Logan Cooley scored twice and had an assist and Dylan Guenther had a goal and two assists as the Utah Mammoth rallied from an early two-goal deficit to defeat the host Seattle Kraken 6-2 Thursday night.
Nick Schmaltz added a goal and an assist, JJ Peterka and Michael Carcone also tallied and Kailer Yamamoto had two assists for the Mammoth (39-30-6, 84 points), who won their second straight game to maintain their five-point lead atop the Western Conference’s wild-card standings. Goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 25 saves.
Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny had two successful goal challenges, disallowing one for Seattle and adding one for Utah on an overturned call.
Jordan Eberle and Bobby McCann scored for the Kraken (32-31-11, 75 points), who suffered their third straight loss and saw their postseason hopes continue to dwindle. Joey Daccord stopped 25 of 31 shots.
The Kraken tallied 41 seconds into the game as Eberle chipped a rebound over Vejmelka.
Seattle made it 2-0 on a 3-on-2 rush at 13:45 of the first with McMann putting a spinning backhander over Vejmelka’s blocker from just outside the top of the crease.
The Mammoth pulled within a goal on the power play at 16:27 as Cooley’s wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle beat a screened Daccord.
The Kraken appeared to restore their two-goal lead when Jacob Melanson tipped a shot from the left point past Vejmelka at 6:11 of the second. But Tourigny challenged the call and a video review determined Melanson had committed goaltender interference.
Cooley tied the score at 10:05 of the middle period on a rebound of MacKenzie Weegar’s shot from the top of the left faceoff circle.
Utah took its first lead at 14:56 of the second on Schmaltz’s power-play goal.
The Mammoth made it 4-2 at 4:39 of the third as Peterka’s wrist shot from just outside the left faceoff circle found the far upper corner of the net.
The referees originally waved off a goal by Guenther at 7:27, saying he interfered with Daccord before stuffing a rebound between the goalie’s pads. But a video review determined there was no contact in the crease and the goal stood to make it 5-2.
Carcone scored a power-play goal at 16:37 as a clearance attempt deflected off him and over Daccord’s shoulder.
–Field Level Media
