In addition to Guenther’s milestone achieved on Saturday night, a games played milestone was reached as Durzi played in his 300th NHL game. The defenseman brings experience on the ice and energy off of it. 

Guenther shared more of Durzi’s impact following the game.

“I think just a lot of positivity, energy,” Guenther explained. “He’s a fun guy to be around. He’s loud in the dressing room. In the locker room he always brings the juice. But on the ice, I think his vision is really good and his offensive play. He finds guys in the (offensive) zone, he makes good passes. We’re lucky to have him.”

Utah had some strong chances throughout the game against Carolina, including a Keller goal that was called back for being offside in the first period. The Mammoth were able to show plenty of offense and generated 27 shots against the Hurricanes, who have held their opponents to the fewest shots on goal in the NHL (23.9).

The intense pressure that Carolina brings all game long can deter opponents. However, Utah found more of its game as time went on, including in the second period. 

“We don’t play them a lot,” Guenther said postgame. “I think we know how they play, though, and they play super predictable. It’s just work, I mean, they work other teams, and I think that we just maybe weren’t prepared to do that at the start. And it’s hard to come back on a team like that, but I thought we played well in the second (period).”

“I mean, that’s the Carolina Hurricanes,” Sean Durzi shared. “That’s what you’re getting with that team. We know that you have to be patient. Not much, not many plays there to be made, and I thought that’s what you saw. I think they always come out pretty hard, and we knew that, we knew what to expect. I thought we found our game in the second and then, yeah, that hockey game. It’s a couple bounces the other way, and pucks go in the net. But listen, that’s the Hurricanes. We’ve got to stay patient, and that’s the way the hockey game went.”

The Hurricanes play and pressure is similar to the postseason. There’s not a lot of time or space in playoff games. Facing Carolina in the final stretch of the regular season provided Utah an opportunity to get reps ahead of the postseason. The Mammoth can learn from this and take these lessons into next week.

“The start, the intent you need to be able to match the intensity or take the momentum early on is one,” Tourigny said. “There were some moments of frustration at some points where we needed to stay even keeled. I think the guys reacted really well after that was pretty good. They are a pretty tight checking team. I liked the way that we progressed in the game of playing against that style. If there’s space, we have the skill and we can make plays, but when there’s no space, you have to be able to generate different ways. Creating space behind the D and stuff like that. I like the way we generated in the second half of the game. Generate that way, and that was positive. So, there’s a few takeaways.”

“Patience is so important in these games,” Durzi explained. “Especially a team like us, a young, skilled, fast team. We want to make plays, and there are plays to be made, but at the same time, we can’t force it. Not to say that we did, and that we were trying to force plays. But again, that’s hockey where we stay patient, we stay on them, we put pucks in, and then let our skill take over from there. And you know what? That’s a good test for us today. And again, that’s a lot of what’s to come.”

Saturday was the first half of the Mammoth’s final back-to-back of the season. Utah will have an opportunity to bounce back tomorrow night against the Calgary Flames. 

“Just learn from it and get back at it,” Guenther said. “Quick turnaround, last away game, a little bit of travel. We’ve been in the position that Calgary’s in right now. They’re going to be hungry, they’re going to play well, and you’re always playing for something. So, I just think just making sure that we’re ready and learning from this one.”