Vejmelka makes 26 saves, Mammoth edge Stars to push point streak to 6

SALT LAKE CITY -- Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves, and the Utah Mammoth defeated the Dallas Stars 2-1 at Delta Center on Thursday.

Nick Schmaltz and John Marino each had a goal and an assist for the Mammoth (24-20-4), who extended their point streak to six games (5-0-1).

“I really liked the way we played, it was heavy, it's a tough team to play,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “We need to keep focusing on what we have to do, keep performing. We played a good game, both sides of the puck, offensively, defensively, against a team that's tough to play against. The process was good. The performance was good. Let's bottle that up and keep going.”

Mikko Rantanen scored, and Jake Oettinger made 25 saves for the Stars (27-12-9), who have lost three of four (1-2-1).

“They're a really good team, I thought it was a really good hockey game,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “They got a bounce, though, in a pretty good hockey game off a face-off that went up in the air. We had some really good looks. We just couldn't get one through.”

Schmaltz gave Utah a 1-0 lead at 19:53 of the second period, tipping the puck past Oettinger with one hand on his stick off a pass from Marino on the rush.

“We talked about stringing together wins, especially on home ice, and I thought those last few games on home ice were some of our best of the year,” Schmaltz said. “I think just the way we competed, no matter what the score was ... if they get one, whatever, we come back and respond and played hard right until the end, so it was a huge win.”

Rantanen scored a power-play goal at 2:04 of the third period, picking up a rebound off a shot by Wyatt Johnston and beating Vejmelka to tie it 1-1.

“We did a lot of good things in this game,” Stars defenseman Thomas Harley said. “It's a tough league to win in, and teams aren't going to give you anything, so we've got to be able to look just that much better.”

Marino put the Mammoth back in front 2-1 at 4:03. He fired a shot from the point that deflected off Oettinger high in the air, then fell behind the goalie and trickled into the net.

The Stars pulled Oettinger with 3:22 left in the third period but weren't able to tie it with the extra attacker.

“I think everyone didn't panic too much,” Marino said. “Whether the guys were out there, tired, everyone on the bench, no one was screaming, shouting, everyone was pretty comfortable with the situation. So we learn from that and go forward.”

Said Tourigny: “I think we were poised but had intensity. You want to be patient, but you want to be aggressive. It's the same as wanting to be poised, but you want to be urgent. So, I think we achieved that. The boys were in control, but really intense. They were urgent, but in control with some good poise.”

NOTES: Schmaltz and Clayton Keller combined on the same goal for the 200th time in their NHL careers, becoming the first pair of United States-born teammates to accomplish that feat. …. Vejmelka leads the NHL with 22 wins.