Monday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights was a big one for the Utah Mammoth. With a win over the New York Rangers on Saturday, the team was looking to win back-to-back games for the first time since their seven-game winning streak. Revenge was also on the table. The Mammoth were embarrassed by the Knights at home just a couple of days ago, so the loss was fresh on their minds.
The second meeting of the season between the two teams proved to be a better outing for the Mammoth as they ended up beating the Knights 5-1 to win their second straight game. The team is heating back up as the end of November draws near. Here are some takeaways from Monday’s game.
Karel Vejmelka’s Redemption Game
One of the biggest negatives surrounding the Mammoth as of late has been their questionable goaltending. Neither Karel Vejmelka nor Vítek Vaněček has played their best. Vaněček might be a little bit more understandable since he hasn’t put up solid numbers in a while, and he’s on a brand new team.
However, the same cannot be said about Vejmelka. After a fantastic 2024-25 season where he started 55 games and helped the Mammoth press for a playoff spot, which earned him a five-year extension, he’s been quite disappointing.
Vejmelka currently has a .891 save percentage with a 2.76 goals against average stat line. His save percentage number in particular is the worst he’s put up in any of his seasons in the NHL. However, his performance on Monday helped him start to improve those numbers.
The goaltender made 33 saves on 34 shots to wind up with a .971 save percentage, the best number he’s put up all season. He made quite a few great saves, but the best one had to be in the first period, where he stopped a puck from going in with the blade of his skate.
It was a big game for Vejmelka and one that should restore a little bit of confidence in him. It was his best game of the season, and it was against a team that was riding a six-game point streak coming into Monday.
“This one feels really good,” Vejmelka said. “It’s a big two points against a really good team, one of the best so far this season. So it feels really good.”
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This is a game that showed Vejmelka can play the game that impressed the Mammoth so much that they gave him a long-term contract. It wasn’t just a fluke season for the goalie. Now, the next step is for Vejmelka to build off the win and find some consistency and stability.
It wouldn’t be surprising if he starts on Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens and then again on either Friday or Saturday. Whenever he starts again, he knows the type of game he has to play to keep winning, and it’s the game he played on Monday.
Logan Cooley Ices the Knights
Speaking of long-term contracts, just like Vejmelka, there’s a reason why Logan Cooley got a massive extension. While he has struggled in recent weeks, Monday was the game that he needed to have.
Up 1-0 towards the end of the first period, the Mammoth were eying another goal. It’s what they got when Dylan Guenther and Cooley entered the Knights’ zone. Guenther slid the pass over to Cooley to score the second goal of the game.
“Any time you can score early or get chances early, your legs start to feel a little lighter,” Cooley said. “Your body just feels better, and that’s when you’re feeling good and allowing yourself to get chances offensively.”
After a middling second period where the Knights scored a goal, the Mammoth needed to close the game out in the third period. Four minutes into the period, the Knights swarmed Vejmelka, attempting to score the equalizer. The puck got loose and was passed to Jack Eichel. Eichel misplayed the puck behind him and turned it over to Cooley. The young forward charged into the Knights’ zone and put the puck in thanks to a deflection off his own skate to put his team up 3-0.
As soon as the Knights emptied their net towards the end of the game, Cooley immediately hit the ice and threw the puck into the net from the neutral zone to get his second hat trick of the season. Cooley’s night wasn’t done as he scored one more empty net goal to break the franchise record for the most amount of goals scored by a player in a single game.
A night 4️⃣ the history books. 👏 pic.twitter.com/OU5vBiyEHI
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) November 25, 2025
The four goals for Cooley placed him in many record books. The first is an impressive one. He is only the fourth player in NHL history to record multiple hat tricks in a single season at age 21 or younger, joining Filip Forsberg, Patrik Laine, and Wayne Gretzky.
Cooley is also the seventh player 21 or younger to score four goals in a game. Finally, he is only one of three players to record multiple hat tricks this season, joining Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini.
The Utah Mammoth celebrate a goal by center Logan Cooley against the Vegas Golden Knights (Rob Gray-Imagn Images)
That is a lot to accomplish at just age 21. However, Cooley’s maturity is beyond that of an average 21-year-old. He is very hard on himself when it comes to his play. With a lack of production coming his way as of late, it’s been tough, but he knew he would make his way back to his usual consistent production.
The big thing is consistency, and that’s something that, for me, personally, I’m always trying to work on,” Cooley said. “It wasn’t the easiest path to tonight…It’s a grind of a season, mentally, physically, but I think leaning on guys that have experience, family, little things like that, gets you out of it. I was fortunate to have a big game tonight.”
Cooley is a massive part of this Mammoth team. He is a game-changer. His play and production have determined the results of some Mammoth games throughout the season. Cooley is a hard worker and one who wants to win every game. As mentioned, he can be hard on himself during the rough patches, but when he’s at his best, he’s a beast.
“When he gets on the board early, it changes games as well,” said head coach André Tourigny after the game. “It’s a little bit of maturity and, like I often talk about, how competitive he is. When he gets the monkey off his shoulder, he’s a different player. He’s a difference maker. He just needs to be a little bit less tough on himself and allow himself to have a period once in a while where he doesn’t have a point. That’s just normal in (the) league.”
Cooley also picked up an assist on Guenther’s goal, which concluded his night with five points in the bag. He now leads the Mammoth in goals and is second in points behind only Nick Schmaltz, who has 22 points.
This was the game that Cooley needed to get the monkey off his back, as Tourigny said. The Mammoth are hoping this game gets him back to how he was playing during the seven-game winning streak. When Cooley produces, the Mammoth often find themselves winning. Monday was a prime example of that.
Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold
On Thursday, the Mammoth skated off the ice of the Delta Center after suffering a 4-1 loss to the Knights. It was a bad performance all around from the home. It was also the team’s fourth straight loss.
On Monday, the script was flipped. The Mammoth played two really good periods, and their best players were going. Goaltending, as mentioned, was reliable, and the team looked pretty solid against one of the best teams in the NHL.
The top six for the Mammoth were unbeatable. Cooley and Guenther showed off their unreal connection. The blueline also contributed with Nate Schmidt getting two assists to continue his point streak, which has reached five games.
The penalty kill for the Mammoth was once again elite, allowing nothing on three opportunities. However, when we get to the few bad things that came out of the game, the Mammoth still failed to produce on their own power play. They have only scored once on the man advantage in November.
The second period was also very questionable for the Mammoth. It was expected that the Knights would bounce back after a poor first period. They ended up recording an insane 16 shots compared to the Mammoth’s four. It was not a great look.
“We did a pretty good job at staying composed,” Tourigny said. “We did not do a perfect job. You could see the nerve; we didn’t make plays at the same pace, and we didn’t connect as much on our passes. So there’s stuff we can be better at, but that’s why there are 82 games. We still have a lot of things to get better at, but the mindset of the guys was really good.”
However, the Mammoth didn’t squander their lead like they had been doing and defended their lead until the end. It earned them their second straight win, something the team hadn’t accomplished since their seven-game win streak.
How the Mammoth played on Monday was the type of play that won them seven straight games throughout October. The way the team handled the lead is something they need to continue to do as well.
“The way we kind of handled the lead, I think that’s a big thing,” Cooley said. “In the past, we’ve been up, and get comfortable, and teams start to bury us. I think the game against the Rangers, and tonight, that’s how we know how to play. When we’re doing that, you see the results we get. For us, it’s about staying consistent with this process and not changing anything. There’s still stuff to clean up, but overall I was really happy about our performance the past two nights.”
Perhaps the best part about the win was that, unlike the Rangers, the Knights are Stanley Cup contenders. They will more than likely make the playoffs this season. Beating them is a great look for the Mammoth and instills some confidence you wouldn’t have gotten from beating a team like the Buffalo Sabres or even the Rangers.
“They’re a good team,” Tourigny said. “They’re a Stanley Cup contender for a reason. We knew they would have a say in what would happen out there, but the intensity and the urgency we have in those situations and the way we protected that front, even if we’re not perfect and even if there are a number of things we would like to get better at, I think the mindset is always the most important thing. I think the guys were really good with it. We were composed, we were intense, and we were even-keeled.”
Plus, the Mammoth got to get some revenge on the Knights for embarrassing them in front of their fans on Thursday. Players remember things like that. I’m sure getting a win against the Knights after playing them less than a week ago put a smile on some of the guys in the locker room. The smiles are deserved. It was a big win and one that the players and team desperately needed.
Next game up for the Mammoth is against the Canadiens on Wednesday. The Canadiens are 11-7-3 this season and are coming off a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. These two teams last met at the beginning of the month, where the Mammoth lost 6-2.
