Colorado struck first when Cale Makar scored five and a half minutes into the game; however, the Mammoth’s strong second period got the home team back into the game. Nine minutes into the second period, while on the power play, Nick Schmaltz capitalized on a rebound to tie the game. Schmaltz’s team-leading fourth goal was his second power play tally this season. Utah has now scored a power play goal in each of its last three games. Captain Clayton Keller and Sergachev picked up assists.
3:13 seconds later, Associate Captain Lawson Crouse scored his first of the season to give the Mammoth a 2-1 lead. Kevin Stenlund’s pass to Crouse set the forward up to capitalize on an open net before Colorado goaltender Scott Wedgewood could get into position. Michael Carcone also picked up an assist on the play.
It was a tight game against a strong opponent and the Avalanche responded quickly when Jack Drury scored 70 second into the third period to tie the game, 2-2. The Mammoth kept pushing and Mikhail Sergachev’s first goal of the season gave Utah a 3-2 lead five and a half minutes into the third.
“I saw that their guy on the rim was going to bump it into the middle, so I read it and stayed in the middle. Got it, shot it, might have hit their (defense) but I think Kells was in front by himself. I kind of didn’t care, looked him off,” Sergachev smiled and joked as he recounted his goal.
The Mammoth needed to be resilient once again when the Avalanche tied the game at 3-3 with Martin Necas’s goal in the final three minutes of regulation. However, Utah remained calm. In overtime, off a feed from Keller, Dylan Guenther’s third game-winner of the season secured the win. Guenther continues to show up in big moments as it’s his second-straight game winning goal.
Karel Vejmelka had some huge saves on Colorado’s star players, most notably when Utah’s netminder stopped Nathan MacKinnon in the final seven minutes of the first period. It was a timely save that kept Colorado from doubling its lead in the opening frame. Vejmelka stopped 30 of the 33 shots he faced from the Avalanche.
“Key moments,” Tourigny said of Vejmelka’s performance. “When we had our (down moments), when the boat was rocking a little, (Vejmelka) came up big and made key saves in the moment.”
Mikhail Sergachev recorded his first three points of the season (1G, 2A) in the win. He played a strong game offensively and defensively and was a key part of the win over the Avalanche.
“He’s our horse back there,” Guenther said. “He’s a huge part of this team and did a lot of good things to start (the season) and didn’t hit the (scoresheet). So, it’s huge to get a guy like that going.”
“He was a force out there,” Tourigny said of Sergachev. “Not just his production. His play was assertive; he really played a solid game.”
The Mammoth improve to 5-2-0 and sweep the four-game homestand. It’s also first time that a team in its first two years of existence has won its first 4 home games to begin a season since the 1925-26 Montreal Maroons (also won 4 home games) (per Mammoth Broadcast/PR).
Utah hits the road for a four-game trip with three-straight games against Central Division opponents. The Mammoth will look to carry this momentum from the strong homestand on the road.
“It’s huge,” Guenther said of the four-straight wins. “Just take that momentum I think that we’re going to get their best games in St. Louis, (Minnesota), Winnipeg. We’re going to be fighting with them. So, we’re going to get their best game and it’s not an easy schedule so just want to make sure we’re taking care of ourselves and we’re ready to go.”
