Clayton Keller scored twice and Logan Cooley netted his first goal of the season in a two-point performance to lead the visiting Utah Mammoth to a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.
Barrett Hayton also scored for the Mammoth, who have won three consecutive games. Goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 21 saves, including a handful in the third period while the Oilers battled for the equalizer.
Nick Schmaltz collected a pair of assists.
Leon Draisaitl and Shakir Mukhamadullin replied for the Oilers, who had a five-game winning streak snapped and lost in regulation time for the first time this season.
Goalie Devon Levi stopped 20 shots and saw the end of his franchise-record streak of four victories to start his time with the Oilers.
The clubs will meet again Saturday in Salt Lake City in a home-and-home series.
Utah, which had not before beat the Oilers in regulation time or in Edmonton in its franchise’s existence, stormed out the blocks to start the game and was rewarded when Hayton’s power-play goal opened the scoring. After Kailer Yamamoto was denied on a partial breakaway, Hayton pounced on the loose puck at 10:38 of the opening period for his first of the season.
Keller doubled the lead with another man-advantage marker, a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle set up by Cooley at 11:57 of the second period.
Draisaitl put the Oilers on the board less than two minutes later by finishing a give-and-go with Connor McDavid. The assist extended McDavid’s season-opening point streak to six games, in which he has 18 points (four goals, 14 assists).
Cooley restored Utah’s two-goal edge 23 seconds later with his first of the season, a nifty redirect while on the rush while Draisaitl’s goal was being announced.
Mukhamadullin sparked Edmonton by making it a one-goal game 100 seconds into the third period when his wrist shot from the side boards banked into the net off the stick of Utah defender Andrew Peeke.
Keller quashed the comeback hopes with a final-minute empty-net goal.
–Field Level Media
