Where one four-game losing streak ends, another is born.
The Utah Mammoth busted their slump with a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers, who are now on a four-game losing skid of their own.
Mammoth head coach André Tourigny laid out a simple game plan at practice on Friday, and it resulted in the win on Saturday.
Here’s the story.
Quick catchup
Utah Mammoth: 3
New York Rangers: 2
JJ Peterka kicked this one off with a rebound goal halfway through the first period. It was nothing fancy, but that’s exactly the type of goal Utah needs to score right now.
Vladislav Gavrikov tied it up with a perfect deflection from the high slot. It floated past Karel Vejmelka in a way that can only be described as a puck with eyes.
An Artemi Panarin breakaway gave the Rangers the lead in the second period, but Clayton Keller tied it back up with a rather unusual goal (we’ll go over it in a minute).
Nick DeSimone played hero in this one, putting a shot through traffic and past future Hall of Fame goaltender Jonathan Quick. That goal stood as the winner.
“Saturday night, against the Rangers, two points. What a beautiful night in Utah, huh?” Tourigny beamed at the beginning of his postgame interview.
The Mammoth’s win elevated them to the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. They’re also one point short of the third spot in the Central Division standings, having played the same number of games as the Minnesota Wild, who currently own that spot.
Takeaways
The game plan
At practice on Friday, Tourigny told the media that his team’s troubles stemmed from battles in the corners. A large portion of goals in the NHL come from unanticipated bounces.
Hard work in the corners is what makes most of those bounces go your way.
That was the difference in this game. Hard work in the corner resulted in a failed Rangers clearing attempt, which teed DeSimone up for the game-winning goal.
“Look at all the goals in the NHL tonight,” Tourigny said after the game. “The way we scored, that’s the way the NHL scores. The seam, back-door, this and that, that will be probably 30% of the goals.
“Goals (that) are greasy — driving the net, getting a stick on the rebounds, getting point shots with traffic — those kinds of goals, that’s the way the NHL works.”
That’s an ode to simplicity, too.
‘Put it on net and good things happen’
If you’ve played hockey at any level, you’ve probably heard the phrase a million times. “Put it on net and good things happen,” coaches always say.
That was the case during a series of plays in the third period.
During a scramble in front of the Rangers’ net, the puck popped out to Nate Schmidt at the point. He put everything he had into a slap shot, but he squandered the chance by sending it high and wide. A few moments later, Dmitri Simashev did the same thing in a similar situation.
When DeSimone found himself in the same scenario just after that, he made no mistake, just making sure it went on net. And what do you know? It went in.
That reflects the team as a whole over this recent stretch. In too many instances to count, they’ve tried to do too much, which has often resulted in scoring chances not even yielding shots on net.
Keeping it simple is often the best way to go.
Peterka, whose goal on Saturday was his fifth in the last six games, pointed to that exact thing when asked what’s been contributing to his success.
“I think just keeping it simple. I think that’s been the key,” he said.
By the way, DeSimone has been the perfect depth defenseman for this team. He doesn’t complain when he’s a scratch 15 games in a row, and as soon as his services are needed, he plays like he hasn’t missed a game all season.
That’s his second goal and third point in seven games this season as a defenseman who averages fewer than 16 minutes of playing time per game.
Keller’s odd goal
An air of confusion ran through the Delta Center when the horn sounded mid-play halfway through the second period. If you’re still wondering what happened, here’s an explanation.
The horn sounded because a Keller shot had gone in the net, though the on-ice officials didn’t see it.
The league is equipped to handle situations like these. The situation room, which is located in Toronto, monitors every game. Their replay angles clearly showed the puck enter the net, so they used their powers to call the goal remotely.
It’s an uncommon but not unheard-of scenario. Hockey is a fast game and it’s easy for the officials to miss things in real time.
Goal of the game
Nick DeSimone’s game-winner
None of Utah’s goals were particularly flashy, so don’t expect a highlight-reel goal here. But for reasons already described, this was an important goal for the Mammoth.