SALT LAKE CITY – Despite another stellar individual performance by Kailer Yamamoto, the Utah Mammoth were their own worst enemy on Saturday night as they committed poor penalties early and allowed the Dallas Stars to take full control.
While Utah offered a respectable push later in the third as they attempted to tie things up, their lack of energy and poor start buried any chance to win the game.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s 3-2 loss to Dallas.
Dallas is a tall task, but Utah didn’t help themselves with all the early penalties
After a month of poor hockey with only two wins in 12 games, the Dallas Stars have recently returned to their winning ways with four-straight victories over the last week.
As the proud owners of 73 points (third in the central division, third most in the NHL), the Stars are always a tall order and could potentially hoist the Stanley Cup this season.
So, what makes them so tough to play?
In addition to star-studded lineup with guys like Mikko Rantanen, Jason Robertson, Matt Duchene, Wyatt Johnson and Miro Heiskanen, Dallas also boasts the second-best power play in the league at 30 percent.
Unfortunately for the Mammoth, instead of doing their best to limit the Stars chances on the power play, they committed two delay of game penalties (passed the puck over the boards from their own zone) in the first eight minutes of the game.
Avoidable mistakes that gifted the Stars two golden opportunities on the man advantage, and unsurprisingly, they punished a struggling PK unit (74 percent in January before tonight) both times with ease.
“They’re the second-best power play in the league for a reason,” Head Coach Andre Tourigny explained. “We need to stay out of the box in any way, shape, or form.”
“We need to find a way.”
Harls starts the party 🪩 pic.twitter.com/8bZ5JXmssm
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) February 1, 2026
Power play WEAPON 🚨 pic.twitter.com/j3rDjFM2VN
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) February 1, 2026
Penalties are never ideal, but against a team like Dallas they should be non-negotiable as the consequences are often severe.
Utah’s power play lacks confidence as they’ve struggled to get pucks on net
While the Utah Mammoth have made a lot of progress this season, one area that has taken a significant turn for the worse has been their power play.
Despite a top ten unit (24.2 percent) in 2025, Utah’s power play has barely maintained a pulse this year as they’ve dropped nine percentage points to the very bottom of the league.
But why?
It’s primarily the same unit and boasts plenty of offensive fire power.
Using Saturday’s game as an example (0/2 on the power play), Utah is simply not shooting the puck enough as they visibly lack confidence.
They’re far too perimeter in their approach, struggle to get bodies in front of the net and despite moving the puck fairly well when they get set up in the offensive zone, the Mammoth collectively refuse to shoot.
“Right now, we’re kind of struggling,” JJ Peterka explained. “We’ve got to go back to making easy plays, getting more shots on net, maybe scoring one or two greasy goals and just moving on from there.”
In response to whether or not the team is shooting enough, Peterka agreed that not enough pucks are finding their way to the net.
“Definitely not,” he said. “We’re just trying to make the perfect play right now. Like I said, just getting more pucks to the net and working it in.”
While the lack of shooting is obviously a significant issue, the biggest problem seems to be the team’s lack of confidence whenever they take the ice on the man advantage.
There’s no swag, no belief, no urgency and when they do happen to score, it seems like an unexpected surprise.
“I don’t think we have any swagger right now,” Tourigny said. “We don’t have any kind of execution.”
“At some point [in] that league if you feel sorry for yourself everybody will step on your throat and nobody will let you get back up…we need to find a way because our five-on-five game is top five in the league. Right now, we’re fighting for our life. We need to get our special teams up to par.”
Like Tourigny noted, Utah’s play at five-on-five is elite which is one of the primary reasons they’re in a wild card spot after such a strong push in January.
However, their lack of success on the power play is still hurting them.
It’s hurting them in one-goal games like tonight where they could desperately use some momentum or a goal for that matter to keep things close.
Additionally, if they do happen to make the playoffs, their inability to score on the power play will also hinder them in the postseason as games only become more competitive and teams either execute or quickly fall behind.
Now is the time to figure it out.
Kailer Yamamoto is making a strong case for a bigger role with Utah
Following a three-point night in Carolina as the primary driving force offensively, Kailer Yamamoto stayed red-hot against the Dallas Stars as he found the back of the net twice more.
Hot Yam! 🍠🔥
4️⃣ points in two games for Yamamoto! pic.twitter.com/vbV8Bk2AAR
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) February 1, 2026
Yams does it again! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/lVyMAokQMB
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) February 1, 2026
The beauty of Yamamoto’s game is that he can play anywhere on any line in any capacity.
Doesn’t matter if he’s played six in a row, missed nine straight or switched from the fourth line to the top line.
He plays a big game that compliments everyone around him.
“His IQ is really high. He plays with pace and I think…when he keeps his game simple, he’s able to play at the pace [that] not everybody can,” Tourigny explained.
“When I say not everybody, [I mean] on our team, on the other team…when he keeps it simple and really fast, that’s when he’s the most effective.”
After being a healthy scratch for nearly two weeks (January 11 to January 24), No. 56 has been a high-powered swiss army knife of offense as he doubled his point total in just five games from the previous 35.
“[I’m proving] that I belong here. That I can play with these guys,” Yamamoto said confidently.
“I’m taking it day by day and trying to play the best hockey that I can right now.”
Yamamoto does belong.
But not as a consistent healthy scratch.
Rather, a player that deserves a decent number of minutes on a better line than the fourth in order to play a more significant role and make an impact.
As of late, that’s exactly what he’s done and hopefully, his contributions will only continue to be rewarded.
What’s next for the Utah Mammoth?
The Utah Mammoth will continue their three-game home stand against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night at 7:30 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.
