The Nashville Predators hosted the Utah Mammoth at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday night.
Both teams had one game under their belts going into this match. The Mammoth came out on the losing end of a 2-1 game against the Colorado Avalanche, while the Nashville Predators came out on top in a 2-1 game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Summary of the game
The Mammoth came out with the early scoring opportunities, getting the first three shots of the game. On the third, Dylan Guenther found Logan Cooley, who capped the two-on-one opportunity by beating Juuse Saros for his first goal of the season in less than three minutes.
Five minutes later, Filip Forsberg made a strong play by bringing the puck to the net to score his first goal of the season. He beat Karel Vejmelka’s glove side with a shot he’ll probably want back. Brady Martin, the Predators’ 2025 fifth overall draft pick, assisted on the goal. It was his first career NHL point.
After the hot start, the scoring slowed until midway through the second period, when Erik Haula broke the tie with his first goal as a Predator, digging one past Vejmelka.
The Predators carried this 2-1 lead and a one-minute head start into the third period. On the power play to open the period, Predators captain Roman Josi found the back of the net 26 seconds into the game. However, the goal was disallowed after review for offside and the lead remained at one.
Twelve minutes into the period, the Mammoth took advantage of the goal cancellation and tied the game at 2-2 on a goal from Jack McBain when he hit a rebound off a Sean Durzi shot into the Predators’ net.
This goal forced overtime, with Guenther winning the game for the Utah Mammoth after winning a battle for the puck in the offensive zone, taking it to the net and putting together a great move on Saros to cap off the Mammoth’s first victory.
It was tight control, with these two teams managing just 45 shots in nearly 63 minutes. The two Central Division opponents will next meet just before the new year on December 29.
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