On Wednesday night, the Utah Mammoth hosted the Florida Panthers at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Related: Projected Lineups for Panthers vs Mammoth – 12/10/25
It was the Mammoth’s first look at the reigning Stanley Cup champions, entering play losing two straight, while the Panthers may be starting to heat up, winning two straight games to close a six-game homestand.
Game Recap
The night started with John Marino recovering a puck in the defensive end and chipping it forward to Dylan Guenther, who picked it up in the neutral zone and beat Sergei Bobrovsky on a breakaway 11 minutes into the game.
Carter Verhaeghe responded for the Panthers with less than a minute left to play in the first frame off an excellent seam pass from Aaron Ekblad, which came from the hashmarks near the right boards and went untouched through the slot all the way to the back post for a little chip over Vejmelka’s pad.
This goal swung the momentum, and to open the second period, Sam Bennett scored less than two minutes in off the rush when he beat Vejmelka over the shoulder with a wrist shot from the left circle.
A third unanswered goal came for the Panthers when Bennett scored his second goal in less than two minutes, which was assisted by Verhaeghe, who picked up his second point of the game.
The Mammoth finally responded with Guenther scoring his second goal of the game 13 seconds after the Panthers’ goal, which gave them a 3-1 lead, beating Bobrovsky five-hole after getting lost behind the Panthers’ defense again for another breakaway.
With another Mammoth goal with six minutes to go in the second, that came when Jack McBain whacked home a rebound off a Sean Durzi point shot. This goal tied the game 3-3, and the second period ended the same way it started.
In the early minutes of the third, to keep the game tied, Vejmelka made several outstanding saves in a row, lying on his back — a must-watch highlight in this game.
Finally, the tie was broken by Anton Lundell, who shovelled home a rebound with 52 seconds left in the game to close out the 4-3 victory.
After their third straight win, the Panthers will be back in action for the second half of a back-to-back tomorrow night against the Colorado Avalanche, while the Mammoth get a day off before playing the Seattle Kraken on Friday.
