When Logan Cooley was 5 years old, he participated in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ “Little Penguins” program, led by generational superstar Sidney Crosby. Seventeen years later, he tied Crosby for the league lead in goals.
That happened before the night was over, and three players have since passed the pair on the sheet, but Cooley and Crosby were alone at the top for a moment.
Cooley, whom the NHL named its Second Star of the Week last week, has been on fire both on the road and in the first period. All eight of his goals this season have come in the first period, and seven of them were on the road.
It wasn’t enough, however, to extend the Utah Mammoth’s winning streak to eight games. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, widely considered two of the best (if not the two best) players in the world, combined for three goals and four points en route to a 6-3 Oilers win.
But Utah isn’t letting that sour a challenging road trip during which they secured six of a possible eight points against teams with which they’re competing for playoff spots.
“We didn’t go too high when we had success, we won’t go too low after a game like that,” said head coach André Tourigny.
Quick catchup
Edmonton Oilers: 6
Utah Mammoth: 3
The game started like many others this season: two Mammoth goals in the opening frame and an opponent left scratching its collective head during the first intermission.
But the Oilers didn’t let the momentum get them down. It took them just three minutes and 13 seconds of second-period action to tie the game, and they’d go on to score three additional goals before the next ice clean.
The third period was a stalemate until Connor McDavid scored on the empty net to seal the deal for his Oilers.
“We were not expecting to win the rest of the way. We knew adversity will happen, and it’s part of the growth. I like the fight in our guys,” Tourigny said after the game.
Takeaways
Second-period blues
Tourigny, along with his players, has been vocal about the Mammoth’s poor second periods. With five goals against in the middle frame on Tuesday, that was the case again.
The problem dates back to last season, where they had a net negative-seven goal differential in the second. This season, they’ve allowed five more goals than they’ve scored in that period, despite having won eight of their 11 games.
It is, however, a significant improvement from the group’s time in Arizona, where they allowed 34 more goals than they scored in the middle frame just three seasons ago.
This was the most goals against Utah has ever allowed in a period, so it’s clear that it’s not always this bad, but shoring up their game in the second is a clear area where they can improve.
Vejmelka needs to shake this one off
Karel Vejmelka was not particularly to blame for many of the Oilers’ goals on Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t affect his stats — or his confidence.
Mental toughness is a major portion of goaltending. Those who can shake off bad goals, bad periods, bad games and bad stretches are the ones who make long careers out of it. Vejmelka’s second period may have been among the worst he’s ever had, but he started fresh and pitched a perfect third.
If he can shake off the loss and come back ready on Sunday, he and his team will be much better off.
How to survive the Edmonton Oilers’ power play
As always, the Oilers have been lethal on the power play this season. Coming into this game, they were on a four-game streak in terms of goals with the man-advantage. They’re fourth in the league in that category with a 30% success rate.
Utah’s game plan to avoid the pitfalls that so easily beset Edmonton’s opponents was to simply not take penalties — and it worked. Their only trip to the box came in the third period when Liam O’Brien got pegged for cross-checking, but by that point, the officiating standard had been set.
In turn, the Oilers did not strike on the power play — though that doesn’t mean they struggled offensively.
The ‘Kid Line’ is introducing itself to the NHL
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The Peterka-Cooley-Guenther line stunned its opponent with two goals in the first period.
These three look like they’ve been playing together since they were kids. I mean, they are still kids in the context of the NHL, but it’s only been 11 games.
They combine speed with incredible puck control, and they always know where to find each other. Peterka and Guenther are proven snipers, and Cooley, the supposed playmaker of the group, is among the NHL’s leaders in goals.
That said, Tourigny doesn’t give them exclusive credit for the success Utah has had.
“They had a few good looks, and they capitalized on it,” he said. “They are part of our success and they’re part of our failure. There’s nobody on our team who’s not part of it. We’re a unit, we’re a team, and everybody has to learn from that game and everybody contributes when we win.”
The Utah Mammoth are introducing themselves to the NHL
My dad, whose hockey-watching capabilities are limited to the teams Sportsnet chooses to air in Canada, messaged me near the end of the game, remarking how Utah seemed to never let go of the puck. He could watch this one because most Oilers games are available to him in British Columbia, and he was surprised at what he saw.
Many fans around the league are in the same boat: not yet properly introduced to the Mammoth, but starting to notice that something’s different. Their winning streak was enough to garner some big-time media attention, and as each market sees them play, they’re starting to realize that this is not another bottom-feeding Arizona Coyotes team.
Goal of the game
JJ Peterka, the sniper
If you didn’t know it already, you do now. JJ Peterka has a lethal shot.
He showed that with his goal on Tuesday. It was his fourth of the season, putting him on pace for 30 goals and 74 points — both of which would be career highs.