The Utah Mammoth beat the Seattle Kraken 5-3 on Friday
It’s time for the Utah Mammoth to kick it back into gear.
The Minnesota Wild have a six-point lead on the Mammoth for third spot in the Central Division standings. Having just acquired Quinn Hughes, a consensus top-two defenseman in the world, the Wild will likely join the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars as they run away with the division’s three designated playoff spots.
If that’s the case, the Mammoth are vying with at least six other teams for one of the two wild card spots. Making the playoffs is anything but easy in a league wherein half the teams miss them every season.
The Mammoth’s 5-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Friday night was a great first step.
Quick catchup
Utah Mammoth: 5
Seattle Kraken: 3
A goalless first period was the anomaly in a somewhat high-scoring game.
Mason Marchment broke the ice 3:35 into the second period with a nice move on a partial breakaway, only for Nick Schmaltz to match it on a full breakaway less than five minutes later.
Kailer Yamamoto, a Washington state native and a former Kraken, scored a goal that was initially waved off before a coach’s challenge overturned the call. We’ll dive into that one more in a minute.
Marchment only had two goals this season going into the game, but he doubled that total on Friday night. His second of the game came in the third period, just seconds after the Mammoth killed a lengthy 5-on-3 penalty.
Dylan Guenther is best known for his power play one-timers, and that’s exactly how the Mammoth retook the lead. They added a pair of empty-netters to take a 5-2 lead, though a Ben Meyers goal with 43 seconds left changed the technical game-winning goal credit to JJ Peterka’s ENG.
“There’s things to clean up defensively, but I think we’re progressing offensively,” said head coach André Tourigny after the game.
Gunner from his favorite spot! 📍
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 13, 2025
🚨 3-2, Utah! pic.twitter.com/ebdyCMp2b3
Tidbits and takeaways
Nick Schmaltz’s comeback
Schmaltz surprised a lot of people early in the season, snagging a top-three spot in NHL scoring throughout much of the first month.
He had 10 goals and 22 points in those first 19 games, but an eight-game stretch without a point ended any hope of actually capturing the Art Ross Trophy.
The cold spell continued for 13 games, in which he totaled just one goal and four points.
Friday was different, though. He added a pair of assists to his aforementioned breakaway goal, giving him three points on the evening.
Utah has tried seemingly every possible permutation of lines this season, including having Schmaltz play center. He’d played that position most of his life, but he’s spent the last handful of years almost exclusively on the wing.
“It’s a little bit different, for sure,” he said. “... It’s just a little bit different defensively, just making sure I’m coming back, being more responsible, and, obviously, face-offs. It’s a work in progress for me.”
He said he doesn’t have a preference on which position he plays.
“I’m happy to play wherever the team needs me, and with (Logan Cooley) going down, (I) try to step up and fill the middle role as best as I can.”
Schmaltz showed good leadership on a late rush, closing in on the empty net. He certainly had space to score a relatively easy goal, but he opted instead to pass it to Lawson Crouse, who could always use another goal.
“He works so hard,” Tourigny said of Schmaltz. “Sometimes it goes under the radar. If you look, he’s always at the net offensively. He drives that line, no doubt about it, in that sense. He’s at the net all the time, he does all the dirty work, and he’s elite defensively. He’s always the first guy back and he’s playing down low.
“He will sleep well tonight — I guarantee you that. He works really hard."
Speaking of guys who fly under the radar, it should also be mentioned that Kevin Stenlund also tallied three points. Two of them did come on empty-netters, but they all count the same.
What’s made Utah’s power play better?
It’s no secret that the Mammoth’s power play has been bad this year — though it took the team a while to admit it.
The last handful of games have been much better in that regard. After Friday’s game, Tourigny shed some light on a meeting that invoked the change.
“It started off the ice,” he said. “At some point, they had a good meeting and they said the right things to each other. (Cooley) was there at that time and the power play started clicking then. (In) practice and games, the puck was moving, scoring chances (were) happening, entries were still good.”
Peterka joined the top unit around the same time Cooley got hurt, but Tourigny said the change was much deeper than just switching one guy.
“It’s everybody who does their part,” he said. “The thing we need to be better (at) is traffic.”
He continued, saying that they still need to add more layers to the power play. For example, if they generate their offense by moving the puck, all the other team has to do is spread out a bit to take that option away from them.
It’s at that point that they need to pivot to a shoot-first mentality — or vice versa, given different situations.
Schmaltz gave some insight into the changes, too.
“I think we’re getting more movement. We’re not as stationary, a little less predictable,” he said. “I think when we do that (and) use our instincts, we catch teams off-guard.”
The overturned call
Alright, let’s dig into the coach’s challenge, which ultimately played a major role in the Mammoth coming out victorious.
The referee initially waved Yamamoto’s goal off for goaltender interference, but the Mammoth’s video coaches, Hunter Cherni and Alec Rippetoe, knew it should count.
They gave the signal to the bench, and it came back successful.
We have a GOOD GOAL!
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 13, 2025
Goaltender interference on the play has been overturned.
2-1, Utah! pic.twitter.com/isp2EF8XEr
“What you have to understand on that is the follow-up of daily NHL calls and to stay on top of the rules, how every call goes,” Tourigny said.
“I’m not studying as much as him. When I saw the play, I was (like), ‘OK, we need to make sure.’ He was really adamant about it — there was no doubt in his head. (He) did a really good job and it was a key call at a key time, and that turned the game around a little bit."
The league did not release its usual explanation on why the goal was overturned, but here’s the unofficial one: the contact happened outside the crease.
Rule 69.3 gives the guidelines for goaltender interference:
“If an attacking player initiates contact with a goalkeeper, incidental or otherwise, while the goalkeeper is in his goal crease, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed.”
The opposite can be inferred in the case that the contact happens outside of the crease: It is not goaltender interference.
Per the Mammoth’s stats folks, their five successful challenges this season are the most in the NHL.
Goal of the game
Nick Schmaltz’s breakaway goal
Breakaway goals are always fun to watch, but pay particular attention to the work Schmaltz put into it, poking the puck away from his opponent and then turning on the jets.
It was after all that work that he was able to do the pump-fake and the golf chip to score the goal.
Schmaltzy in on his own! 🔥
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 13, 2025
Tied up, 1-1. pic.twitter.com/TTy6qVsbZa
Category: General Sports
