The Mammoth had a strong start with a pair of first period goals. 57 seconds in, Durzi’s fifth of the season gave Utah a 1-0 lead. The defenseman regained possession off a turnover and his shot snuck through. Eight minutes into the game, Schmaltz scored a power play goal and doubled the Mammoth’s lead. Utah capitalized on its 5-on-3 advantage and Schmaltz scored his 23rd of the year.
“Just a team effort,” Guenther explained. “We talked about our start, and it was really good, so happy with that.”
It took a full team effort to secure the win against one of the NHL’s best teams. The Mammoth had to ride momentum waves and pushbacks by Detroit. A connected performance held the Red Wings to a singular power play goal in which Detroit had pulled its goalie for a 6-on-4 advantage.
“(We had) just all the right intentions,” Guenther said. “Even if we made mistakes, I feel like guys were trying to do the right thing. They’re going to push. (They’re) one of the best teams in the league, but I thought we handled it well.”
“I think everybody contributed,” Tourigny explained. “I think our fourth line was key tonight in the third period, especially a big fight by (Brandon Tanev), but in the third period, every time they were on the ice, they got on the forecheck, they got the puck deep, and they spent some time (in the offensive zone), they (gave) us some energy. So that was really good. And same thing on the back end. I think we have depth; that’s one of our strength.”
As the Mammoth head into the break, they’re confident about how the team has played to its identity. Utah has a 12-4-1 record to start 2026 and the Mammoth will look to build off this success when games resume at the end of the month.
“I think (it says) we are (on) the right way,” Vejmelka shared. “We’re (playing the) right way and we need to keep the same mindset for the rest of the season. Use the break for (a) kind of reset for our mind but have that same mindset when we get back here.”