No Historic Comeback This Time, Utah Mammoth Fall 4-1 to Boston Bruins

Miracle comebacks, it seems, can only happen in Pittsburgh.

Coming off a 5–4 overtime win against the Penguins, the Mammoth traveled to Boston hoping to defeat the Bruins without needing to rally from a three-goal deficit.

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While a first-period goal put Utah up 1–0 — an encouraging start compared to its game against Pittsburgh — Boston slowly gained control of the game en route to a 4–1 win.

The game started off well for the Mammoth, with plenty of early shots on goal and extended time in the offensive zone. It looked as though the momentum from their win against the Penguins had carried over into the opening of the game.

Once Utah earned its first power play, Barrett Hayton and the second power-play unit made quick work of it, scoring to give Utah a 1–0 lead.

Just as it had done against Pittsburgh, Utah’s second power play unit now has scored it back-to-back games. The only difference this time is that Hayton got the goal rather than Michael Carcone, scoring at the net front after he collected a pass from Sean Durzi.

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Utah certainly started the game well. Not only did the Mammoth get its first lead of the game in the first rather than the third, but it also got it first goal on only its fifth shot on net of the game.

But as the game progressed, Boston slowly gained more and more control as the game went on. It suddenly became evident that Utah would have to be prepared to play with a lead because the Bruins weren’t going to go away quietly.

However, the lead Utah had didn’t last long as a Boston would also capitalize on a power play of its own, after an excellent display of passing led to a wide open look on net for Morgan Geekie.

Any advantage Utah had over Boston quickly disappeared as it lost the momentum soon after Geekie’s goal.

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Though the Mammoth would finish the first tied 1-1, the Bruins were looking like it was starting to figure out how to play its style of hockey.

Once play had resumed, it didn’t take long for Geekie to score another goal for the Bruins.

Just like his first goal, Geekie benefited from a perfect pass from David Pastrnak that no one from Utah anticipated. Once the puck got through, Geekie was left alone with Vitek Vanecek and made the most of the opportunity.

After that, Utah never seemed able to regain control of the game, managing just eight combined shots on goal across the second and third periods. Even with those chances, Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman stood firm and did not allow the Mammoth to score again.

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While some defensive breakdowns made it nearly impossible for Vanecek to make a save — particularly when Pavel Zacha banked a pass off the end boards to set up a Casey Mittelstadt goal — Utah cannot ignore Vanecek’s 2-7-1 record on the season.

But Utah’s defense certainly needs to help Vanecek out and find ways to make him less vulnerable.

Now Utah will have to get ready fast as it plays the Detroit Red Wings in less than 24 hours on the second game of its back-to-back.

The three game win streak may be off the table, but Utah still should look to avoid falling into a losing streak.

Since Oct. 26, every time the Mammoth have lost a game, they have also lost the following game. Even worse, the team has endured two three-game losing streaks and two four-game losing streaks.

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Simply put, Utah has not found a way to bounce back immediately after losses. It is certainly more difficult to respond on a short turnaround. However, the Red Wings are in the same position, playing the second game of a back-to-back after securing a 3–2 win against the New York Islanders.

But with a chance to come away from the road trip with a 2–1 record, and a national TV spotlight on TNT and HBO Max, Utah should look to play hard and physical.