SALT LAKE CITY — At least one Utah franchise could beat a Dallas-based team Thursday.
In a game that went down to the wire, the Mammoth were able to hold on late to beat the Dallas Stars 2-1 behind a strong defensive performance and some puck deflections that went their way.
It was a hard-fought game throughout, with both teams’ netminders making big saves and making goals hard to come by.
“I think we knew what type of game it was going to be,” Utah’s Nick Schmaltz said. “We knew it was going to be hard. We knew there wasn’t gonna be a lot of time and space, not a lot of plays, and we were happy to play that game. I think that shows a lot about this group, not forcing plays and just sticking with it and eventually it’ll come.”
Those chances came, and Utah took advantage. A deflected puck that bounced over Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger made the biggest difference in the game.
Defenseman John Marino’s shot from near the blue line deflected off Oettinger’s body up and over him and into the net, giving the Mammoth the lead in the third period.
It was the second of 2 points Marino tallied in the game, with the first coming on an assist to Schmaltz to open up the scoring in the final seconds of the second period.
For the first 39 minutes of the game, each team was held scoreless behind some great play from both goaltenders and strong attention to detail on defense.
“As a team, I think we have success when we set the pace,” Utah head coach Andre Tourigny said. “The pace is not speed, it’s the quickness of reaction, it’s the moving of your feet, it’s applying pressure, it’s knowing what’s the next play. Opponents at some point, they have to play through our pace, and we’re happy about that.”
Karel Vejmelka played well for Utah, picking up 26 saves on 27 shots, and shutting down the Stars’ offense to seal the win.
Oettinger also put together a solid performance for Dallas and gave them a chance to win; however, it was the Mammoth’s offense that did just enough to find a way.
Both goalies made incredible saves, especially in the second period. Oettinger stopped a breakaway opportunity for J.J. Peterka before Vejmelka turned away his own fast break shot, this one from Dallas’ Jason Robertson.
One shot inevitably made it through.
With seven seconds remaining in the second period, Marino passed the puck near the Stars’ net and Schmaltz got just enough stick on it to direct the puck into the goal and past Oettinger.
On their second power play of the game at the beginning of the third period, Dallas tied up the game just seconds into the man advantage. Mikko Rantanen scored a goal for the Stars after taking on traffic near the crease.
Two minutes later, Marino answered for the Mammoth and scored what went on to be the game-winning goal.
Over the final 16 minutes of action, Utah dug in and prevented Dallas from evening the game up. The defense shined for the second straight game, once again holding one of the league’s best offenses to just one goal.
“I think we were the better team tonight,” Tourigny said. “I think we deserved to win — that’s my opinion — but I know it could have gone in the other direction. Two deflections and we’re done by one; that’s just the NHL. It’s such a tight line every night, but our confidence coming from the consistency in our performance every night. Now we expect, and we know what to expect.”
Since the turn of the calendar, the Mammoth are 6-1-1 and are finding ways to gut-out wins against some of the top teams in the NHL, like they did Thursday night.
“I know, as a coach, how the guys will perform, the guys know the guys beside them,” Tourigny said. “So you become more comfortable. There’s some nights you get unlucky, and it’s just the way it is. We’re not getting carried away in our game.”
Utah will host the Seattle Kraken in a Saturday matinee matchup, with their eyes set on tightening their grip on a playoff spot.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
