Copyright Salt Lake City Deseret News
Everyone wants to win every game, but the Utah Mammoth would not have been upset to split their Saturday/Sunday back-to-back series. Both games were against really good teams and they had an international redeye flight between games. But against all odds, they won both. They got it done in regulation both times, too. That’s important because these are divisional opponents against whom they could very well compete for playoff spots in the spring. Their winning streak now sits at seven consecutive games. Dylan Guenther scored his fourth game-winning goal of the season against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday, tying him with Seth Jarvis of the Carolina Hurricanes for most in the league this year. The Mammoth remain atop the Western Conference standings, and they’re tied in points with the league-leading New Jersey Devils, who are technically in first place because they’ve played one fewer game than the Mammoth. Quick catchup Utah Mammoth: 3 Winnipeg Jets: 2 Over the course of this road trip, Mammoth fans have come to expect an explosion of offense from the opening face-off — but that wasn’t the case this time. The Mammoth and the Jets held each other off the scoreboard entirely in the opening period. The second period was a different story. Each team tallied a goal at even strength and another on the power play, but the middle frame ended in a deadlock, just like the first. Guenther’s goal, which was made possible by JJ Peterka winning a footrace and Logan Cooley sending a perfect no-look pass to the slot, was a hard enough shot to give a goalie nightmares — especially after a previous Guenther shot gave Connor Hellebuyck’s mask a shiny new puck mark. A late push from the Jets was just a bit too aggressive, resulting in a too many men penalty with 2:15 to go. They pulled the goalie to even the number of attackers with the defenders, but it wasn’t enough to even up the score. Takeaways Utah can no longer fly under the radar Last year, a top-tier team like Winnipeg may have seen a game like this as an opportunity to rest its starting goaltender. They would have seen Utah as a beatable opponent, given their travel schedule and reputation. But not this year. With the Mammoth leading the Western Conference and in the midst of a six-game winning streak, the Jets brought their A game. Not only did they survive the first five minutes, they actually looked like the better team. It seemed like the Jets’ game plan was to not let anything get to the middle of the ice in their zone. That’s where the Mammoth have thrived so far this season, so it forced them to find other ways to score. As long as they keep winning, the Mammoth will get every opponent’s best game from here on out. There will be no easy contests. While that may be daunting, it’s the best thing possible for the development of these young players. ‘Excitement and confidence’ Head coach André Tourigny talked after the game about the difference between this season and the previous one. “We feel our team is different in the sense of, yes, we have the excitement, but instead of having excitement and hope, we have excitement and confidence,” he said. Trading hope for confidence becomes apparent in the last few minutes of games — and that was in full display in Winnipeg on Sunday. Last year, Utah lost plenty of games despite the score being tied going into the third period because they played scared, merely hoping to win. Now, they’re playing like a top team because they’re confident that they can win — even against the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winners. They no longer look scared to make plays late in games (as evidenced by the aforementioned Guenther goal). And in instances when they’re defending leads, they don’t look scared to make mistakes. These are habits of winning teams, which is exactly what the Mammoth are showing they are. Vítek Vaněček is reliable Toward the end of last season, Utah’s coaching staff felt it couldn’t win without Karel Vejmelka in net. That resulted in him starting 23 consecutive games, which is too much for most goalies in this day and age. Management went out and got Vítek Vaněček in the offseason to share the workload. Vaněček has been a starting goalie at points in his NHL career, but his most recent seasons had suggested he was a 1B at best. And that’s exactly what the Mammoth needed. Vaněček has been nothing but solid so far this season. He’s happy to play where he’s needed, whether it’s against the lowly Chicago Blackhawks or the mighty Jets. And in any situation, he’ll give his team the chance to win. “It’s about winning,” he said after the game. “We need the points. We just need to keep going like that and it’s going to be great.” At one point in the third period, Vaněček made three saves — an initial shot and a pair of rebounds — to keep the score knotted at two. His playing style, which might be best described as “road hockey goalie,” was perfect for the instance and allowed Guenther’s goal to be the winner, rather than tying the game. Streaks galore The Mammoth’s top forwards (and a defenseman) are firing on all cylinders right now. Here’s a list of point streaks on the team: Nick Schmaltz, 7 games; Logan Cooley, 5 games; Mikhail Sergachev, 4 games; Dylan Guenther, 3 games; JJ Peterka, 3 games; When the most important players are playing well, the team does well as a whole. With that much primary scoring going on, they don’t have to rely on the depth players’ offensive abilities as much — though they were certainly glad to get a goal from their bottom six on Sunday. Goal of the game Yamamoto to Carcone Jets goaltender Hellebuyck is the NHL’s reigning Hart Trophy winner as the league MVP. He has also won the Vezina Trophy each of the last two seasons, declaring him the best goalie in the league, too. But you wouldn’t have known it watching bottom-six forwards Kailer Yamamoto and Michael Carcone combine for a highlight-reel goal on Sunday. Coming in on a 2-on-1, Yamamoto sent a saucer pass over the stick of sprawled-out Jets defenseman Logan Stanley. It landed perfectly on Carcone’s stick, at which point Carcone made no mistake burying it past an overcommitted Hellebuyck.
