Utah Mammoth battles injuries, celebrates winning streak, and finds surprising heroes in a week of highs and unexpected overtime loss.
Happy Sunday Utah Mammoth fans.
It's that time of the week again, where we look back at the week that was on the The Hockey News' Mammoth site.
Enjoy.
Utah Mammoth's Injury Report - Week 5
Despite key injuries, the Utah Mammoth are on an eight-game winning streak. Learn who's sidelined and when star players will return.
The Utah Mammoth have lost a few key pieces of their roster to injuries early this season.
Thankfully, their star players are still healthy and have shown up early this season to help them win games. That includes an eight game winning streak, which has helped them bank points, something they weren't able to do last season.
They will become a deeper team when the both Alex Kerfoot and Sean Durzi return to lineup. But in there meantime, they've done a great job without them.
From THN's Archive: Second Effort
Keller’s flashy rookie season couldn’t save the Coyotes. But hope springs eternal
THE 2017-18 CAMPAIGN could not have gone worse for the Arizona Coyotes. An early injury to goaltender Antti Raanta and a lot of fresh faces – including a first-year coach in Rick Tocchet – resulted in 11 straight losses to begin the season, effectively eliminating the team from playoff contention by the start of November. If there was a silver lining in the copper-rich state, however, it was the performance of rookie Clayton Keller, who led the team in scoring with 23 goals and 65 points. That was good for third place in Calder Trophy voting, but more importantly, Keller saw his team grow along with him. “Nobody wants to lose, but we learned a lot,” Keller said. “At the end of the year, everyone saw what we could do. We learned our systems and figured out our structure.”
Utah Mammoth Snaps Losing Streak, Score Five Unanswered Goals in 5-2 Win Over Buffalo
The Sabres were up 2-0 after a defensive breakdown from the Mammoth allowed Isak Rosen to score his second goal of the game. The energy for Utah Mammoth was low, turnovers in their own zone were increasing and Buffalo was getting freebies at the net one after another.
The Sabres were up 2-0 after a defensive breakdown from the Mammoth allowed Isak Rosen to score his second goal of the game. The energy for Utah Mammoth was low, turnovers in their own zone were increasing and Buffalo was getting freebies at the net one after another.
Besides some impressive saves from Karel Vejmelka to keep the game in reach, Utah looked like it was on its way to yet another loss. It was certainly looking real ugly early for the Mammoth and something would need to change fast if the team wanted to win.
But just as hope was dwindling in the crowd, offense came from an unexpected source after Utah defenseman Nick DeSimone, only playing in his second game of the season, scored his first goal of the season and kick-started five unanswered goals from Utah in a 5-2 win over Buffalo.
Utah Mammoth's Projected Lineup vs. New York Islanders – 2025/11/14
Keller, Cooley lead the charge as the Mammoth unveil their 2025/11/14 lineup against the Islanders. Injuries and scratches shake up both teams' strategies.
Schaefer’s Historic Night And a Controversial Call Hand Mammoth a 3-2 Overtime Loss
It was looking to be a quiet night for Matthew Schaefer against the Utah Mammoth defense.
It was looking to be a quiet night for Matthew Schaefer against the Utah Mammoth defense.
Utah was holding Schaefer in check, only managing one shot on goal heading into overtime. He was playing tough hockey, leading the Islanders in time on ice despite awkwardly skating to the bench twice in pain, but Utah wasn’t allowing him to make an impact on the offense.
But despite all of the adversity, it was Schaefer who handed Utah Mammoth its first overtime loss of the season — all while becoming the youngest player in NHL history to score a game-winning goal in the regular season.
From THN's Archive: Score One For The Little Guy
Keller represents the NHL’s evolved perspective on size. In short, it matters a lot less to scouts than it used to
LAST YEAR, I WATCHED several webcast games featuring Avon Old Farms, the Connecticut prep school that produced NHLers Jonathan Quick, Cam Atkinson and Nick Bonino. The Winged Beavers (amazing nickname) had a couple draft-eligible prospects, most notably Jamie Armstrong. Or so I thought. Every time I watched, the power forward was overshadowed by a 5-foot-7, 150-pound waterbug named Patrick Harper. Some scouts thought he was too small to draft, but the Nashville Predators had no beef and grabbed the skilled center in the fifth round. Armstrong, whose skating was a concern, went undrafted.
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