With a 5-1 Game 6 loss, the season is officially over for the Utah Mammoth. There was a lot of belief that the team might pull out a gutsy win, one more to force it to Game 7 in Las Vegas. However, experience ran supreme, and that’s something the Vegas Golden Knights have a lot of, especially when it comes to closing out series. That’s exactly what they did on Friday.
It’s a disappointing end to the season for sure, but there’s a lot of positivity to look back at and forward to. There are even some in this game despite the final score. Here are some takeaways from Game 6, the final game of the season for the Mammoth.
Kailer Yamamoto Deserves an Extension
I have said it before and will say it again. Kailer Yamamoto deserves an extension. He showed it one final time in this game.
Already down 2-0 in the third period, the Mammoth still had plenty of time to come back. It hasn’t been unheard of in this series, like when they came back from down 3-0 in Game 4.
A great pass by Mikhail Sergachev off the boards sprung Yamamoto, who launched a snap shot on Carter Hart that beat him cleanly. It was his first goal, but his fifth point of the series.
— x – Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) May 2, 2026
It’s clear production-wise that Yamamoto thrived in the playoffs. However, that wasn’t just where he performed well. Down 4-1 with Karel Vejmelka pulled for the extra attacker, Yamamoto was one of the guys who was clearly still playing hard, trying his best to get the Mammoth back into the biggest and most important game of the season.
Call it playing hard for a contract or whatever, you can’t deny that Yamamoto is a guy who truly cares and believes that his team can win, and playing hard is important even when you’re down by a lot. It’s something his teammates truly value a lot and see out of him every single game and day.
“Yamo, he’s probably gonna hate that I say this, but for a smaller guy, he plays with a lot of heart and plays like a big guy out there, and he doesn’t shy away from any physical activity,” Crouse said. “He’s getting his nose over the puck. He’s going to the dirty areas, and he gets rewarded for it. He’s a fun player to watch when you have a guy who plays a foot taller than he is.”
Crouse mentioned physicality. Yamamoto, despite being one of the shortest guys on the team, was fifth on the team in hits with 22. That is more than Ian Cole, Liam O’Brien, Kevin Stenlund, Sean Durzi, and a lot of other guys you expect to lay the body.
Not to mention, Yamamoto was a big driver on the second line. He really made the Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley line a consistent offensive threat. There are just so many things you can say about Yamamoto’s play that are positive. As of right now, it sounds like there are no extension talks. However, that very well might change.
“We didn’t have that discussion,” head coach André Tourigny said. “I don’t know when, but we’ll have it soon. But I love Yami. There’s no doubt about it, he’s a big part of our team. He did a really good job.”
Whether it’s with the Mammoth or another team, Yamamoto deserves an NHL contract. If he were taller, he would have one. He proved it with his play all season and postseason long. He belongs in the NHL, and it would be in the Mammoth’s best interest to be the team that continues to give him that job.
Experience Won This Series
Let’s get into the disappointments. In Game 6, the Mammoth finally broke down. Every game until this one had been close, but there were things that were consistent problems that really showed in Game 6.
Let’s start with the power play. The Mammoth’s power play went one for 16 across the whole series. That is really bad. The Buffalo Sabres currently have the worst power play in the playoffs, scoring just 4.3% of the time, but the Mammoth join them in the bottom three, scoring just 6.3% of the time.
There is no reason why a power play with Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Crouse, Logan Cooley, and Dylan Guenther should be at the bottom of the league. That is unacceptable, especially after being one of the better power plays last season.
“There’s a handful of things I think (that went wrong), not just the power play,” Crouse said. “Yeah, would we like to capitalize more? Yes, but Vegas has a great kill, and it is our job to go out and score goals and find ways to score goals on the power play.”
The Golden Knights had more shorthanded goals than the Mammoth did power play goals. That is absolutely ridiculous and shouldn’t be a stat. It’s something that needs to be heavily reworked during the offseason because it was just as horrible in the first half of the season as well.
While the Mammoth did have a lead at all in Game 6, maintaining a lead was absolutely something that cost them this series. They had a lead in five of the six games in this series, but failed to defend it to win the game three of those times.
“We have the lead five times out of six in the third period,” Tourigny said. “That is what the difference is in the series. There’s no doubt about it. That’s something I can say without being afraid of talking too much. That’s something we need to be much better at.”
It’s not like the Mammoth didn’t learn from all of their mistakes. Did the top line of Schmaltz, Crouse, and Keller not show up in the first two games? Yes, but they got way better as the series went on to the point where Crouse and Keller were tied for the team lead in points.
“Keller and Schmaltz, when the series started, they were kind of, oh my God, okay, that’s not the same,” Tourigny said. “It’s just not the same. Hockey is just different. They impressed me so much with how much they talk about it together, looking for solutions, being extremely proactive, looking at clips, looking at the situation, how they can work together, to find space, to relieve pressure, to find solutions, and they work really well after that. That’s learning.”
At the end of the day, all of what we mentioned is because of inexperience. It’s plain and simple. The Mammoth lost this series because they had no prior NHL playoff experience. The coach, starting goaltender, leading goal scorer, and the franchise as a whole had no playoff experience. That’s no one’s fault. It’s just something you have to go through.
“I think experience (was the biggest difference), they know how to win,” Sergachev said. “They won not a long time ago. They play well, even though sometimes we were outplaying them; they were still in the game. They were never out of it because of their experience. In the right moments, they put the game away. That’s the difference. But I believe in the future, we’re going to be there.”
A Disappointing but Proud Ending
Sergachev said it best. The future is bright. This shouldn’t be a season where the organization sees this season as a complete failure. The goal this season was to make the playoffs. They achieved that goal and excelled at it by taking a Golden Knights team that won not too long ago and giving them everything they had.
We saw so many positives this season. Guenther fully embraced being a goal scorer in the NHL with one of the best shots in the league. Vejmelka proved he’s a starting goaltender in the NHL. John Marino and Nate Schmidt, out of nowhere, showed they are a very good pairing. Most importantly, the Mammoth showed they are a playoff team.
“It’s so fun to come to the rink with these guys,” Keller said. “I’m definitely super excited about the future. We’re only gonna get better. This sucks, but we’ll learn from it. We’ll break it down. The next time we’re in this situation, next year, we’ll get over the hump.”
The best part about this for the Mammoth is that their best team hasn’t even arrived yet. Dmitri Simashev, Daniil But, Maveric Lamoureux, Tij Iginla, Cole Beaudoin, and Caleb Desnoyers, top prospects for the Mammoth, didn’t play a single game this postseason. Those are six first-round picks who have the ability to push a team over the top. Add in top goaltending prospect Michael Hrabal, and that’s basically a forward line, a defensive pairing, and a goaltender, all of whom are the future of this team.
With experience, the next playoff appearance will be a better showing from this team as well. Especially Tourigny and his coaching staff, who now know exactly what playoff hockey is like. He’s proud of what his team accomplished. It’s a step in the right direction.
“There’s no doubt an unbelievable group of guys in that room,” Tourigny said. “What we’re going through tonight is important for our future. It’s really important. You need to let them hurt, you need to let it bleed a little bit. It has to hurt because that will be the fuel of tomorrow to bounce back and find a way to be better.”
This might not be the best Mammoth team on paper that we will ever see. This won’t be the furthest the Mammoth will ever go. This might not even be a team that is remembered all that frequently, but it should be because this might be the most important team in terms of growth.
This Mammoth team achieved a lot of firsts, including the first playoff appearance, first playoff win, first playoff loss, and first playoff series loss. Those firsts are all out of the way now. The Mammoth now have experience. Going forward, that will no longer be a problem or an excuse for this group of players.
However, despite so many firsts, including a first-round exit, this Mammoth team earned something big. Respect. Respect around the whole league, and before Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella left the Delta Center for the final time this season, he made sure to acknowledge that.
“It was a hard-fought series,” Tortorella said. “I have a tremendous respect for André and his staff. That’s a good hockey team…That’s a team that’s going to be reckoned with for quite a while now, as far as some of the kids and skill and speed that they have. We’re fortunate moving on, but I think André and his staff have done a fantastic job with that team.”
Truly the best tradition in all of sports. #TusksUp #ForgedInGold pic.twitter.com/tKUolASxDA
— Chase Beardsley (@ChaseBeardsley_) May 2, 2026
After 86 games between the regular season and the playoffs, this should be a season that is seen not as a failure, but as a true success. As the team heads into the offseason, this should be a season that should be reflected back on as a fun one with the Mammoth making the postseason for the first time, but also one filled with growth and positives.
86 games did not go down the drain on Friday night. Those 86 games filled with successes, pain, and growth will be one day fondly remembered as the season the Mammoth learned how to win in the regular season and be a competitive hockey team.
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