3 Takeaways From Mammoth’s 2-1 Loss to Devils

You could just feel how excited the whole team was for But to score. They surrounded him and were giving him sticktaps. They knew how close he’s been. To finally get the goal, it was a relief for everyone.

“Awesome moment for him,” Alex Kerfoot said. “He’s a young kid who’s going to score lots of goals in this league. He’s had some looks, so it was nice for him to see one go in, and hopefully the floodgates open for him. I’ve thought that he’s been around the puck around the net, and it was just a matter of time before he got one.”

But started in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Tucson Roadrunners to begin the season. Right off the bat, he became the Roadrunners’ best player. You could tell he controlled the play whenever he had the puck and was often the best player on the ice on either side.

Some time in the AHL helped him adjust to the North American style of play, especially being on a line with Kevin Rooney and Sammy Walker, both of whom took the young forward under their wings.

Rooney actually said that he expected But to get his first NHL call-up sometime this season. Maybe it was earlier than what he thought, but But made his way up to Utah and has been playing great on a line with Lawson Crouse and Jack McBain. He’s had good looks on the power play as well. He just couldn’t break through until luck finally went his way on Friday.

“It was a matter of time,” head coach André Tourigny said. “He is playing good hockey, and there was no doubt it was coming. I am happy for him; it was an important goal for us.”

It’s a moment But will never forget. Not a lot of people get to play in the NHL. Fewer people get to score in the league. Now But is a part of that forever. He is only the second player in franchise history to score their first NHL goal with the team, and is the first forward to do so.

At the end of the day, though, there are mixed feelings for the young forward. Getting his first goal out of the way was great, but But really wanted to get the win for his team.

“I am not going to lie, it felt good when I scored,” But said. “But the most important thing is winning, and we lost today.”

The Penalty Kill Was Good but…

The Mammoth’s penalty kill was once again elite. The team killed four straight penalties, including back-to-back penalties right after But’s goal.

It’s been no sweat for the Mammoth when it comes to killing penalties. They’ve had one of the best penalty kill units in the league this season. They currently sit at seventh in the league with a 83% success rate.

“The commitment of everybody, there’s a high level of focus and urgency, and they take a lot of pride in what they’re doing,” Tourigny said.

Interestingly enough, the penalty kill isn’t the same structure that the team had last season. Kerfoot was a massive part of the unit last season, but hadn’t played a game this season until Friday. He thought the penalty kill looked solid. He wasn’t a big part of it during the game, but Kerfoot didn’t mind, especially considering how well they were doing.

“Our structure has definitely been different, and I think the guys have done a great job,” Kerfoot said. “I don’t want to come in and disrupt things at all. They’ve been doing a great job. When there are opportunities, I’ll go in and do my job. They’ve been doing a great job all season long. Did a good job again tonight.”

It was perfection. However, at some point, things under pressure on them have to bend and break. That includes the Mammoth’s penalty kill.

That happened in the third period when Stefan Noesen stuffed in a rebound opportunity to put the Devils up 2-1. It wound up being the game-winning goal.

You can’t expect the penalty kill to kill off five penalties in a single game every night. That’s not fair for the players on the unit. The question shifts to why the team was on the penalty kill that frequently? Sure, not every penalty is a bad one, but when you’re taking five penalties a game, something is up.

If there’s one bad takeaway out of the penalty kill on Friday, it’s that the Mammoth can’t be careless and be shorthanded every minute. Even when their penalty kill does well, it’s taking away time where the Mammoth could be in their opponent’s zone trying to score.

The Devil Went Down to Utah and Won

If you look at most of the stats, the Mammoth should’ve won Friday’s game. They outshot the Devils in every single period, especially in the second, where shots were 18-6 in favor of the home team. In the faceoff dot, the Mammoth did better as well. From hits to power play success rate, it was their game. 

Money Puck’s “Deserve to Win O’Meter” has the Mammoth winning 61.8% of the time. It’s a tough pill to swallow for everyone, especially when your team was the better one.

There is a statline that favored the Devils. They had 10 more blocked shots than the Mammoth. They were sacrificing the body quite a bit, especially when Jacob Markström’s mask was giving him difficulties, making it harder for him to see and save high shots.

That leads to the ultimate reason why the Mammoth lost the game. It’s a simple reason as well. They just couldn’t put the puck in the back of the net. It sounds stupid, but it’s true. The Devils found a way to beat Karel Vejmelka, but the Mammoth couldn’t beat Markström.

“We did a lot of good stuff,” Tourigny said. “Dominated scoring, chances, shots, things like that. At the same time, they scored a big goal on their power play, then made a mistake, and on the rebound, we had an opportunity to put the game away when we had the lead and could not score the big goal or take advantage of our opportunity. In the third, they did a good job. Give them credit. At the same time, we need to find a way to put pucks in the net, to find seams, and to create more chaos, but we could not find a way to find seams and put pucks in the net.”

It only got worse when the Mammoth pulled Vejmelka for the extra attacker. While they had some really good chances, they just couldn’t beat the Devils’ goaltender. Not even with a sixth skater. Of course, as most know, that continues the lack of goals scored with the goalie pulled, which they have yet to accomplish in franchise history.

One good thing that did come out of the game was Kerfoot’s return, as mentioned. The forward hadn’t played a game this season until Friday. Having one of their best two-way players and biggest leaders back on the ice was great for the Mammoth.

“Kerfy (Kerfoot) missed a lot of games,” Tourigny said. “He did not have one real practice all year, training chemically. His last real practice was in April last year. So, from the defensive zone drill to the breakout drill to the forecheck drill or offensive zone, he didn’t have that opportunity. I think it was a good challenge for him, and he did a really good job. He played solid, was reliable, and when he got called upon in the PK (penalty kill), he did a good job.”

However, it didn’t stop the Devils from winning the game. It’s unfortunate, since the Mammoth played the better game. Unlike their game against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, they deserved to win Friday’s game.

Despite missing 36 games, Kerfoot knows the Mammoth’s game against the Devils was indeed a tight game. However, he said it best. One play made all the difference.

“It’s a tight game,” Kerfoot said. “One play kind of makes a difference, and when we score a power play goal, they score a power play goal. We had some looks there six-on-five to tie it up, but I thought overall, it was a pretty good hockey game. They just made one more play than we did.”

Hockey can be a cruel and unfair sport. Sometimes the better team loses. The Mammoth found that out the hard way on Friday. Best advice? Time to move on and play the same game, if not better, on Sunday as Christmas break inches closer.

The Mammoth will next take on the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday afternoon. The Jets are 15-17-2 this season and are coming off a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. These two teams last met in October in Winnipeg, where the Mammoth won 3-2.