Guenther gets 1st NHL hat trick, Mammoth cruise past Islanders

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Dylan Guenther had four points, including his first NHL hat trick, and the Utah Mammoth defeated the New York Islanders 7-2 at UBS Arena on Thursday.

"It's cool," Guenther said of the accomplishment. "I mean, I probably had a lot of two-goalers, actually, so it's nice to get another one. But I mean, (Lawson) Crouse and (Barrett) Hayton made really nice plays on all of my goals. I wouldn't have scored without them."

Nick Schmaltz had two goals and an assist, and Mikhail Sergachev and Clayton Keller each had a goal and two assists for the Mammoth (19-19-3), who had lost two straight. Karel Vejmelka, who returned after missing the past two games with an upper-body injury, made 20 saves.

"I felt good, actually," Vejmelka said. "I was excited to get back on the ice with the boys. I wanted to be helpful today. We played a hell of a game, especially offensively. It was fun to watch today."

Calum Ritchie and Matthew Schaefer scored, and Maxim Shabanov had two assists for the Islanders (22-15-4), who have lost two of three (0-2-1). David Rittich was pulled in the third period after allowing five goals on 14 shots. Marcus Hogberg made four saves in relief in his first appearance of the season.

The Islanders outshot the Mammoth 11-0 in the first 10:30 of the game.

"We had a really good start. I think it affected us, not scoring in that first period," Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. "I think it played a role in this game. If we were to score in that first period, it would probably help us, give us some momentum out of it. I think that it did the opposite. But after that, I'd say it's probably more the details of the game.

"We lost battles, one-on-one, battles where we should have been better in those areas. We take some penalties, offensive zone penalty, too many men. So I mean, these details at some point will hurt you. And this is a team that has a lot of good skills. So if you give them 2-on-1s and stuff like this, you probably ought to pay the price at the end of the night."

Guenther gave the Mammoth a 1-0 lead 36 seconds into the second period when his wrist shot from inside the left face-off circle banked off Rittich's helmet and in.

Ritchie tied the game 1-1 after he beat Vejmelka glove side off the rush at 2:35 of the second.

Guenther scored his second of the game to make it 2-1 at 10:20 of the second on a one-timer off a pass from Lawson Crouse.

Schmaltz extended the lead to 3-1 at 16:19. Tony DeAngelo couldn't corral a puck at the Utah blue line before Schmaltz beat Rittich high glove side off a 2-on-1 rush with Keller.

Sergachev gave Utah a 4-1 lead with a power-play goal at 2:52 of the third when his point shot beat Rittich low glove side.

Keller scored a power-play goal at 5:41 of the third period to give Utah a 5-1 lead with Rittich caught out of position.

"I don't think 7-2 is a reflection of the game," Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said. "We didn't have a great start. Our goalie stepped up. We held on to not give up any goals. Then our power play came up big to give us the momentum. Then we finished the period strong. And we scored right away at the start of the second period, a big goal. And there were a lot of key moments, key game management, key plays at crucial moments in that game."

Schaefer scored on the power play at 11:48 of the third to cut the deficit to 5-2. He beat Vejmelka low glove side from the point.

Guenther completed his hat trick and made it 6-2 at 13:54 of the third. He beat Hogberg through the legs off the rush from inside the left circle.

Schmaltz scored his second of the game at 16:55 of the third, beating Hogberg glove side from the low slot off a feed from JJ Peterka to make it 7-2.

"There's going to be nights like this," Schaefer said. "I mean, don't get me wrong, there's going to be ups, there's going to be downs. There's going to be a lot of things you face. I mean, we believe in this group, and we definitely got better, I think, just from the start. Obviously, we got to put the puck in the net a little bit more, and just be better in all areas."

Islanders forward Bo Horvat left the game midway through the third with an apparent lower-body injury after getting tangled with Mammoth defenseman Sean Durzi. There was no update on Horvat, who was named to Team Canada for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 on Wednesday.

NOTES: Guenther, who had eight career two-goal games entering the game, became the first Utah player this season to score 20 goals. … Schaefer (18 years, 118 days) became the youngest defenseman in NHL history to reach 10 goals, besting the previous mark set by Phil Housley (18 years, 320 days on Jan. 23, 1983). … Ritchie, Shabanov and Marshall Warren become the first Islanders rookies to all factor on the same goal since Matt Martin, Micheal Haley and Mark Katic (Feb. 24, 2011).