Cooley has natural hat trick, Mammoth score 7 to defeat Blues

ST. LOUIS -- Logan Cooley scored a natural hat trick in a 4:48 span in the first period, and the Utah Mammoth won their fifth straight, 7-4 against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Thursday.

It was the second NHL hat trick for Cooley, who also had an assist in the first period.

“It's obviously awesome scoring in this League and it was a great game,” Cooley said. “I thought we kind of let off a little bit in the second, but overall, it was a great team win.”

Clayton Keller had two goals and an assist, Nick Schmaltz had a goal and two assists, and Dylan Guenther and JJ Peterka each had three assists for the Mammoth (6-2-0). Karel Vejmelka made 16 saves.

“Obviously, a really good first period, not just in terms of scoring,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “The way we passed the puck, the way we break out, the way we forechecked, really happy. A little bit of a setback in the second, just sit back a little bit. We were not as aggressive in moving the puck and attacking. I think it was a good learning portion, but what I did like about our guys is we made key plays at key moments.”

Joel Hofer was pulled for the second straight start for the Blues (3-3-1) after allowing three goals on six shots in the first 7:57. Jordan Binnington made 15 saves in relief.

“Didn’t start on time,” St. Louis forward Pavel Buchnevich said. “They kind of get bounces all around. First goal, five-hole. Third goal, we didn’t get puck out. They get big bounce, shot, in the slot goal. We just have to start on time and play full 60 minutes like we play against Dallas (a 3-1 win on Oct. 18) and stick with each other and play for each other, get out of the slumps together.”

Ian Cole gave the Mammoth a 1-0 lead at 3:18 of the first, scoring from the slot through Hofer off a drop pass from Peterka.

Cooley made it 2-0 at 6:07 on a one-timer from the high slot before pushing it to 3-0 at 7:57 with a backhand after he got behind the Blues' defense.

St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said he had a word with Hofer, who was pulled after the goal and has allowed 10 goals on 28 shots (10.77 goals-against average and .643 save percentage) his past two starts.

“Just that he’s a really talented, young goaltender and we’re going to work out of this,” Montgomery said. “Just like our team didn’t play well, didn’t have a good start tonight. He’s someone that we believe in. He’s an extremely talented athlete and he’s really tough-minded. I just let him know that we believe in him and that it’s going to turn around.”

Cooley completed the hat trick with power-play goal at 10:55, a tap-in at the side of the net to make it 4-0.

“He's really strong physically,” Tourigny said of Cooley. “He's really strong in his battle. His balance is really, really good. And, like I said, his competitiveness, I think, helped him a lot in that sense.”

Pius Suter finished a rebound in front at 5:58 of the second period to make it 4-1, and Buchnevich's first goal of the season, a rebound on the power play, made it 4-2 at 7:13.

Keller put Utah up 5-2 at 19:24, racing in alone after getting behind Suter and burying a shot from the left circle past Binnington.

Nathan Walker made it 5-3 at 2:19 of the third period, finishing from the bottom of the right circle off a backhand pass from Oskar Sundqvist across the slot.

Philip Broberg cut it to 5-4 with a wraparound at 5:43.

St. Louis then had back-to-back power plays with the chance to tie it but generated just one shot.

“I liked the way our team played after (the first period),” Montgomery said. “We built something. We improved our intensity. Our habits got better. You’re down by four goals, it’s going to be a tough task and we got it close. Unfortunately we had opportunities on the power play to tie it up. We weren’t able to do it. They got a power play, extended the lead, and that sealed the game.”

Schmaltz tipped a Mikhail Sergachev shot from the slot past Binnington on the power play at 9:51 to make it 6-4.

“The goal of Keller at the end of the second and the power-play goal in the third, every time they tried to come back, we answered,” Tourigny said. “I’m really happy about the character of the guys.”

Keller's empty-net goal at 18:20 was his 200th in the NHL and made it a 7-4 final.

“It's nice to get off on the right foot,” Cooley said. “It was a great first period. You know, the way we finished the game was obviously really good, too. So, there's a lot of key takeaways that we could take moving forward.”

NOTES: Cooley's hat trick in 4:48 was the fastest in the NHL since Joel Eriksson Ek did it in 2:18 for the Minnesota Wild on April 9, 2025. His other hat trick came March 28, 2024. … Keller extended his point streak to four games (four goals, seven assists). … Schmaltz has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in a five-game point streak. … Guenther has five points (two goals, three assists) in a three-game point streak. … Buchnevich played in his 600th NHL game. … St. Louis forward Robert Thomas had an assist for his 400th NHL point (102 goals, 298 assists) in his 473rd game. He is the second-fastest player in franchise history to reach 400 points, behind Bernie Federko (371 games). … Sundqvist played 11:13 and had two assists in his season debut after missing the first six games with a lower-body injury. … St. Louis forward Jordan Kyrou had an assist to extend his point streak to five games (one goal, four assists). ... The Mammoth became the first team with five or more players with at least three points in the same game since the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 7, 2022.