Your heart can handle the Mammoth roller coaster
Oh my heck, Utah! I know we're all waking up a little groggy after last night's heart-wrencher at the Delta Center. The Utah Mammoth really gave the Golden Knights a run for their money, but we ended up falling 5-4 in overtime. Talk about a nail-biter, right? The Knights got on the board quick with Pavel Dorofeyev and then scored a shorthanded goal from Brett Howden, leaving us down by two after the first. They even stretched that lead to 3-0 in the second period with a goal from Chandler Smith. It felt like we were watching the sun set over the Oquirrh Mountains at halftime. But then our guys, Nick Schmaltz and then Ian Cole, found the back of the net in quick succession, pulling us back to 3-2 by the end of the second.
The third period was pure magic, you guys! Michael Carcone tied it up early, then Clayton Keller gave us the lead – oh my heck, the building was absolutely rocking! You could feel the energy all the way to the Gilgal Sculpture Garden. But Brett Howden for the Golden Knights scored again, tying it up and sending us into overtime. Our Mammoth outshot them 36-31, and we looked so good. But Shea Theodore ended it for Vegas at 19:08 of the extra frame. Fetch. Losing to them always stings a little extra, you know? They had their expansion magic moment, now it's our turn, and we're keeping it.
Okay, so what does this mean for the Utah Mammoth? We're still sitting pretty at 43-33-6 with 92 points, holding onto that Wildcard #1 spot. Losing in overtime still gets us a point, which is important. We've gone 6-4-0 in our last ten, so we're still playing great hockey. It’s a tough loss, especially at home against Vegas, but it's just one game. We've got to shake this off and look ahead. The mood in Salt Lake City this morning might be a little quiet, but our team showed incredible grit coming back from a three-goal deficit. That’s the kind of fight that builds traditions, and that’s what we’re all about here.
Tusks up, Utah. We're just getting started.
My good friends over on the morning show are breaking all this down right now – you should definitely tune in live at mornings.live.