The Utah Mammoth inched closer to that evasive playoff spot with a 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators Wednesday evening.
Here’s the story.
Quick catchup
Utah Mammoth: 3
Ottawa Senators: 1
In the Senators’ first visit to Salt Lake City, every goal came in the first period. It looked like it would go the same way on Wednesday in their second visit — until Daniil But jammed in a loose puck during a mad scramble in the third period.
The Mammoth got on the board early, twice. Lawson Crouse opened the scoring four minutes in, and John Marino doubled it up three minutes later. Believe it or not, that was Marino’s first-ever goal at the Delta Center.
“It was great. Thanks for reminding me,” he joked after the game when asked how it felt to light up the building for the first time.
Ridly Greig cut the Mammoth’s lead in half just before the intermission, tapping home a rebound for his sixth goal of the season, but it wasn’t enough to turn the tides.
Utah now has their first set of consecutive wins since Dec. 12 and 14. Everyone who closely follows the team has been calling for more consistency, and while there’s still plenty of work to do, this is a step in the right direction.
The Mammoth have six more home games before their next road trip, so if there was ever a time to pad their points in the standings, it would be now.
Tidbits and takeaways
Blooper reel
The news broke on Wednesday afternoon that Senators forward Shane Pinto has accepted an invitation to play at a PGA Tours America event in Ottawa. He was also a standout in football and baseball, but chose to focus on hockey around age 14.
But rather than being a forward, maybe he should have become a goalie.
Pinto couldn’t negotiate a point and ended the game with a -3 rating, but he made a save that kept the Mammoth ahead. The problem is that he plays for the Senators, not the Mammoth.
After falling on his way to the net, Pinto ended up halfway in Utah’s net. As he attempted to get back up, a teammate’s shot hit him, rather than going in.
The officials reviewed the play to make sure the puck didn’t cross the goal line — and it didn’t. But it likely wouldn’t have counted either way, given that Pinto’s positioning prevented Karel Vejmelka from stopping the puck.
It’s a fun story, though.
Daniil But finally strikes gold
Every game, rookie Daniil But seems to get more scoring chances than anyone else — but he has rarely been able to capitalize on them. Ironically, his goal on Wednesday wouldn’t have even been categorized as a scoring chance if it hadn’t gone in.
“I think he had a few more tonight that probably could have went in. (It’s) just weird, you know? Like, that’s the one that goes in,” Crouse said of his teammate after the game. “But credit to that line, that they go to the net hard and (it’s) nice to see them get rewarded.”
But’s game is progressing night after night, even if the offensive numbers don’t always show it. He’s an incredibly smart player and he leverages his massive body to consistently put himself in positions to score.
“That’s a work in progress — we work a lot with him. He’s a hockey player. He thinks hockey, he breathes hockey, he understands the game. ... He has a good IQ in that sense," said Mammoth head coach André Tourigny.
“He’s young — he’s 20 years old. NHL players on the other side are pretty good. Goalie on the other side is pretty good. So his shooting percentage is not as high as it was in Tucson and stuff like that, but if you look at other young players we’ve had in our organization in the past, who were productive in the AHL, when they move (to) the NHL, you need a period to adjust as well.
“It’s not just, ‘because you were scoring X number of goals in the AHL, you come (to) the NHL.’ It’s different.”
By the time Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther had played their respective 17th games, they both had a few more points than But has after his 17th — but if he turns out to be half the player those guys are, he’ll have a long, productive NHL career.
And as he gets more comfortable with the language, the culture and everything else that comes with moving to a foreign country as a 20-year-old, he’ll be in an even better position to succeed.
Brandon Tanev’s misfortune — and what he’s doing about it
You can’t help but feel bad for Brandon Tanev.
When the Los Angeles Kings were in town on Dec. 8, he had a goal taken off the board after a successful offside challenge. It would have been his first goal of the season, and consequentially, his first as a Mammoth.
He’s spent a lot of time watching from the press box recently, so he could use a goal or two to lift himself back up. He got it when he scored against the Senators in this game — or so he thought. The league ended up changing the credit to But, meaning Tanev lost out on another “first” goal with his new team.
Regardless, Tanev had a great game. He has always been known for the energy he brings to games, but having sat so many of the Mammoth’s recent games, he seemed to have even more juice in his battery.
He ended the game with three shot blocks (including one that sent him to the locker room for a bit), threw a game-high seven hits (three more than the next-highest Mammoth) and managed two shots on net.
Tourigny saw Tanev’s resurgence as a response to his recent lack of playing time.
“He played good. I think he had a really positive influence and a really positive attitude,” Tourigny said.
Tanev now ranks 40th league-wide in hits per 60 minutes. When you’re not scoring, you need to find other ways to contribute — and that’s an area where he has excelled.
Goal of the game
Lawson Crouse from Clayton Keller
Clayton Keller made two great passes in this sequence, and the second one led to a goal. Crouse’s shot was excellent, too.