Nate Schmidt scored twice, including the go-ahead goal, and added two assists as the Utah Mammoth defeated the Seattle Kraken 6-3 on Saturday in Salt Lake City.
Lawson Crouse added a goal and two assists, Kevin Stenlund, Nick Schmaltz and Barrett Hayton also scored and Clayton Keller had two assists for the Mammoth, who extended their point streak to seven games (6-0-1). Goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 18 saves.
Matty Beniers had a goal and an assist and Jordan Eberle and Chandler Stephenson also scored for Seattle, which went 1-3-1 on its five-game trip. Philipp Grubauer stopped 24 of 29 shots.
Schmidt broke a 3-all tie at 14:30 of the third period. Seattle defenseman Jamie Oleksiak tried to backhand a clearing attempt up the left-wing boards, but the puck deflected off an on-ice official and fell to Keller, who spotted a wide-open Schmidt in the slot for a one-timer into the far upper corner of the net.
Crouse scored off a faceoff win in the offensive zone at 15:12, and Hayton added an empty-netter at 19:09.
The Kraken opened the scoring just 1:09 into the game. Vejmelka stopped Beniers’ initial shot, but the goalie froze as he thought he hadn’t allowed a rebound. Kaapo Kakko found the loose puck, went behind the net and found Eberle in the slot for a backhander into the upper left corner of the net.
The Mammoth tied the score on a shot-handed goal at 2:47. They won a faceoff in their end and charged up the ice on an odd-man rush. Crouse split a pair of defenders in the offensive zone and fed Stenlund for a tap-in at the right post.
Utah scored twice in the opening five minutes of the second period to take a 3-1 lead. Schmidt tallied 28 seconds into the period as Jack McBain’s centering pass caromed off the side boards and back to Schmidt for a slap shot from the left point that beat a screened Grubauer. Schmaltz scored at 4:31 after Schmidt’s slap shot from the blue line went wide of the net but bounced off the end boards and back out front.
Seattle tied it with two goals in the final five minutes of the period.
Beniers outmuscled a pair of defenders to shovel a rebound over the goal line at 15:11.
The Kraken tied it at 17:43 as Frederick Gaudreau’s saucer pass sent Stephenson in alone from the blue line, and he slid the puck under Vejmelka from close range.
–Field Level Media
