The Mammoth’s goaltender stopped all but one of the 32 shots he faced while Utah had four different goal scorers …
Utah’s power play opened the scoring for the Mammoth 16 minutes into tonight’s game. After a faceoff win, the Mammoth held the zone and worked the puck around. Mikhail Sergachev’s shot from the point hit off a Vancouver player on its way in. Utah’s power play has scored in two straight games, and the Mammoth capitalized just 13 seconds into the man-advantage tonight. Clayton Keller and Dylan Guenther picked up assists on the play.
“It was tough for us to get over the hump,” Tourigny explained. “When you have one, sometimes two power plays a game, you have a power play for 30 seconds … It was tough to get some traction. I think the boys did a good job to, in the last couple of games even with the low number of minutes, find a way to dig deep and to get two big goals, one (Wednesday) and one today.”
Nick Schmaltz’s goal 14 minutes into the second period doubled the Mammoth’s lead and it was the forward’s 11th of the season. Schmaltz showed his strong hand-eye coordination when he redirected Sergachev’s shot to put Utah ahead, 2-0. In addition to Sergachev, JJ Peterka picked up an assist on the tally.
Arshdeep Bains got the Canucks on the board when he redirected in Aatu Räty’s shot in the first five minutes of the third period. The Mammoth weathered the momentum change and defended a one-goal lead. With 2:08 remaining in regulation, Kevin Stenlund’s goal increased the Mammoth’s lead to 3-1 and gave the visitors a cushion going into the final minutes.
Utah was shorthanded for the final 1:41 of the game; however, John Marino’s shorthanded, empty net goal increased Utah’s lead to 4-1 and secured the win. The Mammoth improved to 14-12-3 and have won two-straight games.
Following the win, players and coach Tourigny discussed the improved mindset that has helped the Mammoth to these recent wins.
“I think we changed our mindset a little bit,” Vejmelka reflected. “We just talked about it (in) the meeting. Set the right mindset, be sharp no matter what, don’t really (look at) the score and just play our game.”
“It’s a tough schedule,” Tourigny explained. “So, you get tired mentally and all what everyone (is) talking about is mental. It’s tough to be on top of our game mentally all the time when you’re tired, we can feel a little bit of fatigue here. But that’s the challenge for us, is to stay strong mentally, and make sure we manage the game the right way. And the team (that) will do it the best will take advantage of it.”
Utah wraps up its six-game road trip tomorrow night with a game against the Calgary Flames.
Source: Utah News