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The Utah Mammoth's power play continued its impressive run, with both units finding the back of the net, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Seattle Kraken, who skated away with a 5-3 win on Thursday night.
In the opening period, Vincent Trocheck, set up by a superb pass from Washington native Kailer Yamamoto, notched his third goal of the season. Then, just 27 seconds into the third period, with Utah trailing 3-1, Logan Cooley redirected Mikhail Sergachev's shot past Seattle goaltender Philipp Grubauer for the Mammoth's second power-play tally of the game.
"It's a positive, the power play's rolling right now," Cooley said. "Second unit, they did a really good job. Was an unbelievable play by (Yamamoto) there to find (Trocheck) there. Start of the third, it was a big goal for us to get, especially quickly into the third. Those are obviously positives to take into the next games, and hopefully we can keep building off that because it's important."
Head coach André Tourigny shared his satisfaction with the power play's performance. "Power play has been good for us," he said. "I like when the well is spread like that. I think (the goals) came at big key moments as well. It's not just scoring, it's scoring when it matters, and they had big goals when it mattered."
Cooley's second goal of the night, a point shot that sailed past Grubauer 7:42 into the final frame, tied the game at 3-3. Utah also shuffled its top two lines during the contest, pairing Vincent Trocheck with Clayton Keller and Dylan Guenther, while Logan Cooley centered Nick Schmaltz and Lawson Crouse. Although the sample size was limited, the changes seemed to provide a spark.
"I think the (Trocheck) line had a little spark in the second, and they brought some good energy, so I liked that," Tourigny said. "(Cooley's) line scored in the third period. We'll see what we do in the next game."
Cooley added his thoughts on the new line combination: "We got on the forecheck, we were supporting each other. I think that's kind of how we scored on the second one there. I thought we did a good job of supporting each other, getting in on the forecheck, using our speed, chipping into a spot where we could recover it. They're a team that doesn't allow you to find the middle of the ice, so you have to work it in and kind of grind them down a little."
With the loss, Utah's record stands at 7-4-0. The Mammoth will have a chance to bounce back when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.
Key Analysis
Despite the defeat, Utah's power play continues to be a bright spot, converting on two of three opportunities. The team also showed resilience by battling back to tie the game in the third period. The line changes made by Coach Tourigny appeared to inject energy and could be a factor in upcoming games. Additionally, defenseman Nick DeSimone reached a milestone, playing his 100th career NHL game, 62 of which have been with Utah. He is now one of 26 active undrafted defensemen to reach triple-digit games in the NHL.
Utah outshot Seattle 36-23, including a 14-4 advantage in the third period, but Grubauer's goaltending kept the Kraken ahead. The Mammoth will look to carry the positives from this game into their next matchup.
Originally reported by newspub_live.