NASHVILLE – Bend, not break. That’s the mentality the Utah Mammoth had against the Nashville Predators to fight back for a 3-2 overtime win. Logan Cooley, Jack McBain, and Dylan Guenther scored as the Mammoth picked up two divisional points and Utah’s first win of the 2025-26 season.
Utah took control first and got off to a quick start when the line of JJ Peterka, Logan Cooley, and Dylan Guenther capitalized on a 3-on-1 situation to give the Mammoth the 1-0 lead, minutes into the game. Peterka passed to Guenther and the trio sped up ice. From there, Guenther played the situation perfectly, going on his backhand to pass to Cooley who then scored. All three players picked up their first points of the year on the goal, including Peterka who recorded his first point as a Mammoth.
The Predators then pushed back and responded five minutes later when Filip Forsberg’s goal tied the game, 1-1. Rookie Brady Martin pressured the Mammoth on their breakout and created a turnover which Forsberg then capitalized on. Then, 13 minutes into the second period, Nashville scored again to take a 2-1 lead. With multiple bodies in front of the net scrambling for the puck, Erik Haula found the back of the net and scored.
The Mammoth got their first break in the third period just 26 seconds in. Captain Roman Josi’s power play goal was overturned for being offside. Utah responded with more urgency to its game and kept pushing. Jack McBain’s determination was rewarded in the final eight and a half minutes of regulation when the forward crashed the net and scored the tying goal. Nick Schmaltz and Sean Durzi picked up assists on the goal.
The ebbs and flows continued as neither team found the go-ahead goal, and the game went to overtime. Utah dominated in the 3-on-3 overtime, and with just over two minutes left in the extra frame, Guenther’s moves beat Juuse Saros for the win. The Mammoth are 1-1-0 in their first two games of the season and will head to Chicago to finish a three-game road trip to start the season.