On Thursday night, the St. Louis Blues hosted the Utah Mammoth at the Enterprise Center. This game marked the start of a four-game season series between these two Central Division opponents, who will likely be vying for the last couple of playoff spots down the stretch.
Game Recap
The Mammoth came out of the gates firing. Ian Cole opened the scoring for them just over three minutes into the game when he beat Joel Hofer five-hole, on a shot that is typically saved more often than not. It was Cole’s first goal of the season.
This line continued to dominate early. Three minutes after the Mammoth’s first goal and six minutes into the game, Logan Cooley got his second point of the night, wiring home a one-timer from the slot off a creative feed from Dylan Guenther.
Two minutes later, this line scored again to extend the Mammoth’s lead to three. Olli Määttä chipped a puck into the Blues zone, which was recovered near the blue line by Guenther, who found Cooley streaking down the middle. He split the Blues’ defenders with a between-the-legs deke before beating Hofer, who Jordan Binnington replaced after allowing three goals on six shots.
The goalie change did not stop the Mammoth from putting the puck in the back of the net, as Cooley completed the hat trick just under 11 minutes into the period, on the Mammoth’s first power-play opportunity of the night.
The Blues finally got on the board in the second period on a goal from Pius Suter six minutes into the second frame. After the goal went in, Mammoth defenseman Mikhail Sergachev started a melee behind the net, which resulted in the Mammoth ending up on the penalty kill right after allowing the goal.
The Blues went on to take advantage of their first chance on the man advantage, on Pavel Buchnevich’s first goal of the season in his 600th career game. The power-play goal brought the Blues back within two goals just before the midway mark of the game.
The Mammoth stabilized the ship, regaining a three-goal lead on a goal from Clayton Keller, which came 35 seconds before the second period ended. With an assist on the goal, JJ Peterka picked up his third point of the game.
The Blues kept fighting to open the third, bringing the game back within two, just over two minutes into the period, on Nathan Walker’s first goal of the season. They then clawed back within one with 15 minutes left to play on a wrap-around goal from Philip Broberg, his first of the season.
This was as close as the Blues would get with the Mammoth responding, scoring their sixth goal of the game on a Sergachev point shot, which was deflected by Nick Schmaltz for his second point of the night and 11th point in his five-game point streak.
This goal led to the Mammoth closing out a 7-4 victory, with Keller scoring his second of the game on an empty net. It was their fifth straight win. The Mammoth are back in action on Saturday against the Minnesota Wild, while the Blues meet up with the Detroit Red Wings the same day.
