The struggling Vancouver Canucks took on the young and rising Utah Mammoth on Friday night as both teams looked to turn their seasons around. The Canucks looked to climb out of the cellar of the Pacific Division and the Mammoth looked to build on a 7-0 win against the Anaheim Ducks.
Summary of the game
In the opening frame, both teams traded chances early to try to break the ice and take their first lead of the game. Vancouver had the best chances as they defeated Utah 10-8 at the end of the period. But a late penalty from Max Sasson put the Mammoth in control and the team was able to convert. Mikhail Sergachev sent a puck onto the net that hit a few bodies in front and beat Kevin Lankinen to give Utah a 1-0 lead. A bad break for Vancouver as they went into the first intermission trailing 1-0.
In the second period, Vancouver had a much better stretch as they doubled Utah in shots by a total of 14-7. But fortunately for the Mammoth, Karel Vejmelka was in net, and he turned away all fourteen shots the Canucks threw at him, keeping them off the board in the second period. Later in the period, Mammoth rewarded Vejmelka with a tip goal by Nick Schmaltz on a shot from Sergachev that put Utah up 2-0 heading into the third period.
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Vancouver finally broke their shutout with one almost five minutes into the third period goal by Arshdeep Bains. He tipped in a shot from Aatu Raty for his first of the season and first of the game for the Canucks, putting them back in the game. As in recent bouts, Vancouver kept taking shots against Vejmelka, but couldn’t beat him as he played one of his best games on Friday. With almost two minutes left, Utah broke out in a rush, and Kevin Stenlund scored on Lankinen to secure a win for the Mammoth. John Marino added an empty-net goal to make the match 4–1, completing a three-goal victory.
Utah now looks to extend this winning streak to three games by playing the struggling Calgary Flames on the road on Saturday night. Vancouver will look to end their current four-game losing streak with a home match against the Minnesota Wild, which will also take place on Saturday night.
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