Vincent Trocheck and Michael Carcone scored in the shootout for the Mammoth (10-8-2), who have lost four in a row (0-2-2) and five of six (1-3-2), including 5-3 at the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday. Vejmelka recorded his second shutout this season and 10th in the NHL.
“Really good game by (Vejmelka), no doubt about it. That was good to have (Vejmelka) at his best,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “I think on the back-to-back; obviously we wanted the two points. There are no moral victories in the NHL. But we lost in a shootout. We didn’t lose in a 3-on-3, we lost in a skills competition. We wanted the two points, I won’t lie, but I cannot be more proud of our guys.”
McTavish appeared to open the scoring to give the Blues a 1-0 lead at 14:35 of the second period, but the Mammoth challenged the play for offside, and the goal was overturned after a video review.
“I thought we played smart, minimized the damage, didn't let them get rolling around and get too many looks, and grabbed a point and finished it off in a shootout,” Neighbours said.
St. Louis forward Philip Broberg appeared to score the game-winner at 2:42 of overtime, but video review determined his wrist shot from the right face-off circle hit the crossbar after squeaking under Vejmelka's left arm.
“I'm pretty happy with the way we played. I thought we played hard, defended really well,” Trocheck said. “Obviously, it goes on to a shootout, but the way we responded on a back-to-back with the amount of injuries that we've had in the last couple days is definitely a positive.”
The Blues were 0-for-5 on the power play. The Mammoth were 0-for-4.
NOTES: Hofer matched Jacques Plante, Manny Legace and Mike Liut for the ninth-most shutouts in Blues franchise history. Brian Elliott (25) leads the list. ... It was the sixth time St. Louis has competed in an eight-round shootout (11 on March 1, 2026; 4-3 win at Ottawa Senators; 10 on Feb. 8, 2025; 6-5 win vs. Chicago Blackhawks; nine on Dec. 26, 2015; 3-2 win vs. Dallas Stars; nine on Feb. 11, 2011; 5-4 loss vs. Minnesota Wild; eight on Oct. 27, 2016; 2-1 loss vs. Detroit Red Wings). ... Mammoth forward Nick Schmaltz did not play and is day to day after leaving Wednesday's game with a lower-body injury. There was no update to his status postgame. ... Utah forward Logan Cooley did not play and is day to day with an upper-body injury. ... Forward Ben McCartney and defenseman Zac Jones each made their Mammoth debut. McCartney finished with one hit in 7:42 of ice time in his first NHL game since Nov. 6, 2021 with the Arizona Coyotes. Jones had two shots on goal and one block in 11:00 of ice time in his first NHL game since April 17, 2025 with the New York Rangers.
