‘That’s something I won’t forget’: Mammoth register win in home playoff debut to take 2-1 series lead

The Delta Center was so loud Friday evening that Utah Mammoth head coach André Tourigny had a tough time communicating the line rotations to his team.

“Seriously, we had some confusion on the bench,” he said. “Guys didn’t know who was up — and, for people who know me, I can be pretty loud."

Mammoth star forward Dylan Guenther said there was one point when he even hopped onto the ice when he wasn’t supposed to because whoever was supposed to go didn’t hear his name.

For Guenther’s money, that was the loudest game in franchise history, and remember, he’s the one who scored the team’s first-ever goal.

“That’s something I won’t forget,” he remarked.

At another point, Tusky, the mascot, held up a sign with a built-in decibel meter, which got up to 112 dB. One reporter in the building clocked 120 dB on his Apple Watch after a Mammoth goal.

For context, that’s significantly louder than the 103 dB at the Honda Center in Anaheim, as recorded by the NHL’s content team on Friday.

Needless to say, hockey is alive and well in Utah two years into the NHL’s presence in the state, and fans were rewarded as the Mammoth beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 in Game 3 of their first round Stanley Cup playoff series to take a 2-1 lead.

Utah’s first-ever home playoff win

After taking the split on the road in the first two games of the series, the Mammoth had an opportunity to return home and command a lead Friday.

Game 3 worked out exactly as they’d hoped, as they scored on four of their first eight shots for a 4-0 lead halfway through the contest.

The Golden Knights notched a couple to keep it interesting, but it ended in a convincing Utah victory.

“We did a good job to weather the storm,” Tourigny said after the game. “... Obviously in the third (period), they had a big push and they played well.

“They’re a good team. They played really well. Proud of the way we defended and the way we weathered the storm in the first period, no doubt.”

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Utah’s penalty kill was perfect for the first time in a game this series, holding Vegas, the NHL’s sixth-best power play team in the regular season, to no goals on four opportunities.

But that doesn’t mean the Mammoth played a perfect game.

Per Natural Stat Trick, the Golden Knights controlled 72% of the scoring chances and 75% of the high-danger scoring chances. They also out-shot the Mammoth 31-12.

That’s simply the difference between a hot goalie and one that’s struggling, but Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella isn’t worried about that aspect of his team’s game.

“I know Carter (Hart) well enough. He wants to work through it and I have full faith in him,” Tortorella said of his goaltender. “There was no thought of taking him out.”

Game 4 is set for Monday, though the start time is still to be determined. It depends on how the other series go — specifically, if the Philadelphia Flyers complete the sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins, it will open a time slot in the broadcasting schedule for an earlier game in Utah.

Meanwhile, the Mammoth and the Golden Knights will take their two days off to rest and game plan. This series is far from over.

Unleashing the first line

In Game 1 of the Utah-Vegas series, the Mammoth’s first line of Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz and Lawson Crouse was a collective -8 with zero points among the three of them.

Their goal differential improved to a positive number in Game 2, but they still failed to register any points. With Keller ending the regular season on a 10-game point streak, the group doesn’t expect to struggle like that.

After Thursday’s practice, Schmaltz told the Deseret News that it was time for his line to get going. He specifically mentioned three things:

• Forechecking.
• Getting pucks to the net.
• Creating rebounds.

It worked.

The group scored two of Utah’s four goals in Game 3 Friday, both off Lawson Crouse’s stick. Forechecking and getting pucks to the net were key components of their success, and creating rebounds would have been if Hart had managed to stop a single one of their shots.

“Just a little execution, little details that go a long way,” Keller said. “We’ve had times throughout the regular season, too, where we’ve struggled a bit and kind of had to reset, and we’re still confident, we still have lots of chemistry. And, you know, we’re just going to continue to watch video and continue to get better each game.”

With a primary assist on Crouse’s first goal, Schmaltz joined Liam O’Brien as Mammoth players to register their respective first-career playoff points on Friday.

The bulk of Utah’s offense comes from the top two lines, and in the absence of the first, the second has stepped up all series long. Friday’s game was no exception.

Guenther’s one-timer is finally getting the league-wide recognition it deserves, and he used it to score his second goal of the series.

Hockey fans have spent the week debating on social media where Guenther’s release ranks among the NHL’s top snipers. Tortorella weighed in.

“No one is stopping Guenther’s shot. That’s just a bomb,” he said.