Peterka’s goal in the opening minute of the third period tied the game and continued Utah’s pushback. At the start of the third, the Mammoth added Peterka to a line with Lawson Crouse and Jack McBain, and it instantly paid off. Three minutes after Peterka’s tally, Crouse scored his fourth of the year, assisted by Peterka and McBain. Crouse’s tally gave Utah its first lead of the game, 3-2. A mid-game tweak to the lines led to two goals in the first four minutes of the final frame.
“Just playing direct,” Peterka said on his new line. “Building speed and get open for each other. That’s what we tried to do, and it worked out pretty well.”
“I want to give credit to JJ,” Tourigny shared. “I think he came out flying in the third and he had a bit more pace, was winning more battles, and getting more in the forecheck and bringing speed … Try to shake it up. But (McBain) and (Crouse) right now are playing very solid hockey, predictable hockey, hard work hockey. Played the game the right way. They make plays when it’s time to make play, when there’s no play, they go to work. We (wanted) to play them with JJ and see what JJ could do with them.”
The Mammoth had one of their strongest third periods of the season. Not only did Utah score four of their five goals in the final frame, they were suffocating defensively. Buffalo had three shots in the third.
“We addressed it this week,” Tourigny explained of the team’s third periods. “One thing our team is really good at is defending. We defend with a lot of pace, and we force opponents to execute quickly. That is a strength of (ours). Lately, in the third period, we’re not as fast, the same pace the same pressure. That was allowing (our) opponents to execute and create offense the last three games.
Tonight, we gave up zero (grade) A (opportunities), zero B’s in the third,” Tourigny continued. “We defended hard and we played good with the puck. We defended with pace and everybody was engaged. Everybody was detailed, resilient, relentless. That was fun to see.”
Halfway through the third, Utah’s offense kept rolling. Nick Schmaltz scored his 10th of the season and increased the Mammoth’s lead to 4-2. Schmaltz is the first player on Utah’s roster to reach double-digits for goals this season. Clayton Keller had the sole assist on the tally. Utah put a cherry on top with an empty net goal from Keller with 26.6 seconds remaining in regulation. Schmaltz and Logan Cooley picked up assists on the empty net goal.
The Mammoth had 11 players on the scoresheet tonight including four defensemen. Utah’s blueliners continue to contribute offensively and for 16 straight games, the d-core has contributed a point or more. Since Oct. 21, Utah’s defensemen have contributed 32 points, which is tied for the second-most in the NHL (per Mammoth Broadcast).
“We’ve talked a lot about us trying to get more active and get to the middle and get pucks on net,” DeSimone shared of the d-core’s focus. “Reward our forwards for going to the net and taking cross checks. We’re trying to do our part to get pucks there and let our forwards start digging down there.”
With the win, the Mammoth have won five of their first six games at home this season. The team is tied for the third-best home points percentage in the NHL. After playing 11 of the Mammoth’s first 16 games on the road, everyone was excited to be back on home ice at Delta Center.
During warmups, the players interacted with fans, gave away pucks and sticks, and were happy to be back in front of their fans and community.
