3 Takeaways From Mammoth’s 6-3 Loss to Sharks

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With a horrible November in the books, the Utah Mammoth looked to December to turn the ship around. A trip to San Jose seemed to be a good start. The San Jose Sharks are still a rebuilding team, and while scrappy, could be a great opponent to kick-start a win streak against.

However, everything that could go wrong went wrong for the Mammoth on Monday night. Poor goaltending, a horrible second period, and a flat power play all accounted for an abysmal 6-3 loss against the Sharks. It was an embarrassing game that felt like it could spark something in the future. Here are some takeaways from Monday’s game.

The Sheriff Lands in San Jose

If there was one player who had a good game for the Mammoth, it was Lawson Crouse. The veteran forward accounted for most of his team’s goals during the humiliating loss.

Nearly halfway through the period and down 2-0, Crouse sent the puck to Michael Carcone up through the neutral zone. Carcone slowly skidded towards the front of the net and did a little spin pass to Crouse, who easily deposited it into the empty net.

Crouse’s second goal was the only goal of the game in the third period. Short-handed, the forward protected the puck, skating through the neutral zone and the Sharks’ defense. He then slid the puck to Mikhail Sergachev. Sergachev glided backwards and then threw the puck back to Crouse, who shoveled it into the net.

Related: Mammoth’s Kevin Rooney Proving He Still Belongs In the NHL With Roadrunners

It was a solid game for Crouse, who is now at six goals and 11 points in the season. He’s only seven points away from his totals from last season. However, Crouse did not want to talk about himself or his goals. It makes sense given the loss and how bad it was.

“It doesn’t matter,” Crouse said. “We need to be better. Everyone.”

The other Mammoth goal was pretty solid as well. Nate Schmidt found JJ Peterka, who moved to the side of the net and laid a wicked shot to score. It was a nice goal, but as Crouse alluded to, it was overshadowed by the loss and how it happened.

A Horrendous Second Period

Who knew Sergachev refusing to shake SJ Sharkie’s hand during the ceremonial puck drop would only be the powderkeg to one of the worst losses of the season for the Mammoth? Sergachev was booed all game by the Sharks fans in attendance. Maybe it was part of the reason why he didn’t play well during the first period.

In the first couple of minutes, Sergachev turned the puck over, which led to Tyler Toffoli scoring the opening goal. Sergachev then took a penalty a couple of minutes later that led to Pavol Regenda scoring on the power play, his first NHL goal since Nov. 9, 2022.

It wasn’t just Sergachev, though. It was the entire team. Nearly 13 minutes in, Toffoli scored his second of the game, and Karel Vejmelka was pulled after allowing three goals.

In the second period, it got even worse. Will Smith scored twice, including a sick goal where he dangled a bunch of the Mammoth’s defense, and Adam Gaudette also put up a goal to give the Sharks a three-goal period. 

Once again, the Mammoth’s power play struggled tremendously, failing to score on any of their three opportunities. The worst offense came towards the end of the game, where it seemed like the team didn’t even register a shot, and their passes kept missing, leading them to be sent down to the other side of the ice, doing the Sharks’ penalty kill for them essentially. 

“Everyone needs to be better,” Crouse said. “Top down.”

Will Smith San Jose Sharks
San Jose Sharks center Will Smith reacts after scoring his second goal of the game against the Utah Mammoth (Justine Willard-Imagn Images)

The entire team felt flat. They felt defeated. It was a mess. 17 giveaways were another huge problem. If you’re giving away that many pucks, you’re bound to get scored on.

“It’s a matter of execution for us,” head coach André Tourigny said. “Right now, we have a really tough time connecting plays, and that goes with the focus. At some points in time like that, you need to be mentally tough, and you need to expect tough times, and you need to strive in those situations.”

It’s the same mistakes the Mammoth have been making for a while now. Even with the flipping of the page on the calendar, things are still the same. It begs a question about the bench boss in Utah.

Is it Time for a Coaching Change?

It’s time to start asking the question: Is it time for a coaching change? Fans have already taken to social media asking for the dismissal of Tourigny and replacing him with coaches like Peter DeBoer.

The fans definitely have a reason to be upset. The Mammoth now have a .500 record and are not showing any improvement from last season. They were the worst team in the league in November. The blowout loss to the Sharks, which extends their current losing streak to four games, is the cherry on top of everything.

Tourigny blamed himself for the loss on Monday. It is a good move for the coach, as at times throughout the past couple of weeks, fans have called him out for not being more honest.

“Very disappointed about our effort,” Tourigny said. “Our execution right now as a team is not really good…It’s on us as coaches to make sure the team is ready to work first. That’s the number one thing, and I failed on that today.”

So, with all of that going against the Mammoth, should they switch coaches? It certainly feels like a loss where that would be taken into consideration.

However, there are some things to be considered. First off, the team would never fire their coach in the midst of a road trip, especially with three more games on the schedule. It can be disrespectful to do so (such as in the case when the Florida Panthers dumped Gerard Gallant during one of their road trips and he eventually left in a taxi). The Mammoth could also use the final three games as one final look at Tourigny to see if there are any improvements.

At this rate, however, we are more than a quarter into the season. Everything that’s consistently gone wrong can no longer be labeled as a fluke. That includes the poor power play and the inconsistent goaltending from the Mammoth.

You also can’t blame the packed schedule. All 32 teams have cramped schedules due to the two-week Olympic break in February. Everyone is tired. Not just the Mammoth.

Something that usually happens around the time an NHL coach is fired is when the team gives up on him. Have the Mammoth given up on Tourigny? Maybe? That’s hard to say.

If the Mammoth do make the decision to fire Tourigny, another question arises. Who replaces him? DeBoer has been a popular name, but people seem to forget that the Dallas Stars fired him for a reason. His treatment of Jake Oettinger (and other goaltenders before him) and his inability to get past the Western Conference Finals were two big factors against him. Do the Mammoth really want that?

There aren’t that many other options out there. Peter Laviolette and John Tortorella are the bigger names that come to mind, but do either of those guys really fit this team?

Firing a coach is a risky move and could make a team implode or thrive. Should the Mammoth do it? That’s not my job to say. However, a stat I will point out is that Tourigny has been with this team for four years and is one of the longest tenured coaches in the NHL. Every coach has their own shelf life. Even the best ones. We might have reached Tourigny’s expiration date.

For now, all eyes look forward to Wednesday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. Tourigny hinted at some changes coming to try to put his team back in the win column. When asked how accountability will factor into what’s next, Toruginy replied with a straight and foreshadowing answer.

“You will see,” Tourigny said. 

The Mammoth will play the Ducks next on Wednesday. The Ducks are 16-9-1 this season and are coming off a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues. These two teams have already met once this season, where the Mammoth lost 3-2 in overtime.

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