SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Mammoth wrapped up their lengthy six-game road trip with a disappointing loss in Calgary as the Flames burned them less than 30 seconds in with an early goal. Despite a decent effort to get back into the contest, Utah was shutout yet again for the second time in just five games.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s 2-0 loss to Calgary.
Logan Cooley sidelined with injury, will be evaluated once Mammoth return home
After awkwardly colliding with the goal post in an attempt to score against the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night, Utah Mammoth forward Logan Cooley was held out of Saturday’s contest in Calgary with a lower body injury.
Here’s everything we know.
Logan Cooley will not play tonight due to a lower-body injury.
Last night he hit his leg hard against the post, but stayed in the game. pic.twitter.com/ezDX9KLDrb
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) December 7, 2025
Late in the third period against the Canucks, Cooley was held by Vancouver defenseman Quinn Hughes as the young forward worked his way to the net and effectively established the inside lane.
Recognizing he was beaten, Hughes then held Cooley to avoid a Grade A scoring chance which caused 92 to collide with the post at a relatively high speed.
While he stayed down for a moment, Cooley was able to make his way to the bench under his own power and even returned to the ice on the ensuing power play.
However, with the game mostly secured, Cooley was then held out of the final 3:09.
The good news for 92?
He got up on his own, skated to the bench and then played another shift.
The bad?
The injury looked brutal as his leg awkwardly wrapped around the post and eventually kept him sidelined in Calgary.
According to the Mammoth, Cooley will receive further evaluation once the team returns to Utah.
The Calgary Flames defended a lead for 59 minutes as Utah looked tired
Tonight’s game in Calgary was a weird one for the Utah Mammoth.
At the tail end of their road six-game road trip, Utah surrendered somewhat of a fluky goal to the Flames just 16 seconds after the initial puck drop.
Unfortunately for the visitors, that quick strike would end up being the game winner as they failed to answer and were eventually shutout for the second time in five games.
Utah trails Calgary 1-0 after the first as the Flames scored just 16 seconds into the hockey game.
A much better end to the period for Utah as they generated consistent O-Zone possession and a handful of dangerous chances.
40 to go.pic.twitter.com/hUdAQ0Ztti
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) December 7, 2025
Now, it wasn’t necessarily a lack of effort that cost Utah in Calgary, but more so an inability to consistently generate or finish high danger scoring chances.
Despite outshooting the Flames 27-23, Utah was unable to find the middle of the ice as they settled for deeper shots and refused to put bodies in front of goaltender Dustin Wolf.
“Obviously, not the start we were expecting,” Head coach Andre Tourigny explained.
“I think the rest of the game we played solid five-on-five. But offensively, if you want to score in that league, you need to get in the eyes of the goalie. You need to disturb the defense a little bit more and we were a little bit too perimeter.”
Those are tough games to lose.
Not to say that Utah deserved to win by any means, but Calgary was simply opportunistic as they scored quickly and then defended their lead for the rest of the night.
As for the Mammoth, they looked too tired to dig in deep as they settled for outside shots and were met with an impenetrable wall between the pipes.
Again, the effort was there but the energy didn’t quite match as they lost key battles in the offensive zone and were unable to score.
Love a shutout highlight pack 🥅#Flames | @scotiabank pic.twitter.com/pUHQmGkpxU
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) December 7, 2025
The Utah Mammoth need to quickly learn from the road trip and move on
Utah’s six game road trip was tough.
Not only from a record standpoint, but emotionally, mentally and physically as well.
So, were there any positives?
Definitely.
In addition to two wins in Anaheim and Vancouver, Utah also learned more about who they are and what brand of hockey is required for them to win games.
If taken to heart, that information can be invaluable at this time of the year as the playoff race begins to heat up.
“There’s a brand of hockey that needs to be played, Nate Schmidt explained. “There’s a brand that needs to be played in order to win this time of year.”
“It takes commitment in order to do it.”
As I’ve outlined many times before in my previous column’s, Utah is at their best when everyone is committed to playing with energy and effort.
When that’s the case, they can beat anybody.
When it’s not, they lose to teams like St. Louis and Calgary.
So, where do they go from here?
With 31 points in the standings, Utah is still well in the playoff race as they currently command the top wild card spot in the west.
Arguably right where they should be and certainly a favorable spot despite a disappointing road trip.
But where they go from here is entirely up to them.
They know what it takes to win, and to be honest, it’s fairly simple compared to other teams as most nights it primarily comes down to effort.
Of course, there’s plenty of other areas they can approve, but this team has what it takes to deliver the postseason.
Whether or not that happens will be based upon their ability to apply what they learned from this road trip while at the same time, quickly moving on.
What’s next for the Utah Mammoth?
The Utah Mammoth will begin a three-game home stand against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night at 7 p.m. MT.
The game will be available on Mammoth+.
All Mammoth games will also be broadcast live on the KSL Sports Zone (97.5 FM/1280 AM).
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.
