Concerns and Questions Arise as Mammoth Lose 5-3 to Kraken

You might not want to look now, but the Utah Mammoth have lost two of their past three games. They might still be at the top of the Central Division, but there is some cause for concern after the team’s prior three games.

Their one-game road trip to Seattle after a two-day break ended in heartbreak on Thursday, with the Seattle Kraken winning 5-3. It was a heartbreaker of a game, with the Mammoth playing some really good hockey in the final 20 minutes, while their start was not great at all.

Starting there, the Mammoth fell behind early, with Jordan Eberle scoring under four minutes into the game. Before the end of the period, Matty Beniers scored on the power play to make it 2-1 for the Kraken entering the first intermission.

“It was a frustrating night,” head coach André Tourigny said. “We did a lot of good stuff offensively, but we forced the play too much, and it's disappointing. They take pride in the way they play defensively. Clog the middle a little bit. When we played with pace offensively and we had a lot of speed, we had success, but when we slowed down and tried to make plays through them, that's how they counterattack, and that's how they had success.”

The Mammoth’s penalty kill was once again questionable. Brandon Montour scored the lone goal in the second period to put the Kraken up by two, a goal that was also on the power play. In total, the Mammoth’s penalty kill was scored on two of the four times it was deployed.

That does keep the Mammoth’s unit at 28th in the league, a stark difference from their power play, which is first in the NHL. Something desperately needs to change at this point. The Mammoth can't keep winning, allow multiple goals per game on the penalty kill, and expect to make the playoffs.

Vincent Trocheck did score in the first period on the power play to keep the Mammoth in this one. Assisting on the play was Kailer Yamamoto, who nearly scored in the third period. However, that goal was called off. Regardless, it was another great game for the former Kraken, who keeps producing at a point-per-game rate. Out of all the dark spots that surround the Mammoth during this recent stretch, Yamamoto has been a very bright talking point.

“The power play is rolling right now,” Logan Cooley said. “The second unit did a really good job. That was an unbelievable play by Yami there to find Troch there, and the goal at the start of the third was a big goal for us to get, especially so quickly. Those are obviously positives to take into the next games, and hopefully we can keep building off that because it's important.”

Cooley also had his best game of the season on Thursday. He scored two goals in the third period, including one on the power play. The forward has struggled to score goals, producing eight assists and a single goal heading into this game. The Mammoth are hoping he can continue scoring going into the next couple of games. They’re going to need Cooley to really get going if they want to get back on track.

The team did end up scoring two goals on the power play on Thursday, going two-for-three on the man advantage. Another bright spot amidst dark spots.

“The power play has been good for us,” Tourigny said. “I like when the world is spread like that. I think they came up big at key moments as well. It's not just scoring; it's scoring when it matters, and they had big goals when it mattered.”

The Mammoth actually had a really good third period, outshooting the Kraken 14-4 in the period. The team looked in sync, with the two Cooley goals coming within the first 10 minutes of the final frame of the game.

However, after an overturned goal for the Mammoth and an overturned goal for the Kraken, something had to budge. That came after a flurry of attack from the home team, where Mackie Samoskevich found a wide-open net to score the eventual game-winner. Freddy Gaudreau tallied an empty-net goal to put the Kraken up by two, ending the game.

If the Mammoth hadn’t had a rough start, Samoskevich’s goal could’ve been a tying goal instead for the Kraken, or even something better, like a meaningless goal as the team went on to win their eighth game of the season. Instead, the Mammoth looked lax to begin the game, being outshot 10-8 in the first period and giving up the two power-play goals in the first 40 minutes.

“There are a lot of areas we need to clean up in managing the puck the right way,” Cooley said. “Something we talked about. They're a team that holds the middle and doesn't allow you to give a lot of plays, especially on delays when you're trying to find a late guy, and I thought we got the puck picked off a bunch of times and allowed them to transition, and that's how they got their looks and ended up scoring.”

It forced the Mammoth to change up the lines a little bit. With the loss, the team now faces a really good team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, this weekend. It’s worth considering putting in a fresh face like Artem Duda to provide a spark, or even keep changing up the lines to continue trying to generate something on the ice.

Another change that has been widely debated after the loss is Karel Vejmelka and whether the Mammoth should consider acquiring a new goalie. Vejmelka allowed four goals on 22 shots on Thursday, finishing with an .818 save percentage. In the nine games he’s played, the goaltender has only posted a save percentage above .900 in three games.

Vejmelka currently has an .872 save percentage. It’s the worst save percentage of his career so far. Especially after another bad game against the Kraken, you can’t blame the fans for wanting change. The Connor Hellebuyck rumors get louder after every bad game for Vejmelka. 

If he wants to change that, his play needs to get better quickly. The goaltender hasn’t been good at the start of this season. It’s as simple as that. Otherwise, the Mammoth need to search for external options, and we know that general manager Bill Armstrong isn’t afraid to make a move if needed.

There were red flags in the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday. The blowout loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday was the second-worst game in the Mammoth’s season thus far. That’s three straight games where the Mammoth have had major issues during games that have either turned out to be a loss or made the game a lot closer than it should be.

There are things to be figured out. The penalty kill and goaltending, especially. With the final three games this month against playoff teams from last season, it could quickly turn into a brutal final three games for the Mammoth if they don’t figure it out.

The Mammoth will play the Lightning next. The Lightning are 7-2-0 and are coming off a 6-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. They will play the Colorado Avalanche on Friday before traveling to Salt Lake City.