SALT LAKE CITY – Despite a solid effort and going toe-to-toe with one of the better teams in the league, the Utah Mammoth came up short on Sunday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Suffering their second-straight loss, Utah was unable to generate much offensively as the Lightning disrupted their top six and held them scoreless through all 60 minutes.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s 4-2 loss at home.
Despite the loss, Utah’s bottom six had one of their best performances of the season
While the Mammoth struggled offensively for a good portion of the afternoon, Utah’s third and fourth lines were a bright spot as they offered one of their best performances of the season against the Lightning.
In addition to two much-needed goals by Lawson Crouse and Kailer Yamamoto, the McBain and Stenlund lines played their style of hockey as they were suffocating on the forecheck, asserted themselves physically, won puck battles, reloaded effectively and generated sustained possession in the offensive zone.
Great awareness from Crouse to get ahead of the play and a heck of an outlet pass from Cole.
What a finish from 6-7. https://t.co/njEVZ2v8yR
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) November 2, 2025
Cole with his second assist of the afternoon as Yamamoto fires a top shelf laser to tie things up.
2-2 early in the third period.pic.twitter.com/AKcSGFVYPW
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) November 2, 2025
That’s exactly what Utah wants from those six players.
A rough, greasy, bothersome performance that keeps them in the game and buys some time for the top six to figure things out if they need it.
“I’m really happy about the way Crouse’s line played, I’m really happy about the way Stenlund’s line played,” Head Coach Andre Tourigny said.
“Yamamoto played a hell of a game. They showed up in that kind of a game and that’s what you want.”
Notable performances from the Mammoth’s depth have already made a huge difference this season and will continue to do so as they battle to make the playoffs.
However, it just wasn’t enough today as the top two lines failed to generate any rhythm, and Utah lost the hockey game.
Utah’s top six struggled offensively as the Tampa Bay Lightning disrupted their rhythm all game
For the first time in eight games, Utah’s top six forwards were held scoreless through 60 minutes.
How exactly did this happen?
Tampa and their deep roster of veterans played a disruptive style of hockey that denied clean zone entries, intercepted dangerous passes and simply refused to allow the Mammoth to get to their spots.
“They’re number one in every metric,” Tourigny explained. “They play heavy, they make good plays on the breakout, they hold onto the puck. You have to go to work.”
“You won’t surprise that team with just your skill. They have skill too…but what they do, they work and they don’t give you time and space. So, you have to grind the game.”
Like Tourigny pointed out, this was one of those grind it out type of games, especially for the top six.
Unsurprisingly, Tampa had done their homework as they contained two of the hottest lines in the NHL to a goose egg on scoresheet.
They doubled Logan Cooley, denied Dylan Guenther a consistent shot, pressured Clayton Keller out of puck possession and did not allow Nick Schmaltz or anyone for that matter to setup in the low slot.
When that happens, Utah has to adjust.
They need to grind the game as Tourigny put it.
So, while a loss is never a welcomed result, this was another good test for the Mammoth against a Championship organization.
A team that has won multiple cups over the last decade, is often a contender and will always be a tough matchup.
“They’ve played the same way for ten years now,” Ian Cole said. “Nothing they did was shocking.”
“It just wasn’t our best game and we know that. Now we’ve got to respond. We can’t let two turn into three, turn into four, turn into five. That’s how you find yourself out of a playoff spot…we have to fix this right away.”
If Utah wants to be a championship organization like Tampa, they need to internalize these kinds of games.
While they have demonstrated a lot of maturity and growth this season, the next step is learning how to handle adversity against the top teams, not just the bottom or middle of the pack squads.
The Mammoth need to get back on track quickly to remain consistent in a ‘humbling’ league
Like Cole pointed out, Utah needs to respond right away.
Sure, the seven-game win streak was a lot of fun but that’s in the past and Utah has lost two in a row against some really good teams.
Now it’s time to get back on track.
“The start of your season doesn’t define your season. We were eight and three, everybody in the league, all thirty-two teams will go eight and three at some point,” Tourigny explained.
“We cannot get carried away. We need to be consistent.”
Consistency is the BIGGEST key for this Mammoth team right now.
Finding ways to present their ‘A’ game as often as possible but still remaining competitive and gathering points when it’s more of a ‘B’ type of night.
“The streak is great, but you can be humbled very quickly in this league if you think you’re too good or whatnot,” Clayton Keller told KSL Sports.
“I think just focusing on getting better…the next day, the next game…it never does you good if you’re thinking about the past.”
As Keller noted, the NHL can humble any team in the blink of an eye.
Utah needs to avoid that.
They’ve been good, they are good, but adversity was inevitable.
Now it’s about responding and getting back in the win column to avoid similar ups and downs that they experienced last season.
If they can do that and limit the number of losing streaks they endure, Utah will be just fine.
What’s next for the Utah Mammoth?
The Utah Mammoth will begin a four-game road trip against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night at 5 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.
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