The Utah Mammoth had January circled on their calendar all season long.
In many ways, no team in the NHL had a tougher first half of the season than the Mammoth: They were tied for both most games played and most road games played, so the new year provided a much-needed breather in the form of a seven-game home stand.
Going into a stretch like that, there’s a risk of complacency. Utah had a seven-game home stand last January, too, and only managed to scrounge three wins out of it.
As much as every team wants to win every game during a stretch like this, that rarely happens. This year’s home stand would probably have been seen as a success with about nine of a possible 14 points, but the Mammoth surpassed all expectations, walking away with 13.
That success comes with a word of caution.
Utah’s hottest stretch of the season came in late October when it won seven in a row, beating some of the league’s best teams along the way. But the Mammoth then went cold, losing 13 of their next 17 games.
“Every team in a season will have that kind of a stretch,” said Mammoth head coach André Tourigny at the conclusion of the home stand. “We cannot get carried away and think that’s unique.
“(When) Toronto arrived here, they had one loss in 11 games or so, and now it’s not going as well for them, so you need to stay humble and just focus on the next one.”
The “next one” for Utah comes in Nashville against a divisional opponent that’s just outside a playoff spot.
Here are three things that went right for the Mammoth at home, and will need to continue to go well for them from here on out.
Goaltending
Throughout the season, the Mammoth have been at their best when Karel Vejmelka is at his best. It’s a chicken-and-egg situation: Is the team better because he’s better, or is it the other way around?
Vejmelka leads the league in wins and is tied for second in games played among goalies. He’s also on a seven-game winning streak, as Vítek Vaněček manned the crease in Utah’s overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets — the team’s only loss of the home stand.
If the goaltending remains consistent the rest of the season, the win-loss results most likely will, too.
Balanced scoring
During their home stand, 13 of the Mammoth’s 28 goals came from guys outside the top six (in terms of goals, not line combinations).
It becomes much harder for opponents to neutralize the scoring threats when everyone contributes consistently, and when you have a dozen guys that can put the puck in the net, the pressure comes off the top guys.
Morale
When you’re confident, the little things get easier. Finishing hits, back-checking, winning board battles, all those things add up over the course of a game — and they’re often the difference between winning and losing.
Being at home, the Mammoth got to play a lot of postgame win songs, then go home, sleep in their own beds and spend time with their families. That makes it easier to go to the rink and do it all again the next day.
They have to keep morale up, but it’ll be harder to do that on the road.
Three of the four teams on this upcoming road trip have beaten the Mammoth already this season, and the one that hasn’t is the Carolina Hurricanes, the best team in the Eastern Conference (whom Utah hasn’t played yet this season).
