Mammoth Dominate Islanders With a 7-2 Win

The Islanders responded two minutes later as Cal Ritchie scored with an identical shot on Karel Vejmelka, who was playing his first game since being on injured reserve for around a week. Ritchie’s goal ended up being the lone Islanders goal of the period.

Halfway through the period, the Mammoth struck again. Lawson Crouse fed Guenther a backhanded pass from the boards, and the young forward scored right in front of the net to put his team up 2-1. It was Guenther’s second of the game, but not his last.

Six minutes later, Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller escaped the Islanders’ defense on a two-on-one opportunity. Schmaltz pulled the puck back, waited, and shot it cleanly past David Rittich to put the Mammoth on top 3-1 to end the second period scoring.

Right before the end of the second period, Alex Kerfoot took a high-sticking penalty that ended up being a four-minute major. It could’ve led to an Islanders comeback with the momentum in their favor. However, the Mammoth proceeded to kill it off and head into their own power play.

The penalty kill led to Mikhail Sergachev scoring his sixth goal of the season. It came on the power play as Sergachev let a shot fly from near the blueline. Once again on the power play, Keller scored his own goal after some great passing led to a wide-open net for the Mammoth captain. His goal made it 5-1 and also caused Rittich to be pulled in favor of Marcus Hogberg.

Rookie phenomenon Matthew Schaefer kept the Islanders alive with a power play goal, one that was similar to Sergachev’s goal. However, Guenther shut down any momentum favoring the Islanders with a patient shot that turned into a goal. It completed his first-ever hat trick and got the forward to the 20-goal plateau. He is the first Mammoth player this season to hit that mark.

Schmaltz scored his second of the game in the dying minutes to propel the Mammoth to a 7-2 win. The win was their second straight in UBS Arena. They have yet to lose a game on Long Island.

The Mammoth improve to 19-19-3 with the win. They are now tied with the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild card in the Western Conference with 41 points. Meanwhile, the Islanders fall to 22-15-4 in the season. They do keep their second-place spot in the Metropolitan Division with the Philadelphia Flyers trailing them by a point.

The Mammoth will continue their New York road trip on Saturday as they play the New Jersey Devils. Meanwhile, the Islanders will stay at home on Saturday when they welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs.