Not every game at home can be peaches and rainbows. Especially when you welcome a team like the Dallas Stars into the building. When the Utah Mammoth last saw the Stars, they were on a rough stretch of games, arguably playing some of their worst hockey of the season. Meanwhile, the Mammoth were playing some of their best hockey. That game ended in a close 2-1 win for the home team.
On Saturday night, the Mammoth got to see what the Stars are capable of. A great start for the Stars made all the difference as they went on to win 3-2. It’s been a rough stretch for the Mammoth, playing four straight games against Stanley Cup contenders. Here are some takeaways from Saturday’s loss.
A Serving of Hot Yams
Kailer Yamamoto can never be scratched again. With his performance as of late, the Mammoth would be insane to remove him from the lineup. Saturday’s game was another productive game for the forward as he was the only goal scorer for the Mammoth.
After the Stars went up 2-0 halfway through the first period, it was put up or shut up time for the Mammoth. Going down 3-0 would be a death sentence. Luckily, when the Mammoth needed him most, Yamamoto came up big.
It was thanks to JJ Peterka, with a nice pass from near the corner boards, right underneath a Stars’ defenseman’s nose, that gave Yamamoto the puck right in front of the net. Yamamoto dragged the puck and released it with a simple yet powerful quick shot. It beat Casey DeSmith for the first Mammoth goal of the night.
Hot Yam! 🍠🔥
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) February 1, 2026
4️⃣ points in two games for Yamamoto! pic.twitter.com/vbV8Bk2AAR
Peterka came up big again on the second goal of the night. In the third period, Peterka once again sent Yamamoto the puck from near the corner boards, this time, using a backhanded pass. Yamamoto quickly flung the puck at the net and scored his second goal of the game.
Yams does it again! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/lVyMAokQMB
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) February 1, 2026
Yamamoto scored two goals in a single game. Sound familiar? That’s because the same thing happened on Thursday in the game against the Carolina Hurricanes. That makes it two straight multi-goal games for the forward. He is only the third Mammoth player to do that.
“He is a really smart player who moves in those free ice areas,” Peterka said. “He gets loose there with perfect timing, so that when he is open, he can get the puck there.”
In his past five games, Yamamoto now has seven points. He’s been incredible, but that’s always been the case. You go back to the end of November, and he had three points in four games. The beginning of December was the same thing. Yet, other players who have significantly fewer points and haven’t played as well have gotten more games this season.
It happened last season, too. Yamamoto was constantly sent down to the American Hockey League (AHL) despite playing well with the Tucson Roadrunners and up in the NHL with Utah. However, his past five games since reappearing in the lineup have to be a final example of why he needs to stick in the lineup. If he doesn’t, there is something seriously wrong.
Yamamoto obviously produces well. However, something that’s interesting is that he’s been able to do it on different lines. Against the Hurricanes, he played on the third line with Michael Carcone and Jack McBain. Against the Stars on Saturday, he played on the second line with Peterka and Barrett Hayton. On both lines, he played excellently.
“I think just getting back into the lineup, obviously, is a huge confidence (boost),” Yamamoto said. “I haven’t played too many games here. Playing with JJ and Haytes (Hayton), they’re amazing players too. They make plays with the best of them. They are very easy to read off and stuff like that.”
Related: Consider Utah: Why Salt Lake City Makes Sense for a PWHL Team
Speaking of Peterka, give him some credit for Yamamoto’s excellent night. His two assists were phenomenal. There’s been a lot of flak on him recently because of how the trade to bring him to Utah has panned out, especially with Josh Doan playing so well that he earned a long-term extension with the Buffalo Sabres. However, as of late, Peterka has been on fire. He has three points in his past two games and seven points in his past 10.
Overall, the newly put-together second line was by far the best line for the Mammoth on Saturday. They were the only ones making the game close for their team. I said it with the third line of Yamamoto, Carcone, and McBain on Thursday, and I’ll now say it with this newfound second line: keep it together.
“I think they work really hard, and they simplify their game,” head coach André Tourigny said. “I don’t think they did anything complicated. A big topic for us in the last month or so has been to play the game that is in front of you. There’s some nights where there’s plays to be made. There’s some other nights, where there’s no play to be made. There was nothing tonight. There was no seam or easy possession. They played really well.”
Shooting Stars Early in the Night
Having a great start is just as important as finishing on a good note in a hockey game. If you jump out and play well to kick off the game, that momentum should help you out big time going forward. If you score, the other team chases you. It’s exactly the position you want to be in if you want to win. If you reverse everything that was just mentioned, that’s a good way of struggling in a game.
The Mammoth have not had a lot of good starts as of late. Saturday was no different. Just a little over two minutes into the first period, Thomas Harley deflected in Mavrik Bourque’s shot to put the Stars up early.
Just five minutes after Harley’s goal, Mikko Rantanen took a shot from near the blueline, which Wyatt Johnston tipped in to put the Stars up 2-0 before the halfway point of the first period. Not a great spot to be in if you’re the Mammoth.
“We didn’t play well from the beginning in terms of, we’re not skating,” Tourigny said. “If you look at those two pucks, we have time and space, so why are we not moving our feet and playing with pace? That just kind of illustrates our start…It’s not like it was a shooting gallery with a lot of opportunities. They’re really good at the way they score, and that’s the way they scored. They get tips and sticks on rebounds and stuff like that.”
The Mammoth have allowed seven goals in the first five minutes of a game this month. That’s not great. Playing from behind is never a good place to be. Yes, you can always come back. The Hurricanes, of course, demonstrated that to the Mammoth in dramatic fashion on Thursday. However, anyone will tell you that they’d rather play with the league than rely on a potential comeback.
Especially when you play a great team like the Stars, having a good start is necessary. Falling behind by two goals is not ok. Luckily, Yamamoto scored to cut it back down to one, but imagine if the Mammoth didn’t allow one of those goals. This game would’ve been tied, and it’s a different end result.
However, that didn’t happen. Instead, the Mammoth went down a point by a score of 3-1. While a bad start is definitely part of the problem, there was an even bigger problem on Saturday.
Nothing Special in the Special Teams
There’s no other way to describe it. The Mammoth’s power play and penalty kill on Saturday were awful.
Let’s start with the penalty kill. The once-dominant and top-10 penalty kill has bottomed out. They now sit at 19th in the league with a 78.7% success rate. On Saturday, they allowed two goals, which ended up accounting for most of the Stars’ scoring. Coincidentally, those goals were the two that were scored early on.
The Mammoth are tied for 10th place in the NHL for most penalties taken this season with 211. That’s fine and all. The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning are number two and three on that list. The difference is that they know and succeed at killing penalties. Both teams are in the top 10 in penalty kill success rate in the league. If the Mammoth are going to take penalties, they need to find a way to do that. If they can’t, take fewer penalties.
“They’re the second-best power play in the league, for a reason,” Tourigny said. “We need to stay out of the box in any way, shape, or form. We need to find a way.”
Then there’s the power play. At least the penalty kill has seen success at times this season. The Mammoth’s power play has been atrocious all season long. They now sit dead last in the entire league in power play success rate, operating at an abysmal 14.8% (funny enough, the Colorado Avalanche are right above them at 31).
Something needs to change on the man advantage. The Mammoth have too good a top six to be sitting last in the league in power play success rate. Something they have to do is shoot the puck. Obviously, you want a good shot, so you have to be patient. However, you also have limited time being a man, so you have to get something on net.
“Right now, we’re kind of struggling,” said Peterka. “We’ve got to go back to just making easy plays, more shots on net, maybe scoring one or two greasy goals, and then just moving on from there.”
There’s no life in either the penalty kill or the power play. Sure, the power play hasn’t been good at any point this season for the Mammoth, but the fact that both units are struggling mightily is very alarming.
“I don’t think we have any swagger,” Tourigny said. “I don’t think we have any kind of execution. At some point in this league, if you feel sorry for yourself, everybody will step in your throat, and nobody will let you get back up.”
As mentioned previously, if the penalty kill stops one of those goals in the first period, the Mammoth might’ve gotten at least a point and perhaps two by sending it into overtime. Instead, they allowed the Stars to win the game. It’s pretty frustrating, especially if you factor in that the Mammoth have been pretty good at five-on-five play.
If you don’t have at least one good special teams unit, you’re not going to win consistently in the NHL, at least not forever. With the loss, the Mammoth remain at 60 points, but the three California teams are within at least two points of them. All three of the LA Kings, Anaheim Ducks, and San Jose Sharks have games in hand on them as well.
Now, the loss can’t all be blamed on special teams. However, it was the primary reason why they lost on Saturday. There’s an easy game coming up on Monday, but then they welcome the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday before disbanding for a couple of weeks for the Olympic break. Something needs to happen, especially with four valuable points on the line over the next couple of days. This could very well determine the end result of the Mammoth’s season.
“There’s a lot to be thought, to be brainstormed, but we need to find a way, because our five-on-five game is top five in the league, and right now we’re fighting for our life,” Tourigny said. “We need to get our special teams, special situations, up to par.”
The Mammoth will take on the Vancouver Canucks next on Monday. The Canucks have a record of 18-31-6 and are coming off a 3-2 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. These two teams last met in December, where the Mammoth won 4-1.
