Karel Vejmelka made big saves throughout the game, including halfway through the first period when he stopped a series of Grade-A chances by the Lightning in quick succession. Vejmelka also stood strong through Tampa’s push late in the second period. In his ninth game of the season, Vejmelka stopped 22 of the 25 shots he faced.
“He played well,” Yamamoto shared. “He’s played well all season, nothing but good words about it.”
Utah’s ability to quickly transition from defense to offense was on display with the game’s opening goal. After Ian Cole intercepted the puck in the defensive zone, he quickly sent the puck up ice to Crouse who was already on the go. Crouse, on the breakaway, went top shelf and scored.
As they have done all season, the Mammoth kept pushing when they faced adversity, and their effort was rewarded early in the third period, down 2-1. 2:21 into the final frame, Kailer Yamamoto’s first goal of the season tied the game, 2-2. Yamamoto took advantage of open space and capitalized off a backhanded pass from Cole, who picked up his second assist of the game on the goal.
“I thought we played good,” Yamamoto said of his line. “I thought we started the game a little slow, but I feel like as the game went on, we found our rhythm, and I thought we executed well tonight.”
Tampa scored two goals in the third period, Jake Guenzel's with seven minutes remaining in regulation and Brandon Hagel's empty net tally with 15 seconds left. With the loss, the Mammoth are 8-4-0 and are 4-1-0 at Delta Center.
“We played hard and we tried to come back at the end,” Tourigny shared. “They scored with seven to go. We’re 2-2, 53 minutes in against a really good team.”
After losing two straight, Utah is focused on getting back into the win column to avoid a losing skid. Following the game, Cole discussed what the team needs to improve going into the next game.
“I don’t think it’s one glaring thing necessarily,” Cole explained. “But there are little things all over the ice. I think there’s puck battles for one. I think reloads for two. They’re beating guys up ice, our neutral zone wasn’t great. There’s a lot of things where we can improve on. Nothing was glaringly horrible but not good enough to beat a very skilled, very good hockey team.”
