The Utah Mammoth got exactly the kind of response they wanted Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and they needed overtime to finish the job.
It started as a rough night for Utah. Jake Guentzel opened the scoring after Nate Schmidt accidentally knocked the puck through Karel Vejmelka’s pads, putting Tampa Bay up early. Utah answered fast, though, with Kailer Yamamoto scoring unassisted to level it at 1-1.
The Lightning then grabbed control again. After the Mammoth killed off a Tampa Bay power play, Pontus Holmberg scored an impressive goal that gave the Lightning the lead back. Later in the first period, Brayden Point added another as Utah’s penalty kill continued to have trouble, pushing Tampa Bay ahead 3-1.
Utah kept coming. Dylan Guenther buried a sharp power-play goal to trim the deficit to 3-2 before the first intermission, then Connor Geekie scored to make it 4-2, beating Mikhail Sergachev. The Mammoth weren’t done, either.
Anders Lee, who was scoring his third goal of the season, pulled Utah within one at 4-3. Then Dmitri Simashev delivered the moment that changed the game, scoring his first NHL goal on a delayed penalty with an impressive snipe.
From there, both goalies took over. The third period went scoreless, with each side tightening up defensively and Vejmelka standing tall when Utah needed him most.
In overtime, J.J. Moser had a chance to end it after a turnover and breakaway, but Vejmelka shut the door.
That save set up the finish. Barrett Hayton found Simashev, and Simashev buried the winner to cap a career night. Vejmelka also picked up his first point of the season with an assist on the play.
The Mammoth will face the Minnesota Wild next Tuesday night, with both teams tied for the Central Division lead.