We are officially halfway through the Utah Mammoth’s preseason, and the results are getting better, despite the team still being winless. However, as mentioned repeatedly, the score doesn’t matter. It’s about what happens on the ice and if any players fighting for a roster spot can make a difference.
While there weren’t a lot of rookies or American Hockey League (AHL) players in the lineup for the Mammoth in their Thursday night game against the Vegas Golden Knights, there were some dominant performances by some of their top players, showing the developing chemistry some of them have with each other. Here are some takeaways from the 3-2 overtime loss.
The Top Line Goes Off
By far the best part of the game for the Mammoth on Thursday was the performance of the top line consisting of Barrett Hayton, J.J. Peterka, and Dylan Guenther.
It started late in the first period. Peterka skated into the Golden Knights’ zone and darted into the center of the ice. The two Golden Knights defenders kept on him, leaving Guenther unguarded to get near the front of the net. Peterka slid a fast and well-targeted pass to him, which Guenther put in the back of the net after a flurry of moves. It gave the Mammoth only their second lead of the whole preseason.
Yea that’s pretty nice. #TusksUp https://t.co/hjc26ijxYw
— Chase Beardsley (@ChaseBeardsley_) September 26, 2025
The offense didn’t stop there. To begin the second period, Hayton entered the Golden Knights’ zone and fed Guenther a great pass, and once again, the forward put the puck into the back of the net for his second goal of the game. It has to be mentioned that the play started with Peterka winning the puck along the boards in the neutral zone.
It wasn’t just the two goals that were impressive from the trio. Their overall competitiveness was noticed throughout the whole game. They played with speed and did well inside their own zone. They were also able to feed each other passes like they’ve been playing together for a couple of years. Yet this is only Peterka’s second preseason game since being traded to the Mammoth.
Head coach André Tourigny liked what he saw from every angle of his top line. He’s not one to throw out the word “perfect,” but he did for the performance of Hayton, Peterka, and Guenther.
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“I liked the speed, and I liked the skill,” Tourigny said. “I like the compete level as well, and we talk about detail and playing both sides of the puck, and this line did it perfectly.”
All three players are expected to fit into the Mammoth’s top six this season. While there are still three more preseason games left for the team, and we have yet to see any combination of Nick Schmaltz, Clayton Keller, and Logan Cooley together, the Hayton, Peterka, and Guenther line might be one to test out in the regular season as well. It was an impressive line to watch, and despite Guenther having a solid game against the Anaheim Ducks, this was the best preseason game from any of the three players.
A Disappointing Outcome Despite a Good Effort
The excellence of the top line made the loss all the more disappointing. The Mammoth had the Golden Knights on the ropes throughout the game, but it was a late push by their top players that put them over the top.
Halfway through the third period, Ivan Barbashev was able to get the puck to new Golden Knight Mitch Marner, who connected with Jack Eichel for the first goal for his team. It was Marner’s first-ever point with his new team.
The second goal came off a failed clear by the Mammoth during a Golden Knights’ power play. Barbashev capitalized, once again finding Eichel, who shot it home with less than four minutes remaining in the game.
In overtime, interestingly enough, it was all Mammoth. Multiple players had great chances, including some breakaway opportunities. However, sometimes all it takes is one shot. That’s all the Golden Knights needed, as Shea Theodore was able to end the game with a goal on his own breakaway chance.
As mentioned, the Mammoth did play a solid game. The two-way play and forechecking were the best parts of the team’s play. The second line of Schmaltz, Michael Carcone, and Daniil But, in particular, did a really good job at keeping on the Golden Knights’ heels and preventing them from doing much until the end of the game.
Offensively, the Mammoth could’ve done more. Though the second line did a good job defensively, they didn’t do much offensively. With a guy like Schmaltz centering that line, you want to see more. The blue line didn’t have a lot of looks either at the net, even with an offensively gifted pairing of Sean Durzi and Dmitriy Simashev. Simashev did register an assist, but you’d like to see a little bit more out of him.
Vítek Vaněček also looked solid in net, making some big saves early. The power play looked decent. It was a solid night for the Mammoth. However, you need to play the full 60 minutes or more of hockey to win a game.
“We were really good at applying pressure and having good reloads and being five connected all the time,” Tourigny said. “I really liked that part of our game. I think offensively, we still have a few things that will get better, but defensively, I really liked our pace.”
There are a lot of positives to take away from this game, which isn’t something you can say with most of the preseason games so far. As more and more NHL players are added to the lineup, some of these negatives will likely diminish; however, the Mammoth are improving as the roster is refined and trimmed.
Notables From Preseason Game 4
Obviously, the most notable players were Guenther, Peterka, and Hayton for their brilliant performance on the top line together, notching the two goals the Mammoth had.
However, there were other standouts. I liked what I saw from Durzi leadership-wise. Brayden McNabb laid a huge, unnecessary hit on Hayton in open ice, and Durzi made sure to defend him by going after McNabb. The Mammoth defenseman was wearing the alternate captain’s A on his jersey during the game, and while it was probably a one-off thing, he wore it well.
As mentioned, Vaněček looked solid in net, making some big saves early. He’ll clearly be the backup with Connor Ingram officially being placed on waivers early Thursday.
Finally, Gabe Smith had his biggest moment of the preseason yet, but maybe not in the way you’d expect. After being silent for most of the preseason and the Golden Knights coming back, Smith fought Cole Reinhardt. The Mammoth prospect had some really good punches to kick off the fight before Reinhardt took him down. He’s certainly not ready for the NHL yet, but it’s good to see the fight he has in him reach the NHL.
Tourigny told reporters that Thursday’s game was the end of phase one of training camp. He’s got a good point. The next preseason game for the team isn’t until Tuesday, which is the same day the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners open up their training camp. That means a good majority of players who are AHLers or on amateur tryout agreements will be sent down.
The Mammoth did make their first round of cuts on Wednesday morning, with notables like Tomas Lavoie, Max Pšenička, and Veeti Väisänen being sent to their junior teams.
You’ll most likely see guys like Montana Onyebuchi and Lleyton Moore start heading down south for camp with the next round of cuts. I do wonder about a couple of guys. Curtis Douglas has played in all but one of the preseason games for the Mammoth. I wonder if he gets an extended look. Sammy Walker has only appeared in one game, but he looked great. Cameron Hebig and Andrew Agozzino haven’t done a lot, but do their terrific 2024-25 seasons give them one more preseason game? Only time will tell, but this is the time to give players like the aforementioned a shot.
Phase two will most likely see Tourigny start to piece together his opening night lineup. It’s where you can’t afford to make mistakes. One might send you down to the AHL, especially with the amount of competition in the camp.
The loss against the Golden Knights is certainly a disappointing outcome, but it was by far the best preseason game the Mammoth have played yet. It’s the best example of why not to panic with the team being winless. The chemistry of Guenther, Peterka, and Hayton is the massive win of this game. The forechecking of Carcone and But is another win. It shows the competitiveness of the Mammoth and that things are clicking. It shows an inkling of what they’re capable of when the entire roster is together, which is set to take place soon as we enter the second phase of the team’s training camp.
The Mammoth are now 0-3-1 in the preseason but will have four days to rest before their next game. They’ll next face off against the LA Kings in a game up in Boise, Idaho. The Mammoth are considered the home team as they play the third-ever NHL game in the Gem State. The Kings are 2-0-0 so far in the preseason and will play the Anaheim Ducks before traveling to Idaho.
