Utah Falls Short in Strong Effort Against NHL’s Top Team

DENVER – Despite a strong effort in which Utah recorded 32 shots and saw goaltender Vítek Vaněček make save after save, the Mammoth fell to the NHL’s top team, the Colorado Avalanche, 1-0. Samuel Girard scored the Avalanche’s lone goal eight minutes into the second period. Even though Utah lost the game, the Mammoth fought hard and held the strongest offense in the league to just one goal.

“I think it was a hell of a game,” head coach André Tourigny said postgame. “Happy about the way we played. That’s disappointing we could not find a way to put it behind (Colorado goaltender Scott Wedgewood) but we had our chance. We generate a lot of offense. Our second (power play) unit generated good as well. That’s the best (penalty kill) in the league. Just too bad we could not get at least one point or get the result on our side. I think we could deserve better but they’re a really good team on the other side and they found their way.”

“It was a really hard-fought game,” defenseman Nate Schmidt reflected. “Came into a building that has been dang near impossible to win in, and I thought we played hard…it’s an easy game to kind of write off. Before Christmas, on the road, you come in and play a good team like this and they’re rolling. But I love the way that we competed today.”

Tuesday’s game was full of significant saves by both team’s goaltenders. Vaněček stopped 25 of the 26 shots he faced while Wedgewood stopped all 32 shots he saw. Tourigny shared that Vaněček found out he was playing “maybe an hour before the game;” however, he stood strong in 11th game this season. Utah’s starting goaltender, Karel Vejmelka, was unavailable due to an upper-body injury.

“That’s the advantage to have a veteran as a backup goalie,” Tourigny said of Vaněček. “He was ready. He’s a really good pro. Gave us a chance to win tonight.”

Goaltender Colten McIntyre signed an amateur try-out agreement to serve as a backup to Vaněček and dressed for his first NHL game. McIntyre is a Park City native and is the first player from Utah to be in the Mammoth’s lineup.

“It’s awesome,” Schmidt said of McIntyre’s night. “Boys were super fired up; I was fired up for him. That mustache can be seen from a mile away today and I love it. During the year you find ways to get yourself (fired up) and for me, that’s what got me up tonight. That got you excited about the game for him and you could see him, he was all smiles and I wish we could have gotten the win, but I think it was a pretty cool experience for him.”

Although the Mammoth fell short of two points tonight, the team has played strong hockey in recent games and are proud of their effort.

“That (game) is one and we have others in the last 10 games where we play really solid hockey,” Tourigny shared. “Tonight’s a really good opponent. We could have won that game. We didn’t and there’s no moral victory in that. We just finished as well, 21 games in 37 days. It’ll never be an excuse, it’s not that. But I’m proud of the resilience of our guys. I’m proud of how our group fought. In the last stretch, we had adversity. When you’re tired mentally, it’s easy to let down or to give up. Our group never gave up. They doubled down on their effort. They doubled down on their resilience, their grind in their game. We played good defense. Really proud of the group.”

Additional Notes from Tonight

• One of Utah’s closest chances to tying the game was late in the second period. Wedgewood’s glove save kept Clayton Keller from tying the game; however, the netminder’s glove partially crossed the goal line so the play was reviewed. The officials deemed the puck didn't completely cross the line and was not a goal.
• Utah won 55.2% of the faceoffs in tonight’s game. Nick Schmaltz took 19 faceoffs, which led the team. He went 11-for-19 at the dot.

The Mammoth will have Dec. 24-26 off for the NHL’s holiday break. Following, the team will have two days of practice before Utah’s final game in 2025.

Upcoming Schedule

• Dec. 29: NSH vs UTA
• Jan. 1: UTA vs NYI
• Jan. 3: UTA vs NJD