Clayton Keller did the heavy lifting, the Utah Mammoth got a timely boost from Barrett Hayton and Logan Cooley, and Edmonton’s run finally came to a stop Thursday night in a 4-2 Utah win.
Keller scored twice, Hayton added his first goal of the season, and Cooley chipped in as the Mammoth improved to 6-2-0 and stretched their winning streak to three. Karel Vejmelka backed it up with 21 saves, giving Utah a road win over a club that had made a habit of handling them.
Leon Draisaitl and Shakir Mukhamadullin scored for the Oilers, who saw their five-game winning streak end at 5-1-1. Edmonton was already shorthanded, missing five starting forwards and a defenceman. Devon Levi made 20 saves in the loss.
Hayton’s night stood out beyond the score sheet. Utah matched the New Jersey Devils’ offer sheet for him in the off-season, and he rewarded that faith by scoring his first of the year while extending his points streak to five games.
Connor McDavid also kept his own run going, picking up an assist to extend his season-opening points streak to seven games. He now sits at four goals and 14 assists for a league-leading 18 points, the best start of his career.
The turning point came in the second period. Draisaitl finally got Edmonton on the board at 13:54, but Utah answered almost immediately. Just 23 seconds later, Vincent Trocheck fed the puck to a charging Cooley, who buried his first goal of the season to push the Mammoth back ahead by two at 3-1.
The result also snapped a long Edmonton edge in the matchup. The Oilers had entered the game 5-0-1 against Utah, outscoring the Mammoth 31-16, and they were 3-0-0 at home against them all-time with a 17-5 scoring margin.
The same two teams meet again Saturday night in Utah.
In Other News...
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The Tucson Roadrunners head into their two-game series at Tucson Arena with some confidence after handling the San Jose Barracuda in back-to-back wins, a stretch that saw them outscore San Jose 11-5. Now the assignment shifts to the San Diego Gulls, a different kind of test and the first I-8 battle of the season, with the home team trying to carry that recent offensive surge into another divisional matchup.
San Diego arrives with a changed look after Anaheim moved rookie Roger McQueen back up, and the Gulls also got defenseman Travis Mitchell back from the Ducks. That kind of roster turnover can alter the feel of a series quickly, especially for a Roadrunners team trying to establish a rhythm early, so Tucson will be watching closely to see how the Gulls settle in once the puck drops. [Read more 🡒]
Former Coyotes Are Suddenly Forcing A Big Early Question In The West
A couple of familiar names from the old Coyotes pipeline are helping make the early West a little more interesting than expected. Utah has opened the season with a strong start, and the mix of young talent such as Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley with veterans like Clayton Keller and Anders Lee has given the club real balance in the lineup. Add in a defense led by Mikail Sergachev, and the Mammoth have looked like a team that can push the pace on both sides of the puck.
The result is an early test for the rest of the conference, especially for teams trying to measure themselves against a group that is getting production from former Coyotes pieces in key roles. Utahs scoring punch has stood out, and the question now is whether it can keep that momentum going against a Western field that is still trying to sort itself out. [Read more 🡒]
Utah Faces Another Early Test Against An NHL Heavyweight
Utah got a full morning skate in before opening a home-and-home series against Edmonton, and the timing made sense. The Mammoth are trying to carry over the lessons from their recent game against Toronto, using that test to sharpen their approach as they get ready for another heavyweight opponent.
The challenge only gets steeper from here. Edmonton brings a deep, dangerous attack, and Utah knows the attention will be on handling the kind of pressure that comes with facing elite talent early in the season while trying to build on a strong 5-2-0 start. [Read more 🡒]