NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Despite playing their “B” game and sitting in the box for a majority of the second period, the Utah Mammoth found a way to win on Saturday night as they forced OT and stole an extra point from the Nashville Predators.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s big win in Music City.
Utah is hurting in the faceoff circle without Barrett Hayton
Not that one player is going to make up the difference, but the Utah Mammoth have been struggling in faceoff circle without Barrett Hayton in the lineup.
A season ago, Hayton was Utah’s second-best player in the circle as he won 54 percent of his faceoffs (552/1020).
But with Hayton sidelined due to injury to begin the year, Utah has struggled significantly, winning only 36 percent of their collective (46/129) contests in the dot.
Now, losing faceoffs isn’t the end of the world, but it does put you at a sizable disadvantage.
Not only does it generate and extend opposing team’s offensive possessions, but it makes it incredibly difficult to score as the defense can quickly clear the zone.
It also forces you to rely heavily on the transition game and not that Utah can’t play that way, but so far, they’ve only scored once off the rush in two contests.
Through most of last season, Utah thrived in the offensive zone when they were able to set things up, circulate the puck, break down the defense and find an opening.
Losing the majority of their faceoffs has simply hindered them from playing their most dangerous style of offense.
Without Hayton, and even Alexander Kerfoot for that matter who was also one of Utah’s best in the dot last season, they’re struggling to win critical battles.
Either Hayton needs to come back soon, Utah needs to generate more off the rush or other guys need to step up.
Sub-40 percent will not consistently get the job done but tonight, they still managed to somehow find a way.
Utah’s PK was superb, but they have to clean up their penalties
With a total of six Utah penalties during the middle frame against Nashville, the Mammoth were nearly their own worst enemy on Saturday night as they sat in the box and played down a man for roughly half the second period.
On top of that, five of the six were stick penalties, which are generally just a little bit harder to swallow as they usually come down to a lack of awareness and self-control.
Similar to their struggles in the faceoff circle, penalties completely sabotage your ability to create any offense.
Even if you don’t allow a goal, you’re often not threatening to score as you battle tirelessly to protect your own zone.
With that in mind, Utah’s PK was absolutely fantastic as they went a perfect 6/6 and refused to allow Nashville a power play goal.
Karel Vejmelka was phenomenal between the pipes, Utah kept their shape, clogged lanes, blocked shots and even got some help from their video staff who won an offside challenge that overturned a critical Predators goal in the third period.
“That’s why we always rely on those guy [the video staff],” Head Coach Andre Tourigny said. “They are the brain of the operation. They did a great job.”
However, six penalties is still far too many for a single period, let alone a game.
“They’re [penalties] all frustrating. Unless to deny a scoring chance, they’re all frustrating. We’ll clean that up,” Tourigny noted.
While their PK was brilliant, Utah needs to be better moving forward to avoid sabotaging their offense and gifting the opposition so many chances to put the game away.
Utah stuck with it as Dylan Guenther came to the rescue with another OT winner
Look, Utah did not play their best game in Nashville.
In addition to their struggles in the faceoff circle and penalty box, it was difficult for the Mammoth to generate dangerous chances as they seemed destined for their second straight loss.
However, despite the struggles and the majority of the game simply not going in their direction, Utah stayed the course and found a way to emerge with two points.
“I like our resilience,” Head coach Andre Tourigny said. “We probably had our ‘B’ game, and we talk about mental strength and being tough mentally.”
“We got in the box a little bit too much in the second and instead of folding, we really bounced back. [We] played better in the third, had better battles and we were resilient. Happy about that part of our game. It’s a good character for us and that’s who we want to be as a team. It’s not always our ‘A’ game, it’s how we react to adversity.”
Trailing by a goal in the third period, Utah kept fighting.
They remained aggressive on the forecheck, suffocated their opponent physically, and eventually, McBain was able to put a greasy goal in the back of Nashville’s net to tie things up.
Bainer gets us back into this one 🙌 pic.twitter.com/4faJs7levz
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) October 12, 2025
Through the remainder of the period and into OT, Utah refused to quit as they simply kept on pushing.
While dominating possession during the three-on-three, the Mammoth waited for the right moment as they refused to give up the puck and were then rewarded with an OT winner as Dylan Guenther came to the rescue with another greasy goal.
Wanted to score more greasy goals and so far he’s done just that.
BIG goal for Utah. https://t.co/gweENtKiRv
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) October 12, 2025
“It’s huge. You look back at last year & we had a ton of OT games that went the wrong way for us,” Jack McBain explained.
“When you’re sitting there at the end of the year & you’re in a playoff race, those are the ones you look back at…huge win for us.”
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how you acquire two points.
A win is a win.
Whether you play terrible or great, better to walk away with a win and those are the games that will make a big difference down the stretch when the playoff race is inevitably tight.
It’s like Mikhail Sergachev noted during morning skate.
He’d rather play bad and win than play well and lose.
“It’s good to play that way but you obviously want to win,” Sergachev told KSL Sports.
“Honestly, if we play terrible and we win it feels better to me at least because we get two points than when we play great and lose.”
Sergachev on the value of narrow losses:
“It’s good to play that way but you obviously want to win.”
“Honestly, if we play terrible and we win it feels better to me at least because we get two points than when we play great and lose.”
98 always keeping it real. pic.twitter.com/JrplSnb9lP
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) October 11, 2025
Tonight, that was the story but all that matters is that the Mammoth secured two big points.
What’s next for the Utah Mammoth?
The Utah Mammoth will continue their opening road trip against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night at 6:30 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.
