The Utah Mammoth quenched the Calgary Flames 3-1 in their home opener on Wednesday.
Fans at the Delta Center got their money’s worth at the Utah Mammoth’s home opener on Wednesday:
- A Mammoth win
- A fight
- Plenty of power plays
- A mascot reveal
- The first look at the team’s new entry archway
- Rally towels
Though it was never a sure thing, the Mammoth held on to top the Calgary Flames 3-1, improving their record to 2-2-0.
Here’s the story.
Quick catchup
Utah Mammoth: 3
Calgary Flames: 2
Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson opened the scoring midway through the first period on a strange bounce that hopped past Karel Vejmelka. That was the only mistake Vejmelka would have all game (other than the second tripping penalty of his career).
A minute into the second period, Barrett Hayton equalized the score off a perfect pass from Nick Schmaltz. Schmaltz quietly has three points in his four games so far this season — and it’s a contract year for him, so points are especially important.
Going into this game, JJ Peterka had scored in every regular season game he’d ever played at the Delta Center (1/1). He extended that record by scoring the eventual game-winner: an incredible display of both speed and skill as he picked up a loose puck inside the Mammoth’s blue line and beat Zayne Parekh by a mile in a foot race in which the latter had a head start.
Peterka made no mistake putting it past Devin Cooley, who appeared in his first NHL game since April 18, 2024.
“It’s way better,” Peterka said with a smile in response to the Deseret News’ question as to whether it was more fun to score at the Delta Center as a home player or a visitor. “The crowd throughout the whole game was unbelievable. ... Throughout the whole game, when we needed energy, we for sure got it from the crowd.”
The Mammoth had chance after chance on the power play, but they couldn’t convert on any of them. We’ll get into the reasons later.
When the clock struck two (minutes left), the Flames pulled Cooley for an extra attacker. That gave Kevin Stenlund the opportunity to score an empty-netter from probably 150 feet away — and he banked it off the boards.
The Delta Center was energetic all night long — just as Logan Cooley asked for ahead of the game.
Logan Cooley on Utah’s home opener tonight:
— Brogan Houston (@houston_brogan) October 15, 2025
“Obviously it wasn’t the best road trip by us, so we’re going to need (the fans) to be loud for us and to be excited to get back on home ice.”#TusksUp
Takeaways
Utah is willing to play any style of hockey
One of the things that has distinguished the Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights and Tampa Bay Lightning (who, together, account for five of the last six Stanley Cup championships) is their ability to play teams any way they want to play. They can play high-offense, high-defense, high-physicality, high-pace or any other style, and they’ll find a way to win them all.
While Utah hasn’t quite shown all of those in this young season, they have shown an ability to adapt to different teams.
The Colorado Avalanche played a conservative game, and the Mammoth matched with caution of their own. They ended up losing that one, but it was anyone’s game. The Nashville Predators game was more wide-open, and the Mammoth prevailed.
The Flames chose to play a physical game. The Mammoth gladly accepted every penalty call they got from it, while still not backing down from challenges.
They also found a way to stretch the Flames out in the neutral zone. At times, Calgary tried to employ the dreaded 1-3-1 formation — colloquially named “the trap” for how difficult it is to break through — but they beat it by getting pucks in deep, winning foot races and then keeping the puck in the offensive zone.
The Mammoth still have some work to do, but versatility is one of the most important traits of teams that win in the playoffs. André Tourigny and company should be ecstatic at that part of the Mammoth’s game.
Power play struggles
The Mammoth have converted on just one of their 16 power play opportunities this season — even after upgrading their second unit significantly. Wednesday’s action contributed to that number with a dismal 0-for-6 record.
What’s going on?
“I think we had a lot of looks that just didn’t pan out,” Peterka said. “Broken sticks (and) a lot of good plays, too. I think (we’ll) just review it and stick to what we’ve been doing.”
He also said his team has to become more of a shooting threat — something that was evident in their 3-1 loss in Chicago on Monday.
Tourigny put it more bluntly.
“We need to put it in,” he said. “How many chances (did) we have? Six million tonight? We had 2-on-0s, we had breakaways, we had one-timers from the slot. We’ll take that every night, and if we keep doing the same thing that we did tonight, for the remaining 78 games, I’m not worried about our power play one bit.”
Sitting on leads
The Mammoth got the result they wanted on Wednesday, but if they plan to keep closing out games that way, their fans are in for some heartbreak. It’s just not a sustainable playing style.
It was something that bit them on a number of occasions last year, too: When they’re protecting a lead in the last 10 minutes of a game, they tend to treat it like a penalty kill. They get the puck, dump it into the other team’s zone and wait for them to skate it back up the ice.
The problem with this system is that it results in a tidal wave of offensive opportunities for the opponent. When you stack 10 minutes’ worth of those chances on top of each other, you’re lucky if you don’t get scored on — which was the case for the Mammoth on Wednesday.
Proactive defense consists of sustained playing time in the offensive zone. They still can’t take unnecessary risks or put themselves in compromising situations, but a moderate offense is, in this case, the best defense.
Goal of the game
Peterka’s breakaway
For the second game in a row, Peterka provided the goal of the game. Just look at that speed.
In this family, we love JJ Peterka 🩵
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) October 16, 2025
2-1, Mammoth! pic.twitter.com/yRG5cpk81V
The Mammoth have him locked up for the next five years at a highly manageable number. If he can keep this kind of play up throughout his time in the mountains, he’ll be Utah royalty.
“That has always been a huge strength for me,” Peterka, a former short track speed skater, said of his speed. “Just going by defenders. I hope to continue that here.”
He didn’t, however, take credit as the fastest player on the team.
“(Brandon Tanev) is pretty fast as well,” he smiled.
Category: General Sports
