Wednesday night we saw the Utah Mammoth host the Calgary Flames at the newly renovated Delta Center for their home opener of the 2025-2026 season.
The Flames bounced back from defeat as they blew a multi-goal lead to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, while the Mammoth tried to bounce back from a loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Summary of the game
The Mammoth started the match with early pressure and dominated the chances during the opening minutes. However, Mikhail Sergachev was sent into the penalty area, and on the ensuing Flames power play, Rasmus Andersson opened the scoring with his first of the season on a one-time shot from the slot following a great pass from Morgan Frost.
This was the only goal of the first period, despite a total of five power play opportunities in that period. The Mammoth controlled the majority of the shots in the period, but entered the first intermission with a lead of one.
The Mammoth continued to apply pressure early in the second and was eventually rewarded when Nick Schmaltz Barrett found Hayton wide open in the slot to beat Devin Cooley for his first of the season.
They took the lead three minutes later on an unassisted goal from JJ Peterka, where he intercepted a cross-ice pass at the Mammoth blue line and was off to the races with a breakaway. He fought a Flames backchecker and was awarded a delayed penalty. They didn’t need the man advantage, however, as Peterka beat Cooley to give Utah a one-goal lead, which they carried into the third period.
While the Mammoth were able to take the lead, things could have gotten a lot worse for the Flames as they allowed 18 shots, 21 scoring chances and 10 dangerous chances in the middle frame.
Both Cooley and Vejmelka played well in net all game and slammed the door shut in the third period, going scoreless for the final 20 minutes until Kevin Stenlund scored an empty-net goal with 22 seconds left to cap off the 3-1 win.
These two meet again in December in what could be a pivotal season series between two borderline playoff hopefuls.
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