There’s no such thing as a perfect game in hockey, but the Utah Mammoth had the closest possible thing in their season opener Thursday evening.
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They pulled off a 6-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks — a team they didn’t beat a single time in their four meetings last season.
“They played us really well the past couple years, so it’s nice to get a win against them,” said Mammoth forward Dylan Guenther, who scored two goals (including the game-winner).
For the third year in a row, Guenther potted Utah’s first goal of the season. Per Mammoth public relations, he joins Jared McCann, George Carey and Newsy Lalonde as the only players in NHL history to do that in the first three years of a franchise’s history.
Lalonde was among the fourth group of players ever inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, so you know you’ve done something right if you’re mentioned in the same sentence as him.
That part doesn’t matter as much to head coach André Tourigny, though.
“As long as we win the first game of the year, I don’t care (who scores the first goal),” he said, “but I cannot say I was shocked.”
Scoreboard aside, it was one of the most dominant wins in the Mammoth’s two-and-one-eighty-fourth seasons thus far.
They dominated in the face-off circle (72.2%); They controlled the majority of the high-danger scoring chances (80% per Natural Stat Trick); They were perfect on the penalty kill and nearly perfect on the power play (66.7%); They more than doubled their opponents in shots (32-15) and they almost quadrupled them in hits (42-12).
The Mammoth don’t expect all 83 remaining regular season games to be this smooth-sailing, but they want to react this way no matter what happens.
“We know there will be bumps in the road. We know it won’t be always perfect. We’ll have adversity, but (we need to) approach it that way: just kind of businesslike, not too emotional,” Tourigny said.
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Goaltender Karel Vejmelka only saw 15 shots, but he played all of them perfectly to record the first home shutout in Mammoth history. As the final buzzer creeped closer, his teammates wanted to ensure he’d achieve that.
“Sometimes it’s tough to play in those because you don’t want to sit back. You kind of want to still pressure and keep the puck below their goal line and things like that,” team captain Clayton Keller said. “… Veggie was great all night. He made key saves at the right times, and he definitely gives us a lot of confidence for sure.”
New kids in town
All three of Utah’s offseason additions tallied points on Thursday — and they all contributed away from the puck, too. Tourigny gave his thoughts on each:
On Anders Lee, who scored a goal: “Andy was really, really good. I think he went at the net, he had a great presence, asked the right questions, carried himself the right way. Really like what he brought.”
On Vincent Trocheck, who recorded an assist and went 78.6% in the face-off circle: “Vinny was really good at the dots, at the net. I think that line, right from the get-go, right from the first shift, they had pace, … they were really good. And he won big draws, special teams, was on the ice when we scored our power play goals. I really like his game.”
On Andrew Peeke, who had an assist: “I think Peeker brings physicality and took a great shot on Andy’s goal. I really like his game. I think him and (Dmitri Simashev) were really good tonight.”
Inseparable teammates
Move over, Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards. There’s a new pair of lifelong teammates in the NHL. Lecavalier and Richards, of course, played as teammates in the QMJHL, the NHL and the KHL.
Mammoth youngsters Dmitri Simashev and Daniil But have now suited up together in the MHL, the KHL, the AHL and the NHL. They both played for the Mammoth last season, but they had never dressed in the same game until Thursday.
Both guys recorded points in the game, too. But scored Utah’s sixth goal, while Simashev got a secondary assist on Lee’s tally.
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