in some additional help for the team today. Either way, DeSimone is an expiring asset with little value that won’t be missed – either by an aging defenseman in Maatta, or with two kids ready to take the leap in Maveric Lamoureux or Dmitry Simashev.

It’s a week until the trade deadline, and if DeSimone is still wearing black and blue at 1:01 PM, March 6th, it’s a massive failing in the front office.

Who We Kidding? An offside goal that resulted from JJ Peterka’s mistimed zone entry really highlighted the fact that Peterka needs fast, skilled players on his wing. Playing with slower centers and slower wingers, has really stifled his creativity and his overall point production.

Logan Cooley as a center needs to be playing with JJ Peterka. Full stop. No further commentary. Peterka has played better with Yamamoto as a complementary winger, but even so had issues with McBain, and then Hayton as slower overall centers.

A Guenther – Cooley – Peterka kid line was trotted out early in the year, with massive success. Since then, that trio hasn’t had much time together. Why in the world would you have three skilled shooters, who are extremely creative and talented, and very fast to boot, and not use them together – especially when they were so successful already? The kid line worked, and the resurgence of it needs to happen before the end of the year.

I’ve talked about some of my questions regarding coaching at various points of the year, but the lineups not going back to Peterka with Cooley has me scratching my head as to why we traded for Peterka in the first place, if we weren’t going to use him to his strengths.

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Next up:

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! Chicago sends the Blackhawks to Utah for the first time this year. 2PM early start at the Delta Center. Remember, if you take Trax to the games, Sunday train schedules are in effect (and run very slow!)

Tusks Up!