Wednesday night brought us a matchup between two teams looking to get back on track, with the Utah Mammoth hosting the Buffalo Sabres at the Delta Center.
In their second game of a four-game road trip, the Sabres entered play last in the Eastern Conference, having lost six of their last seven games. The Mammoth were opening up a short two-game homestand after playing seven of their last eight on the road — a great chance to stabilize after losing five of their previous six games.
Game Recap
To start the night, the Sabres came out putting the pressure on early, driving pucks to the Mammoth’s net. Off this early pressure, they were able to open the scoring just over five minutes into the game when Jack Quinn found Isak Rosen’s skate, which redirected the puck past Karel Vejmelka while sitting on the doorstep.
This was the lone goal of the first period, but the Sabres would go on to extend their lead to two on Rosen’s second goal of the night when he finished off a beautiful give-and-go play with Noah Ostlund.
The Mammoth finally got on the board mid-way through the game on Nick DeSimone’s first goal of the season in his second game. The goal came when the Sabres broke up a cross-crease pass from the Mammoth on the rush, the loose puck bounced out toward the blue line, and DeSimone walked into it, ripping a slapshot past Colten Ellis.
After clawing back within one, coming out of the second intermission, the Mammoth tied the game on J.J. Peterka’s first goal against his former team when he buried a wrist shot from the left circle after picking up a loose puck off the wall in the offensive end, and dancing around three Sabres players.
They then took the 3-2 lead four minutes into the final frame when Lawson Crouse went top shelf, beating Ellis in tight after being set up by Peterka, who recorded his second point of the game.
With just under 10 minutes left to play in the game, the Mammoth got an insurance goal when Clayton Keller found Nick Schmaltz for his 10th goal of the season on a one-timer in the slot. The Mammoth then iced it with an empty-net goal from Keller with less than 30 seconds to play, closing out a 5-2 victory and snapping a three-game losing streak.
This closes out a small season series sweep for the Mammoth between these two inter-conference teams, who made one of the biggest trades of the offseason. The Mammoth will be back in action Friday at home against the New York Islanders, while it gets no easier for the Sabres, having to match up with the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow night.
