{"id":413859,"date":"2026-01-18T06:11:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T06:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/413859\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T06:11:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T06:11:49","slug":"utah-mammoth-beat-seattle-kraken-6-3-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/413859\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah Mammoth beat Seattle Kraken 6-3 \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Utah Mammoth\u2019s dream home stand continues.<\/p>\n

With a 6-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, they\u2019re now on a three-game winning streak and a seven-game point streak, giving them their second-best stretch of the season thus far.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the story of Utah\u2019s win on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Quick catchupUtah Mammoth: 6Seattle Kraken: 3<\/p>\n

When the Dallas Stars were in town<\/a> on Thursday, it took 39 minutes and 53 seconds to open the scoring. <\/p>\n

On Saturday, the game needed just a minute and nine seconds.<\/p>\n

It was Kraken captain Jordan Eberle who struck on a rebound in front of Karel Vejmelka, but Utah responded less than two minutes later with a short-handed goal at the hands of Kevin Stenlund.<\/p>\n

Momentum was the biggest factor in this one.<\/p>\n

Ten minutes into the game, the shots were 11-2 in the Kraken\u2019s favor. Around the halfway point of the first period, something flipped, and by the end of the frame, that stat was tied 12-12.<\/p>\n

The second period began with two Mammoth goals and it ended with two Kraken goals. Then in the third, the deciding factor was Utah\u2019s trio of goals in the final five and a half minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the way we were opportunistic and we found a way to score big goals at key moments,\u201d said Mammoth head coach Andr\u00e9 Tourigny after the game.<\/p>\n

Tidbits and takeaways\u2018Matin-Nate\u2019<\/p>\n

Players with young children love to see their kids at games, but it\u2019s common for those kids to go home early \u2014 nobody wants to deal with a toddler who stayed up until 11 p.m.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the boat Nate Schmidt and his family are in, but Saturday\u2019s game was the \u201cNext Gen\u201d event, with everything revolving around kids \u2014 including the 3 p.m. start time.<\/p>\n

What better opportunity to have your best game in more than six years?<\/p>\n

Schmidt scored two goals and added a pair of assists for his first four-point night since Nov. 17, 2019. It was also the first four-point game for a defenseman in franchise history.<\/p>\n

\u201cA \u2018matin-Nate,\u2019 if you will,\u201d he joked after the game. \u201cThrow all your dad jokes out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schmidt has been exactly what this Mammoth team has needed: A solid veteran who knows what it takes to win, but one who also keeps the mood light. He\u2019s one of those guys who seems to not even know what a bad day is.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a good pro. He\u2019s in ever day, smiling every day, focusing every day, urgent every day,\u201d Tourigny said. \u201cWhen you talk about being a good pro, from the moment he steps in the building, everything he does, his therapy, his prep, or his training or his practice (is on point). <\/p>\n

\u201cNothing goes unrewarded in life, and he\u2019s a good example of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Utah Mammoth center Kevin Stenlund (82) scores against Seattle Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer (31) during the first period of an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth left wing Brandon Tanev (13) complains to an official after being called for a penalty during the first period of an NHL game against the Seattle Kraken at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth left wing Lawson Crouse (67) moves the puck against Seattle Kraken right wing Jordan Eberle (7) during the first period of an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth right wing Clayton Keller (9) shoots the puck during the first period of an NHL game against the Seattle Kraken at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth defenseman Nate Schmidt (88) looks on as he skates through center ice after scoring during the second period of an NHL game against the Seattle Kraken at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth left wing Daniil But (19) stretches during warmups before an NHL game against the Seattle Kraken at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Seattle Kraken center Ben Meyers (59) skates with the puck during the second period of an NHL game against the Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth defenseman Mikhail Sergachev (98) hits Seattle Kraken right wing Kaapo Kakko (84) into the boards during the second period of an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Seattle Kraken center Matty Beniers (10) falls to the ice after scoring against the Utah Mammoth during the second period of an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth center Nick Schmaltz (8) celebrates with the bench after scoring against the Seattle Kraken during the second period of an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"The Seattle Kraken celebrate after a goal by Seattle Kraken right wing Jordan Eberle (7) during the first period of an NHL game against the Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth right wing JJ Peterka (77) skates with the puck during the second period of an NHL game against the Seattle Kraken at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Seattle Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak (24) shoots during the second period of an NHL game against the Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Seattle Kraken center Chandler Stephenson (9) scores against Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) during the second period of an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth center Kevin Stenlund (82) clears the puck away from Seattle Kraken defenseman Ryker Evans (41) during the third period of an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Seattle Kraken center Matty Beniers (10) celebrates with defenseman Brandon Montour (62) and right wing Jordan Eberle (7) after scoring against the Utah Mammoth during the second period of an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth center Nick Schmaltz (8) passes the puck around Seattle Kraken center Chandler Stephenson (9) during the third period of an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth defenseman Nate Schmidt (88) celebrates after scoring during the third period of an NHL game against the Seattle Kraken at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth defenseman Mikhail Sergachev (98) moves the puck during the third period of an NHL game against the Seattle Kraken at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Fans celebrate after the Utah Mammoth scored against the Seattle Kraken during the third period of an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth left wing Lawson Crouse (67) celebrates after scoring during the third period of an NHL game against the Seattle Kraken at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth right wing Clayton Keller (9) skates past Seattle Kraken right wing Jordan Eberle (7) during the third period of an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth center Barrett Hayton (27) scores an empty net goal against the Seattle Kraken during the third period of an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth left wing Daniil But (19) looks to make a pass around Seattle Kraken defenseman Ryker Evans (41) during the third period of an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth defenseman Nate Schmidt (88) high-fives left wing Lawson Crouse (67) during the stars of the game ceremony after the Utah Mammoth defeated the Seattle Kraken 6-3 in an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth defenseman Nate Schmidt (88) celebrates after scoring during the third period of an NHL game against the Seattle Kraken at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News <\/p>\n

Schmidt was on the ice for 57 seconds of the 2:11 that the Kraken played with an empty net Saturday. While everyone watching would have loved to see the 34-year-old score his first-ever NHL hat trick, the Mammoth also recognized that they had a game to win.<\/p>\n

That shows the trust that both the coaches and Schmidt\u2019s teammates have in him to be responsible defensively while also searching for a third goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was good. Johnny (Marino) looks at me and he goes, \u2018I\u2019m not shooting the puck out of the zone,\u2019\u201d Schmidt said. \u201cSure enough, what did he do later? Shot the puck out of the zone. Veggie actually played it to him. I yelled at him, \u2018Don\u2019t you dare.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Lawson Crouse of Schmidt: \u201cHe\u2019s an incredible teammate, a wise veteran, brings a lot to our locker room and a very hard-working, team-first guy. <\/p>\n

\u201cObviously very happy to see him get rewarded and we were all cheering for him to get that empty net at the end there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sheriff<\/p>\n

The credit for Utah\u2019s first goal of the game goes to Kevin Stenlund, but it doesn\u2019t happen without Crouse\u2019s<\/a> slick move to get him the puck.<\/p>\n

And that wasn\u2019t Crouse\u2019s only nice pass. He ended the game with a goal and two assists, but with a little more puck luck, he could have easily accrued five points or more. <\/p>\n

The three points he did get should not be overlooked, though. It was his first three-point game since March 27, 2023 \u2014 and it was the only time he\u2019s ever ended a game with precisely one goal and two assists.<\/p>\n

Crouse also led Mammoth forwards in shots (4) and had twice as many hits as the next-highest player in the entire game (8).<\/p>\n

He was too humble to accept praise, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout your career, you go through a lot of highs and lows,\u201d he said. \u201c(I\u2019m) trying to use the confidence as best I can, but there\u2019s a lot of work to do and the work is the main reason of why I\u2019m being successful right now, and just got to keep that going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tourigny agreed, explaining that Crouse does not cut corners, which leads to his success.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, he\u2019s in the zone,\u201d Tourigny said. \u201cHe does his job. He\u2019s confident he will do his job, and when he makes a mistake, it doesn\u2019t faze him because he\u2019s focused on what he has to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd confidence comes from a source. When you do what you\u2019re supposed to do every day, the right way with the right prep, the right effort, with the right focus, it\u2019s tough to not be confident.\u201d<\/p>\n

A happy new year<\/p>\n

Since the calendar flipped to 2026, the Mammoth have just a single regulation loss, and they\u2019ve secured 15 of a possible 18 points.<\/p>\n

The first half of the season was filled with heavy travel for the Mammoth. They\u2019re enjoying their seven-game home stand which has one game remaining, and they\u2019re gradually creating space in the standings between them and the teams on their tail.<\/p>\n

But the important thing is how they\u2019re dealing with their success.<\/p>\n

Every locker room conversation with players during this home stand, whether on the record or off, seems to have had an air of indifference. It\u2019s not that the guys aren\u2019t thrilled to win \u2014 it\u2019s an understanding that what happened last game has no bearing on what happens next game. <\/p>\n

Every game starts at 0-0.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a sign of maturity as a group. That\u2019s the organization\u2019s entire goal at this stage in the build, meaning things are going as planned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much hockey to be played,\u201d Tourigny said. \u201cYou know, it\u2019s, \u2018OK, we have a good stretch.\u2019 In two weeks, that stretch will mean nothing if we don\u2019t do what we have to do every day. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it\u2019s every day. We need to keep pegging and staying in the present, staying in the process and trying to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goal of the gameStenlund from Crouse<\/p>\n

We already talked about this goal as well as the pass that preceded it. Here it is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Utah Mammoth\u2019s dream home stand continues. With a 6-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, they\u2019re…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413860,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5130],"tags":[5,4188,3157,4,2686,234,5318],"class_list":{"0":"post-413859","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-seattle-kraken","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-kraken","10":"tag-news-feed-local","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-seattle","13":"tag-seattle-kraken","14":"tag-seattlekraken"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115914636935149043","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}