If the Utah Mammoth had to win any game on this three-game homestead, Friday’s game was probably the best one to win. After losing three straight, and with a three-game road trip coming up on Sunday, winning the last game at home to give your fans something to be positive about while heading to the eastern side of the United States on a positive note is a great way to finish out the three-game stretch of games at the Delta Center.
Just like their game against the Anaheim Ducks a week ago, there was a lot in Friday’s game against the Seattle Kraken that the Mammoth did very well, which needs to start being a common thing. Here are some takeaways from the Mammoth’s 5-3 win over the Kraken.
Kailer the Kraken Killer
Kailer Yamamoto was pretty clear when he scored against the Kraken last season; scoring against his former team felt good. It felt that good because the Kraken had basically dumped him as a restricted free agent with no qualifying offer. Especially, it being his hometown team, Yamamoto felt betrayed.
Perhaps it was that feeling that led head coach André Tourigny to insert Yamamoto back in the lineup for Friday’s game. Whatever the reason was, Yamamoto played one of his best games of the season against his former team.
It started towards the end of the second period. Kevin Stenlund shoveled the puck towards the net, which Philipp Grubauer saved. Liam O’Brien then fired off a rebound shot that Grubauer once again saved. Finally, Yamamoto shot his own rebound, which went in.
At first, the refs called the goal off, claiming that Grubauer was interfered with by a Mammoth player. However, the Mammoth video coaches challenged the call, which was overturned, and the goal was declared good.
We have a GOOD GOAL!
Goaltender interference on the play has been overturned.
2-1, Utah! pic.twitter.com/isp2EF8XEr
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 13, 2025
“When I saw that, I was not studying it as much as when I saw the play,” Tourigny said. “I was okay. We need to make sure. He (Hunter Cherni) was really adamant about it. There was no doubt in his head. He did a really good job, and it was a key call at the key time, and that turned the game around a little bit.”
If you want some weird stats, here are two for you. The first is that the Mammoth’s five successful challenges lead the NHL. The second is that Yamamoto now has two goals in two games against the Kraken ever since they let him walk.
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Even outside of the goal, Yamamoto and the fourth line featuring O’Brien and Stenlund played well throughout the game. They took the title of having the best shift during the second period, where they controlled the entire play inside the Kraken zone for a good minute or two.
It was a great game for Yamamoto and a great example of why he should stick in the lineup going forward. He’s an effective forward whenever he’s in the lineup, and his hard work that turned into a goal proved it.
Nicks Got Three
Nick Schmaltz’s October was fantastic. He had 17 points in 11 games and led the Mammoth in most offensive categories. As a pending unrestricted free agent, it looked like the team had a good problem ahead in trying to pay Schmaltz.
Then November hit. Schmaltz only produced five points throughout the month, which included a eight game pointless streak that led into December. It was a disappointing month. Luckily, December has been better for the forward, and Friday’s game helped Schmaltz’s point totals tremendously.
Schmaltz’s night began when he poked the puck away from Mason Marchment near the blueline and got ahead of him for a breakaway opportunity. With JJ Peterka playing some great defense behind him, Schmaltz didn’t miss his shot, chipping the puck above Grubauer for the first Mammoth goal of the game.
Schmaltzy in on his own! 🔥
Tied up, 1-1. pic.twitter.com/TTy6qVsbZa
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 13, 2025
While Schmaltz didn’t assist on Yamamoto’s goal, he did assist in the next one. On the power play, the forward retrieved the puck and passed it across the Kraken zone to Dylan Guenther, who fired a one-timer to score the go-ahead goal to put the Mammoth up 3-2.
The goal was Guenther’s 14th of the season, which ties Logan Cooley for the team lead. Despite not having his aforementioned usual linemate around, Guenther has stepped up and helped the Mammoth offense stay afloat with four goals in his past three games. His teammates know that’s the type of player he’s always been and are happy to see him rewarded for his great play.
“He’s been great,” Schmaltz said. “He’s one of our best players. He makes a ton of plays. He scores a lot of big goals for us. We’re happy to have him, and I think he’s been great for us all year.”
Similar to Schmaltz, the Mammoth’s power play struggled in November, sinking to the bottom of the league in terms of success rate. This month, the power play has been pretty good, scoring four times across seven games.
Maybe it’s the addition of Peterka to the top unit. Tourigny, however, doesn’t think it’s one player. He believes it’s adding traffic to the front of the net to get pucks to the net and to help collapse the opponent’s penalty kill.
“It’s not one guy, it’s everybody doing their part,” Tourigny said. “The thing we need to be better at is traffic. Lately, we have more movement. We’re more of a threat, but we still don’t have enough traffic…You need to shoot and create that away. Now they collapse a little bit, that open up some seams. We need to have more weapons so we can attack in different ways. We need to make sure we keep adding layers.”
Getting back to Schmaltz, after Peterka scored the fourth goal off some brilliant effort to get between three Kraken players and put the puck in while falling, Grubauer was pulled again for the extra attacker. The Mammoth got into their zone, and while Schmaltz had the chance to score into the empty net himself, he passed it to nearby Lawson Crouse for him to deposit the puck into the net to make it 5-2.
How could you not love this guy?!
🚨 4-2, Utah. pic.twitter.com/4zZdkyjATp
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) December 13, 2025
It was a three-point night for Schmaltz, bringing his point totals to 29 in 33 games. While it’s not the same pace he was playing at earlier in October, it’s still pretty good for the forward.
“He played really well,” Guenther said. “He’s been really good. Nice move by him to get us started. Just super solid in all three zones.”
Tourigny has coached Schmaltz ever since he took over the coaching duties in 2021 for the Arizona Coyotes. He knows how hard the forward works, even if he gets overshadowed by guys like Clayton Keller, Guenther, and Cooley. Tourigny was happy he got rewarded and noticed on Friday.
“Sometimes he goes not unrewarded, but under the radar,” Tourigny said. “If you look, he’s always at the net offensively; he drives that line. He’s at the net all the time, doing all the dirty work, and he’s elite defensively. He’s always the first guy back, and he’s playing down low. He will sleep well tonight. I guarantee you that he works really hard.”
Schmaltz was actually playing the center role on Friday, which is rare to see him in. Fortunately, he knows how to play the role. In fact, until six years ago, he was a center his whole career.
“I’m familiar with the position,” Schmaltz said. “It’s just a little bit differently defensively and just making sure I’m coming back being more responsible. Obviously, faceoffs are a work in progress for me, but I’m happy to play wherever the team needs me.”
It helps the Mammoth out a lot that Schmaltz was able to step into the position without any complaints and wear it well. With Cooley out long-term and Barrett Hayton struggling, the Mammoth need a top-six center now. While Schmaltz is not a permanent fix by any means, he has proven with Friday’s game that he is a solid option for the next couple of weeks.
The Penalty Kill Wins the Game
While Schmaltz may have been a massive part in helping the Mammoth win on Friday, the biggest factor in deciding that was the penalty kill.
The Mammoth’s penalty kill has been in the upper half of the league ever since the start of the season. It’s currently ranked seventh. Friday, the Kraken got to see firsthand why it’s been one of the strongest parts of the team this season.
In the first two periods, the two teams traded penalties. In the third period, that changed when John Marino was called for a slash on Jordan Eberle. A couple of seconds later, Ian Cole was called for delay of game via flipping the puck over the glass, putting the Kraken on a five-on-three power play.
The Mammoth didn’t back down and instead proceeded to kill off both penalties, which prompted a massive ovation from the Delta Center crowd.
“When our group on the PK gets cheered like that by the crowd, it means a lot for them,” Tourigny said. “It means a ton when we score a big goal or make a big play, and the crowd cheers. A big block, it’s a fight, it’s all those things. I think it means a ton for the players.”
The penalty kill stopped one more power play towards the end of the game to go a perfect four for four on the kill. It was a complete success for the group. It also helped that Karel Vejmelka had another solid game, making 33 saves on 36 shots for a .917 save percentage.
“All of them were really good,” Guenther said. “It’s tough when you’re out there for a minute. You’re tired, and they hung in there. They block shots, and they are a big part of that win.”
Overall, it was a good game by the Mammoth. They did a lot well. Penalty kill, using their speed, power play, goaltending, depth, and offense. It was all there and all on display.
Now, it’s going to be about keeping it consistent. Just like what’s been said about every single win since their long winning streak in October, it needs to be more consistent than just two games. Going .500 or worse on a homestead or road trip cannot be the standard.
Tourigny thinks the Mammoth are improving, though especially offensively. They’re finding ways to get the puck to the net and get bodies there as well.
“There are things to clean up for us defensively, but I think we’re progressing offensively,” Tourigny said. “We play with a lot of energy around the net, and now we break down teams in the sense of with more shot volume, net presence, and then other things open up after.”
It’s a great win. A power play goal winning the game after the amount of struggles the Mammoth have had with it recently, makes it better, but the losing hasn’t escaped the minds of the players, especially when it’s been only by one goal, which has been a pattern as of late.
Heading on a road trip where the Mammoth will face some teams that have played well this season will be some hard wins. Being better than the past couple of weeks and even then Friday’s game is the key because at this point, everyone is tired of the one-goal losses.
“I feel like we’ve been on the losing side of a lot of one-goal games lately,” Schmaltz said. “It’s huge for our confidence to be able to win even though they tied it up there, and then we get one on the power play, and the power play wins it for us. That’s huge for our team and for the power play. It’s been struggling all year, and we’ve got to be better, myself included.”
The Mammoth will travel to west Pensylvania to play the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday. The Penguins are 14-8-7 and are coming off a 4-2 loss to the Montreal Canadians, though they will play the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. These two teams played each other twice last season, with each team winning a game. The Mammoth lost the most recent game in January by a score of 3-2 in overtime, thanks to a Sidney Crosby game-winning goal.
