SALT LAKE CITY – Despite a rocky second period that felt just a little too familiar, the Utah Mammoth responded with maturity in the final frame to finish the preseason with a 6-4 victory over the San Jose Sharks.
Here are three takeaways from Utah’s final preseason matchup.
An explosion of Mammoth offense in the first period showed promise
After giving up an early goal to the Sharks, the Utah Mammoth responded emphatically with four goals in six minutes to take a big lead into the locker room following the initial frame.
Mikhail Sergachev fired one from the point that trickled in, Dylan Guenther connected on a one-timer from his office near the left faceoff circle, Andrew Agozzino battled for a rebound which he buried top shelf and Kailer Yamamoto finished a gorgeous redirect on a great feed from Ian Cole.
Sergy ties the game! pic.twitter.com/nm7O27WXzj
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) October 5, 2025
Gunner power play goal!🔥 pic.twitter.com/sLAeohCEcW
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) October 5, 2025
Agozzino makes it 3-1, Mammoth! pic.twitter.com/ED5XnkoxfW
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) October 5, 2025
🚨 YAMAMOTO 🚨
4-1, us 😁 pic.twitter.com/GB5kmjZRs2
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) October 5, 2025
Each one of those goals is exactly what you’d want to see from every one of those players.
Sergachev firing a shot from deep with traffic in front, Guenther blasting one from his spot, Agozzino scoring a greasy one in tight and Yamamoto battling near the paint.
Offense was a huge point of emphasis for Utah this offseason.
Finding more ways to diversify their scoring, adding additional firepower by acquiring JJ Peterka and presenting a more offensively talented lineup that can push them into the playoffs.
Granted, what followed the initial frame wasn’t pretty in any way, shape or form, but that explosive stretch showed promise and was eventually followed by a great third period.
The key moving into the regular season will be demonstrating enough maturity to keep their foot on the gas pedal for all three frames and not allowing teams to inch their way back in.
The middle frame letdown felt all too familiar as the Sharks punished Utah for their mistakes
Alright, let’s preface this section by pointing out that this was still a preseason game so there’s no reason whatsoever to be alarmed.
The outcome wasn’t overly important, Utah didn’t have their complete NHL roster and ultimately, they ended up winning anyway.
However, Mammoth fans definitely experienced some PTSD from last season as their team allowed three goals during the second period to let San Jose right back into the contest.
Connecting on three of their eight shots during the middle frame, the Sharks slowly inched their way back into a game that they had no business being in.
The reasoning?
Utah just seemed to get a bit too comfortable as they made a few defensive mistakes, struggled to recover and simply left Karel Vejmelka out to dry.
“There’s a timeline between being smart in your decision and being passive,” Head coach Andre Tourigny said. “You have to be patient, but you cannot be passive; we were trying to be patient in the second, and instead of being patient, we became passive.”
“We take our best asset out of the game, which is our pace, our speed, our aggression on the forecheck, aggression on the track, and aggression on the way we close the neutral zone. So I think it was a good teaching moment for us to draw the line between passive and patient.”
Toff gets one back! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/jM7rAS7P7t
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) October 5, 2025
Goody gets one! 👏 pic.twitter.com/53yRjnupct
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) October 5, 2025
SO BACK.
TIE GAME. 🚨 pic.twitter.com/RoSbeDac9a
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) October 5, 2025
While San Jose still had to capitalize on those chances, the Sharks second period surge was mostly a self-inflicted breakdown by the Mammoth.
Skaters were reaching, coverage was poor, there was little to no backchecking, and shooters were left wide open which made it tough on Vejmelka.
Those types of mistakes simply cannot happen when the regular season rolls around.
A 4-1 advantage should be an insurmountable lead into submission.
The positive?
Utah demonstrated maturity in the third as they regained control and refused to let go.
Utah demonstrated maturity as they regained the lead and never looked back
Allowing a team like San Jose to score three unanswered goals and emerge from a massive deficit is not ideal but the way Utah ultimately responded was a huge step in the right direction.
After an abysmal middle frame that drew similarities to several blown leads last season, Utah demonstrated maturity as they settled back into their game, moved the puck and generated dangerous chances that led to critical goals.
That’s a significant step for this squad.
“Things got away from us in the second there. But ultimately, we dug down, and we understood what we were doing was wrong, then we had a great third period,” Brandon Tanev explained.
“There’s a lot of stuff that we liked and that we didn’t like, and it’s improvements throughout camp. You play the preseason, and there are a lot of games, moving bodies, a lot of things, and it’s understanding each other, how to play and how to play the right way.”
Like Tanev said, Utah was able to recognize their mistakes, correct them and get back on track.
That didn’t happen consistently enough a year ago.
So, while this may have just been a preseason game against a weaker team, it’s about creating healthy habits that you can draw from during the regular season.
“I obviously was really happy about the way we played for most of the game,” Tourigny said.
“I did not like the second period. I think it’s a good opportunity for us to learn. We were not as fast in the second period. We were not on our toes, and that cost us. I think we learned from there, and I really like the way we respond in the third.”
Who stepped up in the third when they needed to get back on track?
The Captain and Turbo.
Durz ➡️ Kells 🚨 pic.twitter.com/5sSpAvXAfO
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) October 5, 2025
Turbo brings us up to 6 with an unassisted goal! pic.twitter.com/QB4cPHEmHH
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) October 5, 2025
These are the moments where your veteran leadership has to come through and for Utah, they did.
Now heading into a new regular season with more maturity and experience, the Mammoth should be better outfitted to not only compete, but could even snag a playoff spot.
“It’s great that we got two wins the end the preseason & now the real fun starts,” Clayton Keller said with a grin.
“When everything matters, all your training in the summer & things like that. It’ll be great to be with the guys & we couldn’t be more excited.”
Keller & Utah are ready for the season:
“It’s great that we got two wins the end the preseason & now the real fun starts.”
“When everything matters, all your training in the summer & things like that. It’ll be great to be with the guys & we couldn’t be more excited.” pic.twitter.com/cjERfPf6yU
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) October 5, 2025
What’s next for the Utah Mammoth?
At the conclusion of the preseason, the Utah Mammoth will officially kick off the regular season on October 9 against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena at 7 p.m. MT.
The game will be available on Mammoth+.
Cole Bagley is the Utah Mammoth insider for KSL Sports. Keep up with him on X here. You can hear Cole break down the team on KSL Sports Zone and KSL 5 TV.
Take us with you, wherever you go.
