Schmaltz scores hat trick, Mammoth ease past Canucks

SALT LAKE CITY -- Nick Schmaltz recorded his third career hat trick and had an assist for the Utah Mammoth in a 6-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Delta Center on Monday.

It was also Schmaltz's second hat trick of the season.

“I think a lot of great plays by some guys behind me,” Schmaltz said. “[It was a] fortunate bounce on one of them, but super excited to get a hat trick and help the team win.”

Utah coach Andre Tourigny said, “I think Schmaltz was really good everywhere. He was good defensively, stripping pucks, his body position was good. I liked his game a lot.”

John Marino had three assists, and Lawson Crouse had a goal and an assist for the Mammoth (29-23-4), who had lost two straight and are 7-1-1 in their past nine home games. Clayton Keller had two assists, and Karel Vejmelka made 21 saves.

“Most of the game we played well,” Tourigny said. “I think we were confident offensively. Scored big goals at key moments. We didn't have a lot of volume, but we had quality chances.”

Teddy Blueger had a goal and an assist, and Liam Ohgren scored for the Canucks (18-32-6), who have lost five of their past six (1-4-1). Conor Garland had two assists, and Kevin Lankinen made 14 saves.

“It's got to be better,” Vancouver coach Adam Foote said. “It's just subtle mistakes that went in the back of our net. It all started with the [first three goals], but we generated a lot… You can't give up freebies early. That's what we've got to stop doing.”

Schmaltz gave the Mammoth a 1-0 lead at 3:34 of the first period. Marino sent a cross-ice feed to Schmaltz, who scored into an open net from the goal line after Lankinen slid out of position.

Ohgren tied it 1-1 at 7:04 when he took a pass from Garland in stride into the offensive zone and buried a snap shot glove side on Vejmelka from the slot.

Schmaltz put Utah back up 2-1 with his second goal just 33 seconds later at 7:37. Sean Durzi collected the puck following a face-off win by Schmaltz in the right circle, skated up from the blue line and passed to Schmaltz, who beat Lankinen's glove with a wrist shot.

Mikhail Sergachev made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 8:45 of the second period, one-timing a feed from Schmaltz at the blue line through traffic.

“I just took a shot. Obviously there was no screen, which was not great, but it went in,” Sergachev said. “I was kind of lucky, but it's a big goal for our power play. It kind of gives us confidence that we can shoot and go get rebounds and score goals.”

Crouse pushed the lead to 4-1 at 12:16 when Marino's pass hit him and then deflected in off the right skate of Elias Pettersson at the top of the crease.

JJ Peterka scored past a lunging Lankinen with a one-timer from the left circle off Kailer Yamamoto's pass from behind the net for a 5-1 advantage at 16:05.

Blueger cut the deficit to 5-2 at 18:49 with a snap shot from the slot.

“I think defensively we just weren't good enough, weren't tight enough,” Blueger said. “We knew they liked the cross-seam plays, and then we gave up a bunch of chances early in the first period. [Lankinen] made some big saves and they just kept doing that throughout the second, and they made us pay for it.”

Schmaltz completed the hat trick at 12:22 of the third period, finishing a 2-on-1 with Keller for the 6-2 final.

“I think over the last month or so we've been playing some good hockey and slipped a couple games in a row there, so we wanted to get back on track tonight,” Schmaltz said. “We knew this was a big game for us. The standings are super tight, so it was a huge win for us on home ice.”

NOTES: Schmaltz joined Logan Cooley (two) as Utah’s second player with multiple hat tricks in 2025-26. … Marino set a new career high in points (28; four goals, 24 assists). … Durzi left the game at 7:44 of the third period with an undisclosed injury and did not return. No update was given after the game. ... Canucks forward Filip Chytil left the game at 16:05 of the second period with an undisclosed injury and did not return. “They just told me he tweaked something. We're going to evaluate it, we should know more tomorrow,” Foote said.