Vitek Vanecek stops everything thrown his way, blanking the Flyers on the road

The Utah Mammoth took the the streets of Philadelphia to take on the Philadelphia Flyers in their second of five road games. Utah brings two big points from the Washington Capitals in tow, along with some great news about solidifying their blue line… in a couple of days.

Tonight may be the last night some of these guys play together, or perhaps not. Isn’t the trade deadline the best? Can Utah take their newfound enthusiasm, shake any concerns about being traded away at the deadline, and snap a Philadelphia Flyer 4 game win streak?

FIRST PERIOD:
Let’s preface this with – the Mammoth controlled the majority of play in the period. Despite shots being 4 – 4, the Mammoth kept the Flyers from testing Vitek Vanecek for over 14 minutes in the period. Not only did Utah hold the Flyers to just 4 shots, there were just 2 missed shots and 6 blocks. 12 total attempts against Vanecek in the first 20 was a great defensive effort.

Utah, meanwhile, also got only 4 shots on goal. They had more attempts, though the Flyers had more blocks, and a few misses.

Utah owned zone pressure over the first half of the period. Defensively, they forced a number of icings and offside whistles, frustrating Philadelphia at nearly every turn. The Flyers wouldn’t get any sustained zone pressure until their power play, late in the first period.

Dmitri Simashev, slotted in due to the Sergachev injury, made some good defensive plays during his sheltered time out on the ice. A good clear from the front of the net at the 12 and a half minute mark helped keep the Flyers from generating any momentum in the defensive zone.

JJ Peterka had a really good look on a 3 on 1 for Utah, but he missed the net wide on Dan Vladar, catching the post. It took more than half a period for there to be an actual scoring chance for either side, with this coming with just about 9 minutes to go in the first.

With 6 minutes to go, the first penalty of the game was called. After a bit of 6 on 5 delayed penalty time, John Marino got called for slashing Bobby Brink, putting Philadelphia a man up for 2 minutes.

Marino is one of Utah’s key penalty killers, so his time in the box was not ideal. However, luckily for Utah, the Flyer power play is mostly anemic behind Travis Konecny. The Flyers did not get a shot off through the penalty, despite Utah missing Sergachev and Marino on the kill.

With 2 minutes to play, the first and only Flyer scoring opportunity occurred. A shot by Noah Juulsen was blocked by Michael Carcone. However, the puck came out directly to Bobby Brink at the side of the net. With a wide open net in front of him, Brink lifted the puck… right into Vanecek’s glove. The backup netminder exploded from his position to save the point shot from Juulsen all the way over to cut off the open net, just in the nick of time.

The teams would head to the locker rooms scoreless, after the last two minutes ran out mostly uneventfully. Utah carried play hard in the period, despite the low shot totals, with Philadelphia really only showing up with about 3 minutes left to play.

Utah and Philadelphia tied on the shot clock, with just 4 shots apiece.

SECOND PERIOD:
The second period had a lot more action than the first, with 21 shots shared between the teams. Just over a minute in, Utah got a good push on a 3 on 2 rush led by Barrett Hayton. The pass to Kailer Yamamoto missed, but the puck went behind the Flyers net. Hayton retrieved the puck, which made its way out to Ian Cole. The shot was blocked, but Jack McBain grabbed the rebound and tried to get it around Vladar’s pad, but just couldn’t get there.

Noah Cates held Ian Cole’s stick on the play, giving Utah their first power play of the night.

Utah’s power play has been lethal so far this ye… hey they scored! 1-0 Utah But what happened that fast?

Just 8 seconds into the penalty, and after a lost face-off, Utah was able to hustle to the puck at the near boards. A hustle play by Nick Schmaltz recovered the puck, which was fed out to Sean Durzi at the point. After a good keep-in by Durzi, he chipped the puck about 8 feet ahead to Dylan Guenther. Guenther cut to the middle of the ice, and with the Flyers defense collapsing in on him, he hit a picture-perfect pass to Schmaltz sitting near side, above the goal line. With Vladar respecting Guenther and his shot, he was out of position to recover for the Schmaltz one-timer, giving Utah a critical lead. 1-0 Utah

Utah fended off a light Flyers counterattack after the goal, as Vanecek kicked a weak shot from the slot out and away from trouble. Kevin Stenlund threw a similar shot on Vladar the other way, but it was an easy kick save. Carcone tried to hit Hayton in the slot, but the play was broken up.

At the 16 minute mark, Trevor Zegras picked up a loose puck on a turnover from Jack McBain and ripped a shot on Vanecek. Despite not seeing much action, Vanecek tracked the puck and denied the youngster the opening goal for the Flyers.

At the 15 minute mark, Vanecek made his second highlight reel save of the game, when Zegras laid out an amazing pass to a streaking Cates. Cates had gotten behind Guenther, and Schmaltz was too far over to defensively recover, leaving Vanecek all alone against Cates. After the initial rejection, the puck bounced straight back at Vanecek, and Cates tried to stuff the puck in, but Vitek’s left pad shot out and secured the post, shutting down Cates and the Flyers chance.

Not to be outdone, Vladar robbed Lawson Crouse as he ripped a shot off a turnover, and the Mammoth escaped a 3 on 2 off the ensuing face-off, as Philadelphia missed the net to keep the lead and shutout intact.

Crouse tried to lead a 3 on 1 the other way, but couldn’t get the puck out of his skates.

At the 13 minute mark, after nearly beating out an icing, Carcone – still out because of the icing rules – ended up getting a partial breakaway on a clearing attempt. Unfortunately, he was unable to beat Vladar, and the score remained 1.

Following an icing, Guenther made a fantastic play to pass to himself off the near boards. Turning on the jets, he evaded a check by Rasmus Ristolainen, getting behind the defender. Travis Sanheim, Philadelphia’s other defender, collapsed quickly on Guenther, but a fantastic touch pass evaded the Flyer, hitting Clayton Keller alone at the top of the faceoff circle. Keller went forehand-backhand, sold the shot, caused Vladar to commit, then slid the puck 5 hole as Utah doubled their lead. 2-0 Utah

Philadelphia picked up the pace around the 11 minute mark following the goal, with some physicality in front of the Utah net. Denver Barkey slid into Vanecek in the crease as Simashev cleared the puck from danger, stalling the Flyer attack momentarily. However, on a rush back into the Utah zone, Owen Tippett pulled a spin move on Nate Schmidt, feeding Zegras who was crashing the net. His shot was denied by Vanecek, who was suddenly getting tested heavily, but Vanecek calmed things down by covering a dangerous tip attempt close.

From this point – the 10 minute mark – Philadelphia did not register another shot for the period. Utah blocked a few, but the Flyers had no other chances.

At the 8 minute mark, Guenther looked to light the lamp himself, as Keller threw a shot on net. Unfortunately, Guenther missed the tip and the puck rebounded out of the zone and play continued. Crouse would shoot from the far circle, but no screen and no net presence made the save a routine one for Vladar.

The last 6 minutes were mostly uneventful, with missed shots from both teams and a couple of routine saves for Vladar under his belt.

Utah doubled up the shot clock 14 – 7, leading 18 – 11 after two.

THIRD PERIOD:
Sean Durzi opened the third period with a good look shot that just went high on Vladar. However, the teams went back to the low event hockey mode that served Utah well over the last 40.

At the 16 minute mark, the Flyers got their second advantage of the game, as Durzi got called for holding Zegras deep in the defensive zone.

Zegras took a shot from the blue line about 30 seconds into the power play, but Vanecek was able to easily snag the puck out of the air. The Mammoth PK was able to disrupt the Flyers power play at every turn, and Philadelphia ended up making a few unforced errors – potentially due to frustration. The penalty was successfully killed off, and Durzi returned to the ice.

Moments later, Keller got called for a high-stick, though Garnet Hathaway basically lifted Keller’s stick into his own face. What do you expect from a guy who can’t hit an empty net from 40 feet out when on a breakaway?

On the following penalty kill, the Flyers had a good look, with a tip up high that missed the net. Then, chaos. Schmaltz deflected a pass back to the Flyers end. With the possibility of a breakaway, Schmaltz raced towards the puck, as did Vladar. Vladar beat Schmaltz to the puck, tumbling in the corner, but the puck was loose as Utah collapsed back on it – and an open net with a goaltender 50 feet away. Zegras hooked Kerfoot to prevent the open net chance, and the teams would skate 4 on 4 for over a minute.

Carl Grundstrom nearly broke the ice for Philadelphia, taking a pass from Tippett after getting a step on Durzi. The pass was tipped, but again Vanecek made a highlight reel save, denying the Flyers their opening tally.

Coming out of the box, Keller joined the Utah power play, and immediately rung a shot off the post. The power play persisted, and Hayton took a shot crashing the net, but missed the net high. The abbreviated power play ended unsuccessfully, but Utah continued to press Philadelphia and refused to give them any opportunities.

Utah pinned Philadelphia in their zone several times, beating them along the boards and keeping possession for large swaths of time. When the Flyers touched the puck, it was a clearing attempt that was countered almost immediately. Utah held the Flyers without a shot over the last 8 minutes.

The Flyers got aggressive, pulling Vladar with over 3 minutes to play, but Utah shut the door. Kerfoot airmailed the near game-sealing shot the length of the ice at 2:25, but it hit the post and deflected out of harm’s way. Carcone beat out an icing on the following play, keeping time running while almost burying a backhand against three Flyer defenders, but was denied. Not the second time, though, as Carcone beat everyone to a very-wide Kevin Stenlund chance. With no one there, and with the name Garnet Hathaway already taken by someone else, he sealed the deal for Utah. 3-0 Utah.

Game.

Utah and Philadelphia again tied on the shot clock 5-5, with the Mammoth outshooting the Flyers 23-16 for the game.

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3 GOALS (THE GOOD):

V for Victory Vitek Vanecek had a great game today. He wasn’t tested with high shot volume, but he did make key saves at key times to prevent Utah from falling behind in the first period, and then that lunging glove save to preserve a lead, and the shutout, with 5 minutes gone in the second period.

It was Vanecek’s first shutout for the Mammoth almost a year to the day of his last one. With this shutout, Utah now has two on the year, one each from their starter and backup.

Vanecek, quietly, helped Utah earn points in each of his last three starts. An OT loss against Columbus back in early January, a 27 save performance in Sunshine, Florida, and his shutout tonight leaves Vanecek with a 1.99 goals against average and a fantastic .927 save percentage over those three games.

Is Vanecek going to backstop Utah to a Stanley Cup? I mean, hopefully for the latter, but very unlikely for the former. But if his form over the past few games holds up, maybe Utah can give starter Karel Vejmelka a few precious games of rest down the stretch, allowing for some potential playoff magic.

D-lightful With the absence of Mikhail Sergachev, scratched later in the day due to injury, Dmitri Simashev stepped in to the lineup and Nick DeSimone took over for the recently departed Olli Maatta. To compensate for the changes, Ian Cole moved up along side Sean Durzi.

John Marino, Nate Schmidt, Cole and Durzi had great nights all while eating 20 minutes of time each. DeSimone nearly had 18 minutes as well. The heavy lifting of the top 4 + DeSimone’s higher than average ice time allowed Andre Tourigny to shelter Simashev in his first game back.

The Mammoth held Philadelphia to under 10 shots in each period, with 4 in the first, 7 in the second, and 5 in the third.

Not only were they great at taking care of the Flyers sagging offense, Marino led all skaters with a +2 rating, while chipping in an assist on the empty net goal to seal the deal. Durzi also had a great keep at the line on the first power play, notching a secondary assist on Nick Schmaltz’ PPG.

No Sergachev, no Weegar, no problem… though let’s keep the situations without them to an absolute minimum.

Revving the Engine Dylan Guenther and Clayton Keller got stars for their contributions this game, and rightfully so. Guenther was the critical primary assist for both of Utah’s first goals, and Keller got the separation with his tally late in the second period.

Under the radar, though, one of the best players of the night is one that’s been featured on here several times, for good reason. Michael Carcone, who got the empty net goal, was fantastic in this game. Early in the first period, Carcone won a race for the puck, which he skated behind the Flyers goal and out. He threw a pass to Alexander Kerfoot, camped far side behind Vladar, but the pass missed for the gimme goal.

After the Utah power play goal, Carcone outraced the Flyers from a clearing toss, and with two Flyers draped on him, and a third protecting the slot from a pass, Carcone still nearly hit Hayton for a high danger chance.

I mentioned the breakaway, but right before that Carcone came within a step of beating out an icing he had no business even being close to winning. Obviously, the breakaway would have been amazing for him, but he ended up with the reward later in the game.

The hustle, the drive, and the play that Carcone brings can’t be overstated – he’s the little engine that could, and he can, and can, and can…

3 CHIRPS (THE BAD):

Discipline The Mammoth had the game in hand in the third period, snuffing the life out of Philadelphia with every shift, up until the first of two very quick penalty kills. Sean Durzi’s holding was bad, but Clayton Keller’s high stick shouldn’t have been a penalty but ultimately was. After 3ish minutes of killing off a man advantage for Philadelphia, Utah regrouped and shut the door the rest of the way.

The good news is that Philadelphia’s power play is terrible. The bad news – not every team we play is a terrible PP team. With a tenuous lead on the line – even though it FELT like a huge lead, given how they were playing – mistakes in the third period can have a major snowball effect. It didn’t today, but the Mammoth would do well not to tempt fate.


Let’s Face It The Mammoth ended up tied in face-off wins and losses tonight, which is the minimum you want to be. This was buoyed by fantastic face-off stats by Kevin Stenlund in particular. Stenlund won all 4 of his face-offs on the penalty kill, and went 10 for 12 at the dot.

On the flip side, however, was Nick Schmaltz and Barrett Hayton, who went a collective 5 for 18. All but one of those was at even strength.

Since the break, Schmaltz’ performance at the dot has been terrible, hovering just at 40%. While Schmaltz isn’t supposed to be a face-off guy, in a center role on a top line, performance has to be better than the 33% he posted the past few games, and way better than the 1 for 6 performance Hayton put up.

The face-off directs the flow of play, meaning 13 times Hayton and Schmaltz forced the top two lines to start off on their back foot. It’s a weakness that will grow in intensity as teams get better, especially in the playoffs, and Bill Armstrong my yet make a move that can change the complexity of not just face-off wins, but the center spot for Utah in general.

Everywhere You Want to Be The United States government needs to figure out ways to speed up the visa process for athletes that play between Canada and the United States. Even with a Canadian citizen playing in Canada, the frequency of teams making trades – especially in the NHL with a heavy Canadian focus – means either the NHL or government needs to step in to streamline a process for players going up or coming down.

Sure, there shouldn’t really be a separate line for those of means, but there’s a reason they have exemptions on much of these documents.

With that said, the anticipation of getting MacKenzie Weegar in the lineup may be intensified a bit, depending on the health of Mikhail Sergachev. Hopefully, the paperwork goes well, and we see Weegar hit the ice in a white jersey, but he should certainly be ready to show the home crowd what he’s all about this coming Thursday.

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Next up:

Game two away from home in the City of Brotherly Love. The Mammoth take on the Flyers in Philadelphia on Thursday night. 5PM local start, game on SEG+ and Utah 16.

Tusks Up!