Keller, Mammoth defeat Red Wings to get 3rd win in past 4

DETROIT -- Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist to help the Utah Mammoth defeat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday.

Jack McBain, Dylan Guenther and Kevin Stenlund also scored, and Karel Vejmelka made 27 saves for the Mammoth (17-16-3), who have won three of their past four games. Utah was coming off a 4-1 loss at the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.

“Obviously, a lot of guys played well tonight,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “Our [defense] was rock solid, our goalie was rock solid, and I liked all four of our lines.”

Emmitt Finnie scored, and Cam Talbot made 24 saves for the Red Wings (19-13-3), who had won two in a row and five of six, including a 3-2 victory against the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

“I thought the difference tonight was obvious,” Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. “It was the play around the nets, and I’m not talking about goaltending. I’m talking about clearing and batting pucks away, and making sure to get sticks on pucks in the slot area.”

Keller gave the Mammoth a 1-0 lead at 1:44 of the second period, burying a rebound from the low slot after Talbot stopped Nick Schmaltz’s sharp-angled shot from the right side.

Schmaltz got his 300th NHL assist on the play.

“That shows I’ve played with a lot of great players,” Schmaltz said. “I hope there are many more to come.”

Utah then killed back-to-back penalties that came 2:36 apart, at 9:19 and 11:55.

“Our penalty kill does such a great job,” Tourigny said. “The game is on the line with those two power plays, and they came through at a key, key moment.”

The Mammoth took advantage when McBain’s goal gave them a 2-0 lead at 14:17. Michael Carcone retrieved a loose puck behind the net and fed it across the low slot to McBain, who knocked it in off Talbot’s arm at the left post.

“I know that [Carcone] comes up with a lot of pucks at the net, so I wanted to get to the back door and give him an option,” McBain said. “Our line really complements each other.”

Finnie cut it to 2-1 on the power play at 9:55 of the third period, scoring on a one-timer from the inside edge of the left circle off John Leonard’s pass from below the goal line. It was Detroit’s third power-play goal in two games.

“Our power play got us a goal tonight and it was running at 25 percent (1-for-4 for the game),” McLellan said. “We can’t ask it to score four or five goals a night. We didn’t score at 5-on-5 and we gave up four.”

Utah answered with two goals in 31 seconds.

“We pushed and got the goal, but we got a little too excited,” Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. “That cost us, and it went downhill from there.”

Guenther gave the Mammoth a 3-1 lead at 15:52. After Barrett Hayton’s shot got through Talbot, Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider dove to sweep the puck off the goal line, but his clearing attempt hit Talbot’s pad and bounced to Guenther for an easy tap-in.

Stenlund then made it 4-1 at 16:23, scoring off Keller’s pass with a one-timer from the slot.

“That’s 4-0 at 5-on-5 against the second team in the Eastern Conference,” Tourigny said of the Red Wings, who are tied with the New York Islanders for second in the East (41 points). “We’ll take that. ... I’m really proud of the effort and character of our guys.”

NOTES: Keller has 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in 14 career games against the Red Wings. … Guenther has six goals in his past six games. … Detroit has scored five 5-on-5 goals in its past four games, with three coming in a 4-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 13.