Utah Scores Four Unanswered to Stampede Buffalo

The Utah Mammoth fell behind early Saturday and responded the way a contender should: calmly, then ruthlessly.

The Mammoth scored four unanswered goals, three of them from players who also picked up an assist, to flatten the Sabres 4-1 at KeyBank Center and move to 4-2-0.

Anders Lee, Kailer Yamamoto and John Marino each recorded a goal and an assist. Nick Schmaltz added a goal of his own, Barrett Hayton set up two, and Karel Vejmelka turned aside 23 shots to anchor the win.

A quick answer to an early deficit

Buffalo struck first at 8:00 of the opening period when Tage Thompson carried the puck out of his zone, drove to the bottom of the right circle and fired a wrist shot past Vejmelka on the short side. It was the Sabres’ first power-play goal of the season, ending an 0-for-13 skid.

Utah needed only about two minutes to respond. Hayton collected a rebound in the left circle and slid it to Yamamoto, who was driving the net for a tap-in at 10:12. The goal came in Yamamoto’s first game of the season.

The Mammoth took control late in the middle frame. With a man advantage, Logan Cooley sent a pass across the crease to Schmaltz, who finished at the left post at 15:23 to make it 2-1. It was Schmaltz’s sixth goal in six games.

Just 2:01 later, Marino carried the puck deep and set up Lee, who beat Colten Ellis with a backhand from the low slot at 17:24 for a 3-1 lead.

Marino capped the scoring 1:45 into the third, ripping a power-play slap shot from the point that found its way through Ellis’s legs. Ellis finished with 26 saves.

Utah improved to 5-0-0 all-time against Buffalo since arriving in the NHL in the 2024-25 season. The Sabres fell to 2-3-0 and have lost two straight, managing just one goal in that span following a 4-0 loss to Dallas on Thursday.