SUNRISE, FL – Following a disappointing outcome the night before in Tampa Bay, the Utah Mammoth dug deep on Tuesday night to steal two points away from the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers.
In addition to rolling with backup goaltender Vitek Vanecek and despite being without forward Dylan Guenther (lower-body), the Mammoth were opportunistic offensively which resulted in four big goals.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s 4-3 victory in Florida.
Some defensive turnovers by the Utah Mammoth kept Florida in the game
As the reigning back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions, everyone in the league knows the brand of hockey that the Florida Panthers like to play.
It’s a gritty, physical, in your face style that punches you in the mouth and steals your lunch money.
“It’s always hard to play versus them,” Goaltender Vitek Vanecek explained. “They’re always dumping a lot of pucks…they’re just hitting the guys, you know?”
“But you have to prepare for it and just work hard.”
So, how do teams combat it defensively?
By keeping their heads on a swivel, being extra careful with the puck and moving it efficiently.
Unfortunately for Utah, they weren’t quite able to fully execute that approach which allowed Florida to hang around.
A big milestone for the Vilmaniac ‼️ pic.twitter.com/BtEmuX4ipP
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) January 28, 2026
Better aim than a stormtrooper 👊 pic.twitter.com/8BCzXvcx4k
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) January 28, 2026
In addition to a deeply talented All-Star roster, Florida is an opportunistic squad themselves.
Not that they can’t create on their own, but the Panthers excel at forcing their opponent into submission and then capitalizing on the mistake.
Against Utah, that’s exactly how Florida stayed in the game as they suffocated the Mammoth on the forecheck, generated a few turnovers and found the back of the net.
While Utah still came out on top, the Panthers made it a game as they clawed and scratched to the bitter end.
Vitek Vanecek finally got another win between the pipes for the Utah Mammoth
Despite only dressing for 13 games this season, it’d been a while since backup goaltender Vitek Vanecek had registered a win between the pipes for the Utah Mammoth.
After beating the Winnipeg Jets all the way back on October 26, Vanecek lost 10 straight games in net as his appearances generally landed on some off nights for the rest of the team.
However, facing another likely scheduled loss on the second half of a back-to-back against his former team in Florida, Vanecek stood tall to help Utah steal two points.
“It feels good,” Vitek Vanecek explained. “I didn’t get a win [for] a long time and then right time in the right rink. [We] Get the win.”
With 25 saves on 28 shots (89 percent), “V” did just enough to help his team get across the finish line.
For most of the night, he was locked in as he made several key saves and was impenetrable on the PK despite four opportunities for the home team.
“We’ve got a couple former guys in our room. They wanted this one pretty bad. Obviously, ‘V’ with a performance like that deserved it. He’s been playing really good for us,” Durzi said.
“We really wanted to put together a good effort in front of him. He deserves it.”
Like Durzi noted, Vanecek clearly wanted this game.
While he did still allow three pucks to get past him, his intentions were visible as he played with confidence, composure, athleticism and an extra edge to make those few additional saves that gave his team a chance to win.
For any goaltender, that’s all a team can ask but especially when it’s your backup on a back-to-back against a really tough team.
Was it perfect?
No.
But it was enough to steal two massive points.
An opportunistic approach helped the Utah Mammoth beat the reigning Champs
While the Florida Panthers have yet to play a game with all their stars this season, they’re still a formidable opponent that generally doesn’t give up much.
As previously mentioned, they play a rough style at both ends that demands a lot physically and tactically in order to break down.
To make matters more difficult, Utah was also without both Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther as No. 11 was held out of Tuesday night’s contest due to a lower body injury.
Per the Mammoth,
Dylan Guenther will not play in tonight’s game due to a lower body injury.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) January 27, 2026
Not exactly a favorable situation but that didn’t stop Utah from playing an opportunistic style to walk away with two points.
“It’s a team that doesn’t give you much,” Durzi explained. “But when you take what’s given, you get opportunities and let your skill take over.”
“It’s continuing to just play our game, stay patient, play our game and then goals will come…staying on our game, staying patient with our game, taking what’s given, and winning the game.”
That’s exactly what Utah did.
After a turnover in the neutral zone by Florida, Nick Schmaltz scored a shorty.
Nick Schmaltz shorty!
🚨 1-0, Utah. pic.twitter.com/o1jIsKm5x1
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) January 28, 2026
Then a defensive takeaway turned into a rush which Durzi himself buried on a one-timer.
Durzi takes that one back! 👏
🚨 2-1, Utah. pic.twitter.com/Bbg8hcVugQ
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) January 28, 2026
Finally, Hayton’s empty net goal proved to be critical as Florida cut Utah’s lead down to just one with only 14 seconds remaining.
No Guenther, no Cooley, Veggie has the night off.
WHAT A WIN FOR THE MAMMOTH pic.twitter.com/N9BOKAT2MI
— Cap’n Cook 🏔️ (@JazzePinkman) January 28, 2026
Not that Florida’s season has been overly impressive, but they’re still the reigning Stanley Cup champs who play a brutal style of hockey.
Without two of their best players, Utah was forced to be opportunistic and remarkably got the job done which makes this road trip a success no matter what happens in Carolina.
What’s next for the Utah Mammoth?
The Utah Mammoth will conclude their four-game road trip against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night at 5 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.
