The Mammoth played with more pace and brought a higher level of physicality in a third period push, which led to their two goals separated by 1:35. However, not playing to the team’s identity throughout the entire game hurt the Mammoth.
“Just playing faster, we talk all season long about playing fast, that's our identity,” associate captain Lawson Crouse said about the third period push. “Obviously, not good enough in the first two periods. We fell behind early, chased the game, and got away from what makes us successful as a group. We had a good conversation in between the second and third, and went out and tried to do whatever we could to claw back into that game.”
Although it was a difficult loss after a strong win on Thursday night, there’s an opportunity for the Mammoth to learn from this game and grow as a group.
“That's the first time we played the same team back-to-back,” defenseman Dmitri Simashev said. “Next time we just need to be ready because every team, it doesn't matter if you win or lose, they will come in the next game and they want to beat you, especially at home. It's going to be a lesson for us, just the small details.”
“To be honest, it's just about having open conversation, realizing there's no finger pointing,” Crouse explained. “Everyone can be better, and that's the best part about this group. Everyone's hungry to get better, but like I said, it's just unfortunate. You can't fall asleep early in games here; it bites you in the butt and that's proof. But like I said, that third period was a decision on our behalf, and we need that effort from the drill.”
Experiencing a loss like this is never easy; however, there is a benefit to learning these lessons at the start of the year. A key part of Utah’s culture is learning from every situation, good and bad, and Tourigny expects nothing less from his players.
“That's absolutely the goal,” Tourigny said. “I think there's one thing our players show every time is a lot of pride and the level of care was to the roof, so it's not like that loss will fly easy in our room. I know the guys will take a lot of pride in it. We will do like we do every day, win or lose. We'll analyze it, talk about it, figure out what we need to be better at and sort it out…We're not looking for excuses. We're looking to assess the situation. Make sure you find a solution, and you're better from it.”
Additional Notes from Tonight
- Sebastian Cossa entered the game in relief with 6:12 left in the second period. He made three saves on four shots and played 26:12. Karel Vejmelka played 33:48 and made 12 saves on 17 shots.
- Utah’s defensemen have scored eight goals in the team’s first nine games, which is third most in the NHL. The Mammoth trail Edmonton and Buffalo, who have nine tallies each.
- Jack McBain was assessed his team and league leading third fighting major of the season tonight, dropping the gloves with Trent Frederic in the first period (per Mammoth PR).
- Sergachev has seven points in his last six games (2G, 5A) which is tied with Nick Schmaltz (2G, 5A), for the team lead over that span. Sergachev’s 10 total points through nine games this season are also the third-most of any Mammoth skater (per Mammoth PR).
Final Stats
Shots: UTA 28, EDM 21
Power Play: EDM 1/1, UTA 0/2
Hits: UTA 39, EDM 24
Blocked Shots: EDM 19, UTA 7
Face-Off %: UTA 62.5%, EDM 37.5%
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