3 Takeaways From Mammoth’s 4-3 OT Win Over Jets

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‘Twas the final home game before Christmas, and all through the Utah Mammoth’s house, every person was on their feet, including Lawson Crouse. It’s because their team had just won, and it was a big one too. Clayton Keller scored the overtime winner and put his team in wild card number two.

It was a big game for the Mammoth. Despite a horrendous final couple of minutes in the third period, the team continued a solid game that they played on Friday against the New Jersey Devils and beat the Winnipeg Jets in overtime by a score of 4-3. Here are some takeaways from Sunday’s win.

A Jolly Good Start for the Mammoth

The Mammoth put the Delta Center crowd on its feet early. Around five minutes into the game, Dylan Guenther shot the puck at the net, and it bounced back to the stick of Crouse. The forward capitalized on the rebound and scored to make it 1-0.

Just a couple of minutes after that, Keller was able to throw the puck to JJ Peterka, who was in front of the net. Peterka tapped in the puck to make it 2-0.

It was a great first period for the Mammoth’s offense. They outshot the Jets and had some more dangerous chances outside the goal as well. It helps that each line on the team is really starting to get going in terms of scoring. The concern of depth scoring has quietly disappeared over the past couple of games as players like Crouse and Danill But are getting on the board.

“All lines are playing well right now,” Keller said. “We’re getting scoring up and down the lineup. Something we have to continue to do moving forward if we want to be successful and we want to play in the end is our depth scoring, and it’s great to see that. We need to keep it going.”

Speaking of depth scoring, just three minutes into the second period, a big piece of the Mammoth’s bottom six got his first goal of the season. Mikhail Sergachev slid the puck to Sean Durzi, who immediately passed it to Alex Kerfoot. The veteran forward one-timed it into the back of the net to put the Mammoth up 3-0.

The goal, as mentioned, was Kerfoot’s first goal of the season in just his second game back from injury. Despite missing quite a bit of time with injury, he’s done well in both of the games he’s appeared in. On Friday, he had a couple of good chances, and his play looked like his normal two-way style. He didn’t skip a beat on Sunday.

“Anytime you get everyone contributing, it’s a good feeling,” Crouse said. “Obviously, an even better one when you see a guy like Kerfoot get one after a long start to his season. We’re so happy and proud to have him back in our lineup. He fills a big hole for our group as a leader. Just super proud and happy for him.”

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Three goals in under 20 minutes isn’t bad at all for the Mammoth. It gave them a commanding lead entering the second half of the game. It felt like the Jets were on the ropes. Overall, despite allowing a power play goal from Kyle Connor midway through the second, the Mammoth were playing a solid two-way game. The third period changed that narrative.

The Mammoth Gift a Point to the Jets

If you’ve watched any of the Mammoth’s games in the past couple of weeks, you’ll know that a lead is never safe, especially with this team. The Mammoth aren’t a team to blow leads consistently, like what we saw with the Pittsburgh Penguins last week. However, they’ve been known to have some late scares, which is due to taking the foot off the gas pedal.

Sunday, they took the foot out of the pedal again. As mentioned, Connor scored in the second period to cut the Mammoth’s lead down to two. That goal was also Connor’s 300th career NHL goal, making him the second-fastest American-born player to hit that plateau.

However, that ended up being just his first goal of the game. With less than five minutes remaining in the game, Connor fired a fantastic shot past Karel Vejmelka to bring the Jets within one.

Morgan Barron capitalized on the momentum shift shortly after. A poor defensive move by John Marino to cut across Barron’s lane resulted in the forward getting a leg up on everyone and scoring on a mini breakaway. Tied game at three.

While Marino made the final mistake on the Barron play, the comeback wasn’t all his fault or even the defense’s fault. It was the entire team failing to close the game out and getting too lax with the puck.

“We had a two-goal lead in the third,” head coach André Tourigny said. “I would’ve loved to close that game right there. I think they got a little bit nervous and lost their composure with the puck. Like I often say, there are two important things when you’re protecting a lead: it is having poise with the puck…Having poise with the puck doesn’t mean being slow; it means being fast, keeping your feet moving, moving the puck, and having a lot of pace defensively, which is our strength. They had one scoring chance in the first 13 minutes of the third because we had pace, because we’re on them. Then, we became a little too conservative, and they were able to come back.”

The Jets ended up outshooting the Mammoth 13-6 in the third. It’s a learning lesson for the Mammoth. Even if you have a decent-sized lead, you have to continue playing. While the Jets have had a rough season so far, they are still a team that can be dangerous and should not be underestimated. That’s what happened on Sunday.

While the Mammoth’s win softened the criticism of third period collapse, it did stick in the players’ heads. It’s an experience they want to learn from. When they face harder teams like the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, and might find themselves with a lead, protecting it is the only way to keep it because those teams will prey on any weaknesses.

“I think our third period there is obviously not great,” Keller said. “Something we have to learn from. We still have to make plays, even if we’re winning. Whatever the score is, they’re gonna make a push. That’s something that we’ve talked about and tried to get better at. I think just learning from it. You’d rather mess up and try to do the right thing than just be safe and see what happens. That’s something that we have to learn from and do moving forward.”

Clayton Keller Gives the Best Present of All to the Delta Center

The late comeback set up overtime with the game tied at three. Quickly after the faceoff, the puck ended up in the Mammoth zone on Sergachev’s stick after Guenther passed it to him. The defenseman passed it back to his teammate, and Guenther turned on the jets.

With Keller using his speed as well, the duo became an odd-man rush up the ice. Guenther slid the puck to Keller, and he put it in the top of the net to finish off the Jets. It took just 13 seconds of the overtime period for Keller’s goal to happen.

Talk about the players to get the win as well. Guenther’s clutchness in overtime has been well documented. However, with the overtime winner, Keller might’ve established himself as the Mammoth’s other big clutch player. He scored the overtime winner in Buffalo against the Buffalo Sabres earlier this season. He’s become a reliable player to count on when the team needs more offense.

“I feel like Gunner (Guenther) has been clutching in OT all season long,” Crouse said. “Incredible pass, incredible shot by Kells (Keller). Definitely not the way we wanted the third period to go. But credit to our group. That’s not easy. They scored two right away and then right into OT pretty much, so credit to the group for having the right mindset and being able to get the win.”

Utah Mammoth Celebrate
The Utah Mammoth celebrate after a goal by right wing Clayton Keller to win the game against the Winnipeg Jets during overtime (Rob Gray-Imagn Images)

It was a big win. The Mammoth get a big two points over a division rival, which leap-frogs them over the San Jose Sharks for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. They also win their final home game before the Christmas break, sending their fans home for the holidays in good spirits. The Mammoth won’t play in front of their fans for another week, so preventing the fans from leaving the arena for a whole week in a sour mood was a must.

There were a lot of pros that came out of Sunday’s game. The offense has looked solid, Kerfoot has looked great since his return, and obviously, there’s the win. It wasn’t a perfect game for the Mammoth. There’s a lot to learn from, especially regarding the late collapse. However, momentum now shifts to their side heading into the final game before Christmas break after a disappointing loss to the Devils on Friday.

“Well, I can’t say that today was a Picasso, to be honest,” Tourigny said. “We were nervous with the puck in our zone, but we were at the offensive blue line, turning the puck over. That is a teaching moment. The intention was right, but we still have to grow, understand it, and buy in 100%. They opened the door, they came in, and that could have hurt us big time. Every point is important. We have one more game before Christmas, and it will be a good test. It is the best team in the league, and we need to manage the game the right way.”

As Tourigny mentioned, the Mammoth will take on a big challenge before they get their longest break of the season so far. The Avalanche, who have only lost two games in regulation this season, await them in Denver.

It’ll be a tough task to take down the Avalanche. They are the best team in the NHL and have yet to slow down, almost halfway through the season. Especially considering the mediocre and inconsistent December the Mammoth have had, it could be an ugly game for them on Tuesday.

Fortunately, the team is used to the Avalanche. They have already met twice this season, with both games being one-goal games. They are also one of the lucky few to steal a win from the team, albeit in overtime. If the Mammoth can play the way they did in the first period on Sunday, they might stand a chance against the juggernaut. However, they also have to minimize their mistakes because the Avalanche will pounce on any weakness. It’ll be a rough and tough game, but if the Mammoth win, it could be one of their biggest wins of the season heading into a chance to rest and recharge.

The Mammoth and Avalanche will play each other on Tuesday. The Avalanche are 26-2-7 this season and are coming off a 5-1 win over the Minnesota Wild. As mentioned, these two teams have met twice this season, with the season series split. The Mammoth won the most recent game back in October by the score of 4-3 in overtime.

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