Mammoth putting the ‘special’ in ‘special teams’

The Utah Mammoth have exorcised their demons, the New Jersey Devils.

In its first two seasons, Utah couldn’t find a way to beat New Jersey. That trend ended on Tuesday with a 5-3 win at the Prudential Center in Newark.

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It came in back-and-forth fashion, though the Mammoth never trailed in the game. They held three different leads, ultimately holding onto the final one to secure a win.

“They made a push, we made a push; They made a push, we made a push,” explained Lawson Crouse, who scored his first goal of the season. “Ultimately, (we) came out on top, so that’s nice.”

“It was nice to break that curse,” added Nick Schmaltz, who scored a goal and two assists Tuesday. “Hopefully we can keep this rolling.”

Schmaltz extended his goal streak to four games — the longest streak to begin a season so far in the franchise’s brief history. He currently leads the league in goals with five and ranks third in points with seven.

The beginning of every season seems to be a big story for Schmaltz, good or bad.

He started the 2025-26 season — his best yet — on a similar footto this one. By the time Week 4 rolled around, he led the NHL in points and was in the top three in goals.

In the 2024-25 season, on the other hand, it took him 24 games to pot his first goal.

“If you watch the best players, I try to look at where they hang out and find (scoring) areas,” Schmaltz said after Tuesday’s game. “I’ve got great line mates, so I just try to sneak around and get my stick free and hit the net.”

That was the case on Utah’s final goal of the game. Schmaltz came out of nowhere to intercept a breakout pass, then beat the defenseman and fed a perfect cross-slot pass to Vincent Trocheck, who tapped it in for his first goal as a Mammoth.

Crouse didn’t hold back when describing his long-time teammate.

“Hotter than toast, Nicky Schmaltz. Doesn’t surprise me one bit.”

Head coach André Tourigny is equally impressed.

“He could play with a left-handed stick right now and I will take him on my team,” he said. “He’s so good everywhere on the ice. Defensively, on every detail, on the track offensively, as a non-carrier, as a puck carrier. What a player.”

Harlem Globetrotters, hockey edition

Utah’s power play was a tale of three seasons last year. It couldn’t buy a goal before the Olympic break. After that, it was top-three in the league, but it went flat again as soon as the playoffs began.

It’s only been four games, but the group has been nearly unstoppable so far this season. For context, the best power play team in the league last year was the Edmonton Oilers, who scored on 30.6% of their opportunities. The Mammoth are currently firing at a rate of 61.5%.

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The group of Schmaltz, Clayton Keller, Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther and Mikhail Sergachev is moving the puck like the Harlem Globetrotters. Whether there’s a clear passing lane or not, they find ways to get each other the puck and it ends up in the back of the net more often than not.

Schmaltz explained, though, that the key is recovering the puck quickly after losing it.

“We’re getting pucks back. We’re hemming teams in. If you get 45 (seconds), a minute into a penalty kill, they get exhausted and then we start picking them apart,” he explained. “We’ve got a ton of skill, but I think our recoveries are huge. If you can get a shot on net, get the puck back and just keep wearing them down, eventually something’s going to break down for them.”

Utah’s success rate is bound to level out at some point in the remaining 80 games, but the guys will keep it going as long as they can.

The penalty kill has been excellent, too. Tuesday was the first time this season that it allowed the opposing team to score a power play goal, and it came at 5 on 3 — a situation where goals are more or less expected to happen.

At 5 on 4, the team has been perfect thus far.

Mikhail Sergachev injured

With 30 seconds remaining in the second period, Sergachev left the game after taking a puck to the side of the head.

It was friendly fire — an errant clearing attempt from his defense partner, MacKenzie Weegar. Sergachev did not return in the third period.

Hockey helmets typically come with ear guards, which would likely have lessened the blow in this instance, but Sergachev is one of the many NHLers who choose to play without them.

Tourigny did not have an update on his condition after the game.