Will slap shot goals from Dylan Guenther ever get old? Utah Mammoth certainly doesn't think so, especially since it was his goal off a JJ Peterka pass that sealed the deal in Utah's 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins. Originally, Utah looked like it had missed its chance at getting a goal after Peterka's first attempt to connect with Guenther went past him as he drove to the net front. But Peterka showed no quit—evident in his takeaway from Boston’s Marat Khusnutdinov, just as it looked like Boston had regained control of the puck. With the puck suddenly in Peterka’s possession, Guenther tapped his stick on the ice, signaling he wanted the shot, and quickly fired a slap shot as soon as the pass arrived. And just like that, Utah went up 3-2, and never gave up the lead again. "And heading into the third, you have to be comfortable in those situations and own it," said Guenther. "That's when you want to play when the game's tied, you're at home and the crowd is into it. I think it's just a ton of fun. So if we embrace that, we continue to get better at it." Each game Peterka plays has shown increased chemistry with his linemates. While there are still moments when a pass doesn't quite connect, Peterka is integrating well into Utah’s lineup. "I liked [Peterka and Guenther's] third period, and I talked to JJ after the second about using his speed in every phase and putting speed on their D and stuff like that," said André Tourigny. "I really like the way [Peterka] responded too, he attacked right in from the first shift in the third period, and he attacked with a lot of speed. [Dylan Guenther] elevated this game in the third, and on the winning goal, he had a great reload, great strip, made a good pass, and obviously, Gunner took a really good shot." KELLER AND SCHMALTZ RESPOND THE RIGHT WAY Sometimes, mistakes are going to come from your top players. For Utah, that moment came when a pass along the boards from Nick Schmaltz unexpectedly slipped past Clayton Keller and into Utah’s defensive zone. Missed passes happen in every game, but even the smallest mistakes can be costly, especially when you're playing against David Pastrňák. With only Olli Määttä back far enough to defend, Pastrňák—working off Khusnutdinov—scored his second goal of the game with relative ease. But the thing about Keller and Schmaltz is that one missed pass isn’t going to throw them off their game. “Those are games that we want to be comfortable in, and we're gonna have a lot of them this year where we're either down a goal or up a goal, so I think just staying composed and having lots of confidence, which I think we do," said Keller. And just as a missed pass can suddenly lead to a goal, a simple pick can create wide-open lanes to the net like it did for the Mammoth. Thanks to Ian Cole getting in the way of Boston defenseman Henri Jokiharju, Schmaltz found the space to do whatever he wanted. Smartly, he chose to pass it off to Keller, who had a wide-open net after all eyes from the Bruins focused on Schmaltz. As Tourigny put it, Schmaltz and Keller have a "special chemistry." For every mistake they make, they bounce back with big, clutch plays. UTAH'S POWER PLAY IS EVOLVING Though the Mammoth have still only scored on 3 of its 25 power plays this season, Utah has shown growth over its past two games. Originally, Utah relied on Schmaltz to score from the net front in the middle of the ice—which is a solid strategy. While Schmaltz generated plenty of Grade-A chances, Utah still wasn’t finding the back of the net. But against Boston, a small adjustment not only led to a power play goal on Utah’s first opportunity, it also marked the second consecutive game in which the Mammoth scored with the man advantage. Rather than scrapping the scheme that got Schmaltz Grade-A shots, Utah decided all it needed was a slight tweak, in the form of Logan Cooley. This time, when Schmaltz took the shot, Cooley was in the blue paint, properly positioned for a rebound. Instead of living or dying on whether Schmaltz alone could beat the goalie at close range, Utah was now forcing Joonas Korpisalo to cover both the initial shot and the potential rebound. Now, Schmaltz’s shot choice is multi-faceted and much harder to defend. And if Utah keeps it up, it can rise from its bottom five rank on the power play. O'BRIEN'S FIRST FIGHT WAS FIREWORKS Dropping gloves is always a great time, and Liam O'Brien and Mark Kastelic's fight was no different. In fact, it was a thing of beauty. To make it even better, the fight came just one game after a heartwarming moment when O’Brien scored his first goal ever playing for Utah. In case anyone forgot, O’Brien had six fights last season—second most on the team—despite playing in only 28 games. But that’s what makes hockey great: the sport can shift quickly from heartwarming celebrations to haymakers. It’s possible Utah could have a third consecutive fight against the Colorado Avalanche in a rematch on Oct. 21 to close out its home stretch. But for now, O’Brien has only one fight this season.
