GAME RECAP: Mammoth 6, Oilers 5 (OT)

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – The Edmonton Oilers couldn't defend three separate leads on Tuesday in a 6-5 overtime defeat to the Utah Mammoth, opening their back-to-back and three-game road trip at Delta Center with a single point to stay atop the Pacific Division.

"They have a lot of skill and were able to capitalize when given opportunities in big moments," Darnell Nurse said. "There were areas of the game that we could have been better for sure, but we'll build off the things that were good tonight and get ready for tomorrow."

The Oilers held separate leads of 3-1, 4-3 and 5-4 during regulation, but were forced to settle for only a single point after the Mammoth battled back to force overtime and win it only 35 seconds into the extra period on a power-play snipe from Clayton Keller.

Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist for Utah along with Alex Kerfoot, and Nick Schmaltz reached 30 goals on the season with a two-goal effort, including one shorthanded that made it 4-4 before the second intermission.

Connor McDavid scored a dazzling goal on the power play to go along with an assist, while Curtis Lazar, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Vasily Podkolzin and Colton Dach also scored in the defeat that was Edmonton's first against the Utah franchise in seven meetings.

Mattias Ekholm recorded his 400th career point with the assist on Lazar's quick response that came just 11 seconds after J.J. Peterka opened the scoring for Utah less than two minutes into the first period.

The Oilers hold onto first place in the Pacific with the point after Vegas defeated Vancouver, and Anaheim was shut out by Calgary to fall to third in the division.

Edmonton will wrap up its back-to-back on Wednesday night against San Jose.

FIRST PERIOD

A second look at the Oilers on home ice over the past two weeks for Karel Vejmelka & the Mammoth didn't turn out any better than their previous meeting on Mar. 24 after being beaten three times following J.J. Peterka's goal that gave Utah the early advantage in Tuesday's potential first-round matchup.

Peterka fired a one-timer past Tristan Jarry off the post just 1:53 into regulation, but Edmonton's fourth line was quick to activate off the ensuing faceoff to equalize only 11 seconds later for a fast response with Curtis Lazar's fourth of the season.

Mattias Ekholm picked up his 400th career point with an assist by opening up a two-on-one with the outlet pass to Adam Henrique, before it was slid across to Lazar for the five-hole finish under the pad of Vejmelka.

In addition to his 400th career point, Ekholm reached the 40-point mark for the third time in his career – his second as an Oiler – and needs three more assists to establish a new career high (36 in 2018-19).

"It does suck that we didn't get the win, but I think we did a pretty good job of being resilient," Colton Dach said. "I think that first goal, the fourth line went out there and scored right away.  So it's always good to see those guys go out there and provide energy on the scoreboard as well."

Over six minutes later, the Oilers had their first chance to improve on their 1-for-17 power play over their last nine games without Leon Draisaitl in the lineup, and McDavid decided to take it all the way himself to score a terrific solo goal off the rush to for the 2-1 lead.

McDavid went end-to-end with Bouchard's drop pass to break Edmonton's dry spell with the man advantage by ripping up the right side with the puck and cutting back to slide it around the outstretched Vejmelka, scoring his 44th goal of the season.

The captain's amazing tally equalled the second-highest total of his career that he's reached twice in 2021-22 and 2025-26, with his career high being 64 in 2022-23.

All three goals from the Oilers in the first period were scored off the rush, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made it 3-1 by beating the left-handed Vejmelka low blocker after Kasperi Kapanen found him with space in the neutral zone for a quick counter-attack.

Nugent-Hopkins is one away from his seventh career 20-goal campaign after scoring Edmonton's third straight following Utah's quick opener to make it 3-1 after 20 minutes.

Despite that separation, the Oilers would be prone to mistakes over the next two periods and let the Mammoth flex their offence that'd scored 19 goals over their previous three wins in a row.

"We had a few leads tonight, and they were able to respond very quickly," Knoblauch said. "I guess the one lead they had, we responded very quickly, too.  But I guess it was a game neither team wanted to run away with.  But it's unfortunate. It was nice to see the offence was there; we had the goals, but just too many chances against."

SECOND PERIOD

The Oilers were quick to respond again to take the lead through Vasily Podkolzin after Nick Schmaltz and Logan Cooley made it 3-3 with under five minutes left in the period, but the power play ended up giving it right back on Schmaltz's second goal that came shorthanded with 36 seconds remaining before the second intermission.

Early in the frame, Kasperi Kapanen lost the handle on what looked like a routing finish inside the post with Vejmelka spread out that could've stretched the Oilers' lead to three.

Ekholm then had to come up with the brilliant defensive stick to knock the puck off the stick of Cooley on a partial breakaway on Utah's next attack before Peterka hit the post for a second time in the game after a penalty to Ty Emberson had just expired.

Past the midway mark, a turnover committed in their own zone wound up costing the Oilers when Jason Dickinson's attempted outlet pass was intercepted and eventually put home in front by Schmaltz to make it 3-2 on his 29th goal of the season.

"Our breakouts, so many problems tonight started with just not being able to get the puck up ice and having to spend time in the defensive zone, where if we can get those breakouts, we're out of the zone," Knoblauch said. "That's one thing, but we're also not tired and getting run down in our zone. For me, I think that's the starting point."

Just under five minutes later, the Mammoth made it 3-3 on a knuckle puck one-timer from Cooley in the right circle that fooled Jarry to find its way over his glove, but the Oilers would respond a minute or less for the second time tonight to take the lead back.

Just 47 seconds after the Mammoth equalized, Podkolzin was on the doorstep to find the puck off the rebound from Darnell Nurse and slam it into the back of the net to give the Oilers back the lead at 4-3 with 3:54 left in the frame.

A late power play could've given the Oilers extra breathing room before the break, but the opportunity backfired when Schmaltz got loose off a giveaway from Jack Roslovic in Utah's zone and sniped it under the glove of Jarry off the rush.

THIRD PERIOD

Considering how important these late-season points are, both the Oilers and Mammoth were happy to secure a point each at the end of an exciting 60 minutes of regulation between two potential first-round playoff opponents.

Colton Dach picked a great time to score his first goal in Blue & Orange in his return from a 12-game injury absence after beating Vejmelka five-hole on the third attempt to make it 5-4 for Oilers 2:07 into the final frame.

Dach had a handful of chances and made an impact offensively in addition to his role of bringing energy to the bench with his physical type of play, which is back in the lineup for the Oilers after he missed close to a month with an injury.

"It felt good to be back with the guys and be back in the locker room and contribute," Dach said. "But at the end of the day, we need to find a way to get the two points."

Over half a period later, Alexander Kerfoot got a piece of Sean Durzi's knee-high shot from the point to deflect the equalizing goal over Jarry's left pad in front of the crease to tie it at five with 7:04 left in regulation.

Both teams had their chances to steal the victory before overtime, with Dickinson being gifted the puck in the slot off a careless giveaway from Sergachev before Kevin Stenlund hit the crossbar with Jarry on his back a few minutes later.

The Oilers made sure they'd leave with at least a point to hold onto first place in the Pacific, regardless of the result, but they're hopes of claiming two came a quick end to overtime.

"Not getting the two points," Nurse said of the disappointment. "We obviously had leads and weren't able to maintain them, but we showed some good composure in the third to find our way to get that one point.  But yeah, you want the two every time."

OVERTIME

After Matt Savoie swept the skates out from under Cooley just 25 seconds into overtime, it was going to be a tough challenge keeping the Mammoth's power play from winning it.

It took the Mammoth just eight seconds to score off the ensuing faceoff on a snipe under the crossbar from Cooley to give his side the 6-5 victory and their franchise's first win in seven tries over the Oilers (1-6-0).

"That's the important part of this time of year," Nurse said of getting the point.

"Obviously, we want to get that 'X' beside our name and get into the playoffs by accumulating and gaining points each night.  That's a main focus for us.  So the result wasn't the one that we wanted or hoped for; we pushed for it there at the end, but at the same time, we got something out of it and we have to make sure that we don't let it slide  tomorrow night"

Utah is currently looking comfortable in the top Wild Card spot in the Western Conference with 88 points, owning a four-point gap on the Nashville Predators in the second Wild Card spot.