Mammoth recover, score 5 straight to deny Sabres 1st road win

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Mammoth scored five straight goals to overcome a two-goal deficit and defeat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 at Delta Center on Wednesday.

“Tonight we gave up zero grade-A chances and zero grade-B chances in the third period,” Mammoth head coach Andre Tourigny said of the third period effort. “We defended hard, we played well with the puck, and we defended with pace. Everybody was engaged. Everybody was detailed, resilient and relentless. That was fun to see.”

It was the first time that the Mammoth had scored four goals in the third period in franchise history.

JJ Peterka and Clayton Keller each scored a goal and had an assist for the Mammoth (10-7-0), who snapped a three-game losing streak. Karel Vejmelka made 17 saves.

“We know how good we can be offensively,” Peterka said. “We know even when we're trailing, we can easily come back.”

Isak Rosen scored two goals in the first multigoal game of his career for the Sabres (5-7-4), who have lost four straight games and have yet to win on the road this season. Colten Ellis made 32 saves.

“With the manpower we're down, you build that lead, you've got to defend better,” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said. “We didn't defend well enough. We're a better defending team than that.”

Rosen opened the scoring at 5:33 of the first period, deflecting in a shot by Jack Quinn to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead. He then made it 2-0 at 6:42 of the second period, firing the puck into the net off a drop pass from Noah Ostlund in front.

“I think we're finding each other pretty good out there,” Rosen said. “It was nice to score two goals, but it doesn't matter now. … When we were 2-0 up, I think we played the right way, and we've got to keep doing that.”

"It's something that we would have loved to have built on. We didn't do that, it's unacceptable,” Buffalo forward Alex Tuch said of the two-goal lead. “We just have to be better, there’s no other way to say it.”

Nick DeSimone scored at 10:42, beating Ellis on the blocker side with a slap shot to make it a 2-1 game. The goal marks DeSimone's first of the season.

“It's big for us to go through this, fight through adversity and kind of claw our way back into one and end up getting a win here,” DeSimone said. “It's definitely a learning moment for us, and it shows a lot of maturity in our group.”

The Mammoth made a change in lines for the third period, moving Peterka alongside Lawson Crouse and Jack McBain.

Peterka tied the game 2-2, 52 seconds into the third period by beating Ellis with a snap shot on the blocker side.

“I think JJ broke the game down when he scored that big goal, I think that was a huge relief from there,” Tourigny said. “That was a boost of confidence. We knew we were playing well. That tweak in the lines I think helped a little bit for everybody. I'm really happy about the way JJ responded in the third.”

When asked if the Mammoth will continue switching up the line pairings in the future, Tourigny said, “We'll figure that out, we'll sleep on it. We'll watch the video, analyze the game a little bit more in depth, and see what our decision is.”

Crouse then gave the Mammoth the lead at 3:22, beating Ellis on the glove side thanks to a give-and-go from Peterka to make it 3-2.

Nick Schmaltz scored at 10:09 off of a pass from Keller, extending the Mammoth's lead to 4-2.

Keller added an empty-net goal at 19:33 for the 5-2 final.

NOTES: A native of East Amherst, N.Y., DeSimone's goal marked his first career point against his hometown team. … Crouse has scored in each of his last three games at Delta Center. … Keller extended his scoring streak against Buffalo to 16 games (15 points; six goals, nine assists). … Utah last erased a two-goal deficit at home Dec. 18, 2024, coming back to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in overtime. ...The Mammoth are now 4-0-0 all-time against the Sabres. ... With the win, the Mammoth are 5-1-0 at home this season and have earned a point in 21 of their past 26 home games dating back to last season.. ... Ellis made his second career start in net for the Sabres after making his debut on Oct. 22 vs Detroit.