3 Takeaways From Mammoth’s 6-3 Win Over Stars

In the third period, with the game tied at two, Barrett Hayton took a hooking penalty that sent out the Mammoth penalty kill. Kevin Stenlund, a massive part of that unit, was out with a lower-body injury. Against one of the best power plays in the league, the Mammoth desperately needed to kill this penalty despite being depleted.

McBain, a big part of the penalty kill himself, decided to take things a step forward. Not only did he help kill Hayton’s penalty, but he was also able to poke away the puck from Miro Heiskanen and escape on a breakaway. Cruising towards Casey DeSmith, McBain put the puck into the back of the net on his backhand to score the go-ahead goal shorthanded.

The goal was McBain’s seventh of the season and his first goal since Jan. 13. It was also the forward’s first-ever shorthanded goal. He knew it had been a while since he had scored, so to score such a crucial one was a big reward for him.

“It’s been a while, unfortunately,” McBain said. “I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of good things. I’ve been getting a lot of shots, a lot of chances, and sometimes it doesn’t go your way, but I was trying to stick with it mentally. Obviously good to see that one go tonight.”

As mentioned, even after he scored, McBain and the penalty kill unit had to kill the final couple of seconds of the Hayton penalty. When it was all said and done, the unit didn’t just kill that penalty; they killed all three they took in the game, shutting down the second-best power play unit in the entire league, scoring a goal shorthanded on top of that.

To do it without Stenlund, too, is quite impressive. A lot of credit for the win has to go to each of the guys on the kill.

“Missing a key player like Stenny (Stenlund), who’s in my book, a top three penalty killer in the league, our best faceoff guy, that raised the awareness and the urgency of everybody,” head coach André Tourigny said. “I like the way the guys responded. I think that was a really tough power play to play against. The boys grabbed the challenge. They were ready for it. Really proud of them.”

It was just an all-around fantastic game from McBain. In one of the biggest games down the stretch here for the Mammoth, he played one of his best games of the season, proving that he’s worth every penny the team gave him in the offseason. McBain is an integral part of the depth of the Mammoth, and it was one of the biggest stories of the night.

Truly a Team Effort

It wasn’t just McBain who had a great night in the bottom six. Each of the six goals scored by the Mammoth was scored by different players. A couple of them belonged to some pretty key depth players.

As mentioned, McBain was one of those players. Another was Michael Carcone, who scored a power-play goal off a nearly impossible angle. He’s come up with some big goals this season and has refound the scoring touch that he had in Arizona. Now at 14 goals and 26 points, he’s been one of the best producers in the bottom six for the Mammoth.

Kailer Yamamoto scored the game-winning goal shortly after McBain’s goal. It came off a two-on-one opportunity where Yamamoto went forehand-backhand to get his 10th goal of the season.

Last season, Yamamoto only played 12 games in the NHL and was with the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Tucson Roadrunners for most of the year. However, he showed with his dominating offense that he’s not an AHL player. With a new contract, Yamamoto has earned himself an everyday role with the Mammoth this season with his skill, speed, and hockey IQ. Like most of the bottom six players, he’s an extremely underrated player on this team.

It wasn’t just the bottom six players who don’t usually get a lot of attention that played well on Monday. Nate Schmidt scored the second goal of the night off a shot from the top of the faceoff circle. When he was signed in free agency, some criticized the contract for being a touch bit too long and rich, especially considering he had just gotten bought out by the Winnipeg Jets a year ago.

However, he’s earned that contract and more with his play for the Mammoth, proving he could sustain the great play he had with the Florida Panthers last season. Paired with John Marino, the two have made up the best pairing on the blueline for the team, becoming an anchor defensively and chipping in some offense here and there as well. Not to mention, Schmidt’s personality has made him a key part of the Mammoth’s locker room.

Schmidt won the Stanley Cup with the Panthers last season, so he knows what it takes to win. Depth was a key thing he mentioned. He’s not wrong, as that’s exactly what the Panthers used to win back-to-back cups. 

“As you go down at the end of the year, and in a postseason play, if you’re lucky to get there, that’s what makes teams right,” Schmidt said. “Your depth, your guys that score, your defenseman that chips in, that’s the type of thing that, as it winds down, that’s what makes the biggest difference, in my opinion.”

Speaking of that cup win, his teammate Vítek Vaněček was right there beside him, hoisting that trophy. On Monday, he was in net staring down one of the best teams in the NHL.

It was unusual to see Vaněček get the start against the Stars. Against big opponents like that, Karel Vejmelka would usually start unless it was a back-to-back. However, it was Vaněček who shut the door on the Stars, keeping the Mammoth in the driver’s seat until the very end.

It’s great to see Vaněček get another win, especially because the Mammoth didn’t play very well in front of him to start the season, which resulted in his stats not looking so great. In his past five starts, though, it’s shown that’s not the case anymore. He has a 3-0-2 record with a save percentage above .900 in four of those five games.

Monday’s game was definitely a team win. It wasn’t just one player carrying the team like Vejmelka and others have done in the past. It was everyone chipping in and buying in. It’s a great look for the Mammoth, flexing the depth they have right before the playoffs. These are the type of wins that coaches love to see, so it was no surprise to see Tourigny mention how happy he was postgame.

“Everybody was good tonight,” Tourigny said. “Everybody contributed in a certain way. Big fights from Bainer (McBain) and Taney (Tanev). I think we had physicality throughout our lineup. Guys share responsibility on the faceoff. It’s a team that was really hard to win the faceoff battle against. I think everybody chipped in today.”

Everything is Bigger in Texas, Including Wins

After only getting two points in their last four games, the Mammoth needed points. While they had made a small cushion between them and the handful of teams battling for the second wild card spot, it was never going to last forever. Dylan Guenther even mentioned that there’s still a long way to go before the Mammoth can celebrate getting into the playoffs.

The two points they secured on Monday night will certainly go a long way. Against a divisional rival on a 15-game point streak as well, it’s the best possible scenario to snap a four-game losing streak.

“That’s huge,” McBain said. “Two points, I thought we played really well. That’s a team that has been playing really well all year, but ever since the break, too. Big game for us.”

Ultimately, the Mammoth succeeded in pushing and playing hard against the Stars. They forced their players to turn over the puck and make critical errors that helped the Mammoth win the game. They gave the power play nothing to work with and put a lot of pressure on their goaltender.

To get a win over such a good team, too, is a great locker room boost. Heading into a stretch of games where the Mammoth will play a bunch of teams hungry for points because they’re so close to the playoff line, this is how the Mammoth wanted to begin that streak of games. 

You could tell from the team, too, how big a win this was for them. Schmidt was hopping into the interview scrum and making fun of McBain. It was all smiles postgame. Truly a win to be proud of.

“This is what you want out of your group,” Schmidt said. “You want to be able to be comfortable in these situations against good teams. This is a really good team in the league, and you have to be able to really settle into these guys, these types of high-pressure situations. I like the way our guys responded. We put a lot of pressure on them, and it forced them to open the game up.”

Even at points where the Stars might’ve had momentum, the Mammoth didn’t break. They found a way to regain momentum.

If the Mammoth get the first wild card spot, many might point to their first round opponent and say it’s an easy win because it’s a Pacific Division team. However, once the playoffs start, everything and everyone resets to zero. It’s a clean slate, and the Mammoth might find themselves in a tough spot. Playing the way they did on Monday is exactly how the team needs to play in the postseason because it’s the type of hockey that wins games.

“Dallas is a really good team, and they were pushing hard, and they’re tough to contain,” Tourigny said. “Even when we bent, we didn’t break. We were solid mentally. We talk a lot about mental toughness. We stayed with it even when they scored first and so on and so forth…Our game got better throughout the game against a really good team. So proud of the boys.”

This was a fun win. In a time where every game can feel like there’s so much weight on you because you need these points, this was one where the players were really themselves. As mentioned, you could see the players so happy to win this one and take a five-point lead on the Seattle Kraken, who hold the second wild card spot.

Compared to last season, the Mammoth aren’t chasing down teams in front of them for a playoff spot. It gives them a better opportunity to appreciate and enjoy the fact that they’re in a playoff spot and are playing meaningful games down the stretch. We’ve seen pressure affect the Mammoth. Monday, you couldn’t even tell that there was any pressure.

“I feel like pressure can be an external thing for yourself,” Schmidt said. “If you allow it to affect you, it can, but this is a game we’ve been playing our whole lives. If you’re going to embrace that and have some fun with it, it really does melt away, and you can really just enjoy the moment.”

Enjoying the moment is truly something every Mammoth player should take into consideration as they barrel towards the end of the season. They just beat the second-best team in the NHL and pretty convincingly as well. Not a lot of other teams can say they did that. There’s no other way to put it. What an incredible win for the Mammoth.

The Mammoth will head to Nevada next to play the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. The Knights are 31-22-14 this season and are coming off a 4-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. They’ll play the Buffalo Sabres before the game on Thursday. These two teams last played in November, when the Mammoth won 5-1. The season series is tied at one apiece.