{"id":446642,"date":"2026-02-05T07:53:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T07:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/446642\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T07:53:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T07:53:02","slug":"utah-mammoth-beat-detroit-red-wings-4-1-deseret-news-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/446642\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah Mammoth beat Detroit Red Wings 4-1 \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether it\u2019s a case of Detroit Red Wings fans traveling well, or there\u2019s just a large cohort of Michiganders in Utah, the stands at the Delta Center on Wednesday were littered with red jerseys.<\/p>\n

But they were in for a big disappointment.<\/p>\n

The Utah Mammoth, who have been nearly unstoppable at home since the calendar flipped to 2026, pulled off a 4-1 win against the league\u2019s seventh-best team.<\/p>\n

\u201cSolid game by our special teams. Our goalie was rock-solid. It was a huge win for us,\u201d smiled Mammoth head coach Andr\u00e9 Tourigny.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the story.<\/p>\n

\"\"Utah Mammoth right wing Dylan Guenther (11) celebrates his goal against the Detroit Red Wings during the third period of an NHL game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth left wing Michael Carcone (53) chases after the puck while guarded by Detroit Red Wings defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka (44) during the third period of an NHL game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Tusky celebrates the Utah Mammoth\u2019s 4-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) waves to the crowd during the player of the game ceremony after the Utah Mammoth\u2019s 4-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth center Nick Schmaltz (8) controls the puck while guarded by Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker (25) during the first period of an NHL game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Detroit Red Wings defenseman Albert Johansson (20) controls the puck while guarded by Utah Mammoth center Nick Schmaltz (8) during the third period of an NHL game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Detroit Red Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot (8) checks Utah Mammoth right wing Clayton Keller (9) during the second period of an NHL game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Detroit Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan watches the action during the third period of an NHL game against the Utah Mammoth held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth head coach Andr\u00e9 Tourigny directs his players on the bench during the second period of an NHL game against the Detroit Red Wings held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Detroit Red Wings defenseman Travis Hamonic (52) fights with Utah Mammoth left wing Brandon Tanev (13) during the second period of an NHL game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth center Kevin Stenlund (82) competes for the puck against Detroit Red Wings left wing J.T. Compher (37) in a faceoff during the first period of an NHL game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth left wing Lawson Crouse (67) drives the puck up the ice during the first period of an NHL game against the Detroit Red Wings held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth center Jack McBain (22) exchanges words with Detroit Red Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot (8) during the first period of an NHL game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker (25) reacts after being checked by Utah Mammoth center Barrett Hayton (27) during the first period of an NHL game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth center Barrett Hayton (27) reacts after the Mammoth missed a shot on the goal during the first period of an NHL game against the Detroit Red Wings held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth defenseman Nate Schmidt (88) and Detroit Red Wings center Marco Kasper (92) compete for possession of the puck during the second period of an NHL game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Detroit Red Wings goaltender John Gibson (36) awaits action during the third period of an NHL game against the Utah Mammoth held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) watches the puck as right wing Kailer Yamamoto (56) and Detroit Red Wings left wing James van Riemsdyk (21) compete for it during the second period of an NHL game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News \"\"Utah Mammoth center Nick Schmaltz (8) prepares for a faceoff against the Detroit Red Wings during the third period of an NHL game held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News Quick catchupUtah Mammoth: 4Detroit Red Wings: 1<\/p>\n

The game opened like many others in recent Mammoth history: with an early goal. Sean Durzi seemed to catch Red Wings goaltender John Gibson by surprise, floating a shot on net from the boards just inside the blue line.<\/p>\n

Nick Schmaltz, who had a hat trick against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday, followed it up with yet another goal a few minutes later.<\/p>\n

It would remain 2-0 Utah until the third period, when Dylan Guenther would add to the pile with a solid power move.<\/p>\n

The Mammoth were playing for goaltender Karel Vejmelka, who was looking to record the first home shutout in franchise history. But a late delay of game penalty put them shorthanded, at which point the Red Wings pulled the goalie to go 6-on-4. Captain and soon-to-be Olympian Dylan Larkin capitalized on the opportunity, ending Vejmelka\u2019s perfect game with just 2:18 to go.<\/p>\n

Clayton Keller, who will join Larkin on Team USA\u2019s Olympic squad in mere days, fired an empty-netter to seal the game.<\/p>\n

Regardless of what happens in Thursday\u2019s games, the Mammoth will go into the Olympic break with a grasp on the first wild card spot \u2014 a great place to be for a franchise looking to take the next step.<\/p>\n

Tidbits and takeawaysSteaming-hot Veggies<\/p>\n

Vejmelka shared in a walk-off interview<\/a> after the game that his uncle had passed away two days prior.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis win is for him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He explained a little more in his postgame interview with the media.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a big sportsman. He played tennis really well for a long time, so he taught me a lot,\u201d Vejmelka said. \u201cHe was a great human being. … I played, obviously, for him tonight, so this win is for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although he won\u2019t get credit for a shutout, his impact in this game should not be understated. Time after time, the phrase \u201cHow did that stay out?\u201d ran through the minds of the fans as they chanted his nickname.<\/p>\n

\u201cHelps you to win games, no doubt about it,\u201d Tourigny said of Vejmelka\u2019s performance. \u201cI think he\u2019s been on a good stretch, played a lot of hockey. He\u2019s going (to) the Olympics. Happy for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vejmelka now heads to the Olympics<\/a>, where he\u2019ll represent his home country, Czechia.<\/p>\n

He brings a boatload of earned confidence overseas with him. He leads the NHL in wins (27) and has been the backbone of his team all season long. Czechia\u2019s first Olympic game will be against Canada on Feb. 12.<\/p>\n

A group effort<\/p>\n

Player selection has been a major topic surrounding the top Olympic teams. Anthony Cirelli, for example, isn\u2019t remotely one of the top-scoring Canadians in the NHL, but he made the team for his defensive ability.<\/p>\n

Winning teams, in the Olympics and the NHL, tend to have guys who are really good at their specific jobs. Tourigny explained after the game that the Mammoth are structured the same way \u2014 and that was a big part of their group win Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

Schmaltz, Guenther and Keller are among the primary scorers, and that\u2019s exactly what they did against the Red Wings. A number of others, including Durzi, provide secondary scoring.<\/p>\n

Jack McBain, Liam O\u2019Brien and Brandon Tanev provide toughness and pace, as evidenced by Tanev\u2019s fight and McBain and O\u2019Brien leading the game in hits (four each).<\/p>\n

Kevin Stenlund is among the league\u2019s best penalty killers and, obviously, Vejmelka can stop a puck with the best of \u2018em.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have guys who are just OK at a little bit of everything,\u201d Tourigny said. \u201cThey all have something. … That\u2019s why we\u2019re capable of being successful, even if we\u2019re missing really good players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well-deserved break<\/p>\n

It\u2019s well-documented how action-packed this season is. In case you hadn\u2019t heard, it\u2019s an Olympic year, meaning they have three fewer weeks in which to squeeze their 82-game schedule.<\/p>\n

Many of the guys who weren\u2019t selected for international teams are heading to sunny locations \u2014 and it seems like Florida is the preferred spot. Tourigny said he\u2019ll spend three days somewhere sunny before going home to Quebec, promising to bring some snow back with him.<\/p>\n

The Mammoth are back in action at the Delta Center on Feb. 25, and it\u2019ll be no easy task to get back to their winning ways: the league-leading Colorado Avalanche are coming to town. Practices resume on Feb. 17.<\/p>\n

Goal of the gameDylan Guenther\u2019s power move<\/p>\n

Guenther has talked a lot about becoming more versatile, and that\u2019s what he showed on this goal. He is not a one-dimensional player.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think (versatility) is important,\u201d Guenther said after the game. \u201cI mean, you can\u2019t just try to score. I think just trying to be reliable. … Trying to manage the puck and then score in different ways, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whether it\u2019s a case of Detroit Red Wings fans traveling well, or there\u2019s just a large cohort of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5101],"tags":[599,93,5137,5,3157,4,3358,5138],"class_list":{"0":"post-446642","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-red-wings","8":"tag-detroit","9":"tag-detroit-red-wings","10":"tag-detroitredwings","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-news-feed-local","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-red-wings","15":"tag-redwings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116016947221000817","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446642","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=446642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}