Utah Falls to Boston, 4-1

BOSTON – In the front half of a back-to-back, the Utah Mammoth fell to the Boston Bruins, 4-1. Barrett Hayton’s power play goal in the first period was the lone tally for Utah.

“Not happy about the way we reacted after the first period,” head coach André Tourigny shared postgame. “I think we were not physical enough, definitely defensively and offensively we did not win enough battles, and we didn't get below their goal lines enough. We tried to play in front of them and that's why they shut us down.”

Utah got off to a strong start filled with urgency. The Mammoth’s recent success on the power play continued tonight against the Bruins with Barrett Hayton’s fourth of the season. The second power play unit, composed of Hayton, Lawson Crouse, Sean Durzi, Daniil But, and Michael Carcone, has scored in back-to-back games. Durzi and But had the assists tonight on Hayton’s tally. But and Hayton now have power play points in two-straight games. Utah has scored in six of eight games on the man-advantage (per Mammoth PR).

"We had some good movement there in Pittsburgh,” Hayton said on recent success with his power play unit. “Just found some rotations, being interchangeable, always having a guy at the net and kind of having an attack mindset. I thought we did a really good job on that first power play.”

Towards the end of the first period, the Bruins started to push back against the Mammoth’s strong start. Morgan Geekie’s power play goal with four minutes left in the opening frame tied the game, 1-1.

“We dominate (in the first), and we start to feel too comfortable,” Tourigny shared. “The level of urgency went down a little bit.”

“Even (in the) last five minutes of the first period we had instances where details just slipped a little bit,” Hayton reflected. “...we had a push in the first, but those are the things that creep in and if you don’t cut that off right away, it costs you.”

Geekie scored his second of the night, and 24th of the season, 23 seconds into the second period to give the home team a 2-1 lead. Halfway through the third period, Boston took a 3-1 lead after Casey Mittelstadt scored his eighth of the season. Michael Eyssimont’s goal in the final minutes of the game secured the 4-1 win for the Bruins.

It’s a quick turnaround for Utah who will travel to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Wednesday. It’s also an opportunity to get right back to work as the Mammoth look to bounce back in the final game of the road trip.

“Tomorrow night’s a huge one,” Hayton said. “We need to rebound quick and be all in on that game. We got to be locked in from the get-go, a lot of urgency, and it’s a huge one.”

“It has to hurt a little bit,” Tourigny explained. “But at the same time, we’re playing tomorrow so if you go too low, it will be tough to (be ready) for tomorrow. So, I think you need to let it hurt, and then be professional, be mature, assess what we could have done better, fix it, and get at it tomorrow and push back.”

Upcoming Schedule

• Dec. 17: UTA vs DET
• Dec. 19: NJD vs UTA
• Dec. 21: WPG vs UTA