Winning three games in a row has been great for the Utah Mammoth. They’ve gotten their starting goaltender, Karel Vejmelka, to 20 wins, the first in the NHL to do so this season. They have improved their record to over .500, and they are back in contention for a wild card spot.
However, a big thing that was said was that fans can’t get too excited yet. The Mammoth need to stay winning to gain ground in the playoff race, and to do that, they need to consistently be playing their best. Sunday’s 3-2 overtime loss against the Columbus Blue Jackets showed what happens when the Mammoth aren’t doing that. Here are some takeaways from the loss.
A Night Off for the Penalty Kill
After a solid win against the St. Louis Blues, where almost every aspect of the Mammoth were firing on all cylinders, it seemed like Sunday was a day off for a lot of those parts of the team. One of the things that didn’t look great against the Blue Jackets was the penalty kill.
The Mammoth took three penalties throughout the entire game. On their first penalty, the Blue Jackets managed to get to the front of the net due to a shot from Charlie Coyle and swarm Vítek Vaněček. Adam Fantilli tried whacking it in before Coyle finished it off by pushing the puck into the net. One goal against on one penalty kill opportunity.
Entering the third period, Jack McBain took a penalty early on, but the Mammoth killed that one. One goal against on two penalty kill opportunities.
Late in the third period, the Mammoth took one last careless penalty. Daniil But went to the box for tripping Fantilli. While the penalty kill managed to force it into overtime, the Blue Jackets were too much for the Mammoth’s four-on-three kill and attack Vaněček with the puck. Dmitri Voronkov tipped in Zach Werenski’s shot into the back of the net to win the game for the Blue Jackets. Two goals against on three penalty kill opportunities.
VORO CALLED GAME💥
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) January 12, 2026
CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/M3CXoebRUD
“It wasn’t our best game, for sure,” McBain said. “Everybody knows that. We gave up too many chances. I think we tried to overcomplicate the game. We got a little away from our identity there.”
It didn’t help that the Mammoth’s power play didn’t do much on their two attempts. After Friday’s game, where they were great on the man advantage, Sunday’s game looked more like what we’ve been seeing from the Mammoth.
Allowing two power play goals, including the overtime winner on three attempts, is not acceptable. But’s penalty alone, along with the poor effort in four-on-three overtime by the penalty kill, was a big reason for the loss
“Pucks were flying around; high sticks everywhere; we just didn’t get to set up in our formation and didn’t get to defend that well,” Mikhail Sergachev said. “(Columbus) attacked right away. Good on them.”
Related: Winter Classic Comes to Utah: Mammoth Set to Host Avalanche at Rice-Eccles Stadium
However, even Coyle’s goal in the second contributed to the eventual Blue Jackets’ win. It wasn’t good enough from the penalty kill, which even in the Mammoth’s worst losses this season has usually been a lone bright spot.
Of course, it’s not just the penalty kill that let the Mammoth down on Sunday. The Blue Jackets didn’t allow the Mammoth to get a shot on net for a good portion of the first period. They controlled the first two periods and overtime. They were the better team.
Almost the entire Mammoth team just looked off. They didn’t play the way they’ve played in the past three games. They played fine in the third period, but other than that, it was like the Mammoth took a night off.
“I’m disappointed about the way we process that game, the way our thought process, mindset, our play with the puck, our play without the puck,” head coach André Tourigny said. “I think V (Vaněček) gave us an opportunity to get a point, which is a big point, which is important. I thought against St Louis, Vej (Vejmelka) bailed us out. So I was expecting definitely better from today.”
Vítek Vaněček Nearly Steals a Win
The one player that didn’t take Sunday night off was Vaněček. Making his first start since Dec. 29, it was a big game for the goaltender. Sunday’s game had to be one Vaněček made a strong impression in to show he can take some games off of Vejmelka’s plate.
Part of the reason why Vaněček had to make a strong impression is that he hasn’t won a game since Oct. 26 against the Winnipeg Jets. If the Mammoth coaching staff doesn’t trust Vaněček, they won’t be afraid to ride Vejmelka for most of the rest of the season.
The team in front of Vaněček didn’t make it easy for him. Less than three minutes in, with all of the pressure the Blue Jackets put on Vaněček, Mikael Pyyhtia scored. At that point, the Mammoth hadn’t even had a shot on goal.
After the first Blue Jackets goal, Vaněček settled in. He stopped the 10 other shots he faced in the first period despite the Blue Jackets spending quite a bit of time in the Mammoth’s zone.
“Tough situation,” Tourigny said. “He didn’t play for a little bit, and came in, and the guys did not play their A game in front of him, and he kept us there. I think he did a great job.”
The shots didn’t stop there. Vaněček faced 14 shots in the second period, stopping all but one of them that came on the penalty kill for the Mammoth. In the third period, he stopped all nine shots he faced.
Vaněček walks away from the game with a .917 save percentage. Not bad considering how many shots his defense let him face.
You can’t help but feel bad for the goaltender. He’s played well in some of the losses he’s appeared in since his last win, including the 1-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 23, where he had a .962 save percentage, and the 2-0 loss to the Calgary Flames on Dec. 6, where he had a .955 save percentage. However, just like on Sunday, his teammates let him down as he continues to search for his third win of the season.
“He (Vaněček) was amazing,” Sergachev said. “He held the ground for us. We gave up a little too much, as I said. He was big for us tonight. We just couldn’t get it done for him.”
The Winning Streak is Over, the Point Streak Continues…Barely
Just like that, the Mammoth’s longest winning streak since October is snapped at three. While they did fail to extend that streak and win the game, forcing the game into overtime means the team got a point out of the game. That point keeps them tied with the Los Angeles Kings for the final wild card spot with 48 points (the Kings do have the tie breaker).
It’s a big point. At a point in the season where every single point matters, it’s welcomed by the Mammoth. However, they barely got that point, and it’s debatable if they deserved it. Vaněček bailing out the Mammoth is the lone reason why the game even got to overtime in the first place.
Tourigny and the Mammoth now have their sights set on Tuesday’s game. While Sunday’s game will be in the rearview mirror by Monday morning, the Mammoth need to learn one crucial thing from their loss. Be ready to play in every single game every night from here on out.
“You need to sting a little bit,” Tourigny said. “It’s not just about moving on. It’s about learning from it. I think there’s a lesson to learn from that game. It’s not a matter of execution or effort. It was a matter of mindset, be ready to play the game the way it should have been played, and our decision with the puck. There’s many things that were not on par.”
It was a rough game for the Mammoth. From the start, it seemed like they weren’t ready for the game and, as a result, weren’t truly in the game. They’re lucky that they got a point. It’s definitely a small win, but now, as mentioned, it’s time to learn from mistakes and move on to Tuesday’s game.
“We got a point out of (tonight),” McBain said. “It wasn’t our best game, but we’ll learn from it and move on. We have to learn…to win, how to close out games. Not our best, but we’re on to the next one.”
Make no mistake, though, this can’t be the start of a losing streak or a pattern of winning one game then losing the next game and repeating that. Otherwise, the Mammoth might be a couple of points out of a playoff spot when the Olympic break rolls around.
The Mammoth will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs next on Tuesday. The Leafs are 22-15-7 and are coming off a 5-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks. They will play the Colorado Avalanche on Monday before travelling to Utah. These two teams last met in early November, where the Mammoth lost 5-3.
