3 Takeaways From Mammoth’s 1-0 Loss to Blues

“Big thanks to the Blues for everything they did tonight,” Keller said. “They didn’t have to do that. Lots of memories at this rink. Growing up, coming to games here, sitting on my dad’s lap, my grandpa’s lap. Just admiring those players and wanting to be out there.”

Just like on Friday, Keller once again was the best player on the ice. He had four shots on goal, the most out of any Mammoth player. He could’ve chosen not to play, given it was in his hometown and his family was grieving. However, he suited up and played well. It shows how incredible a captain he is and how much the Mammoth means to him.

“It was definitely a tough couple of days, but I couldn’t have done it without my family, my teammates,” Keller said. “They had my back always. I care for them more than anything.”

If there was one positive to come from either Friday’s game against the Stars or Saturday night against the Blues, it was the nice gestures from both teams. It shows that hockey is more than a sport. It’s a family. Despite battling it out for 60 minutes on the ice, all of that is put aside for the bigger things.

“That’s amazing,” head coach André Tourigny said. “That’s what’s unbelievable about hockey. There are some unbelievable people in the game, and I think it’s coming from the right place, coming from the heart, and we appreciate it a lot.”

An Alarming Collision

With the Mammoth fighting to score a goal to tie the game, one of the worst possible scenarios happened. One of their key players was severely injured on a play.

Logan Cooley was skating in the neutral zone when he collided with Alexey Toropchenko and fell to the ice. Cooley was on the ice for a long time with medical staff looking over him. Eventually, he was helped off the ice by two teammates. He wouldn’t return.

Looking at the play in slow motion, Toropchenko purposely stuck his knee out, and it hit Cooley’s upper leg hard. Toropchenko was ejected from the game, and the Mammoth received an extended power play.

Interestingly enough, a year ago, Maveric Lamouruex had a similar dirty hit on Toropcehnko, where he hit him with his knee. Perhaps it wasn’t completely intentional, but Lamouruex on that play could’ve made some sort of effort to try not to hit Toropchenko. It was the same situation on Saturday.

Tourigny did not have an update on Cooley at the end of the game. However, it was reported that he had sustained a really bad Charlie’s Horse. That would be one of the best scenarios, as it wouldn’t keep him out for the long term. 

However, the Mammoth without Cooley isn’t as good a team as they are with him. The hope is that Cooley returns to the team for Monday’s game in San Jose. If not, and it proves to be a major injury, it could be devastating for the Mammoth.

A Horrible November Nearing Its End

It was a rough first two periods for the Mammoth. It started in the first period, where the Mammoth were outplayed. It’s as simple as that. Unlike their game a day earlier, it was the Blues who jumped out early and had some good chances. They wound up outshooting the Mammoth 8-4 and clearly had all the momentum.

In the second period, the Mammoth looked a little better, but the Blues still looked like the better team. They capitalized with less than two minutes remaining in the second period. Philip Broberg dropped a pass back to Dylan Holloway, who lasered a shot past Karel Vejmelka to score the first and only goal of the game.

“Not the result we wanted,” Tourigny said. “I think we had a slow start, and I think we got back better after, but still too many individual mistakes. We shot ourselves in the foot on changes and turnovers. We do a lot of good stuff, but we need to get over the hump, find a way to win games.”

It was the same issues the Mammoth have suffered all November long that reared its ugly head. The main one being the power play. When Cooley went down, the Mammoth were handed a five-minute power play. Rather than capitalizing on the power play and getting some payback for the injury on their young star, the Mammoth squandered the opportunity, and the Blues killed the penalty.

Once again, when it came time to pull the goaltender, the Mammoth didn’t do anything to score with the extra attacker out. Make it 107 games in a row where the Mammoth have failed to do that. It feels like a broken record at this point.

18 shots in a game isn’t enough. Sure, the Blues only managed 19 of their own, but the Mammoth are definitely more of a shot volume team. They also usually have a better net front presence. On Saturday, the offense wasn’t there, and it cost the Mammoth a win.

“Our execution was not good enough,” Tourigny said. “We need to connect more plays…We need to dig deep and find a way to have more swagger with the puck and make more plays. We don’t generate enough volume. We did in the last game and the game before, but today it was not enough volume at the net and not enough traffic at the net.”

The losses didn’t stop there. If it didn’t get sad enough, the team’s American Hockey League affiliate, Tucson Roadrunners, got blown out by one of the worst teams in the league (the Abbotsford Canucks) by a score of 5-2.

The good news is that November is finally over. I’m sure the Mammoth are very thankful for that. The team will end the month with a record of 4-8-3. That is the worst record in the month out of any NHL team.

December needs to be a different story. The Mammoth are lucky to be even hanging onto that second wild card spot in the Western Conference. It’s thanks to a struggling Edmonton Oilers team and an underperforming Winnipeg Jets. It won’t be forever that those teams are missing their mojo. They know how to turn on the jets. Do the Mammoth? As of right now, the answer is no.

A lot of things need to change in December, but above all is the lack of winning. If the Mammoth have another month where they even come close to a 4-8-3 record, they won’t be in the second wild card spot. They’ll be chasing those teams like the Jets and Oilers when they do get their act together. The Mammoth are playing with fire right now, and they’re close to being burned.

The Mammoth will travel to California to play the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks are 12-11-3 this season and are coming off a 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. The two teams have met twice already this season, with each team winning a game so far. The Mammoth lost the most recent game in overtime by a score of 3-2.