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The Utah Mammoth saw their losing streak extend to four games on Thursday night after falling 1-0 to the St. Louis Blues in an eight-round shootout. Despite 65 scoreless minutes of action, the home team came up short in the skills competition to conclude the contest at 10 p.m. MST.
Roster Shortages and Lineup Changes
Utah entered the contest on the back end of a back-to-back sequence, having played the Vegas Golden Knights the prior evening before returning home. Just moments before puck drop, the team announced it would be without three of its top five forwards. Forward Nick Schmaltz was sidelined following a hit in Wednesday’s game, joining Dylan Guenther, John Marino, Nate Schmidt, and Logan Cooley on the injury list. Head coach André Tourigny noted that most of the injured skaters remain significant time away from returning to action.
To fill the void, Ben McCartney entered the lineup for his first NHL appearance in 1,832 days, having last played in the league on Nov. 6, 2021, with the Arizona Coyotes. McCartney had spent recent seasons with the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners. Defenseman Zac Jones also made his team debut, playing his first NHL game since April 17, 2025, when he was a member of the New York Rangers.
“There are a lot of emotions,” McCartney said. “It was a grind to get back here, but I’m just so happy to be here. I just want to try to help the team win in any way possible.”
Jones also reflected on his path back to the NHL stage following his time in Rochester.
“It took a lot of hard work, a lot of belief in myself,” Jones said. “Being a guy who was the seventh defenseman in New York for my entire career, it was tough to make a name for myself. It was nothing against them; they were great there; it was just time to move on. I think last year in Rochester, getting to play all the time rebuilt my confidence again and proved to myself that I can be a pro hockey player.”
Defensive Display and Goaltending
Early in the game, Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev briefly left the ice with an injury, though he returned to log more than 28 minutes of ice time. Outside of Artem Duda and Jones, Utah’s top four blueliners each exceeded 20 minutes of action. The unit successfully killed off all five St. Louis power plays, supported by two-way forward Lawson Crouse on the penalty kill.
Goaltender Karel Vejmelka turned aside all 22 shots faced through regulation and overtime to record a shutout, helping secure a point in the standings for Utah. The Mammoth managed to outshoot the Blues 29-22 overall during the scoreless match, marking the first 0-0 shootout in franchise history.
“The way we defend, 5-on-5 (or) PK, all the time, a lot of pride, a lot of aggression,” Tourigny said. “I’ve talked a lot about that in the past, about how great we are when we have that aggression defensively. Tonight, we were rock solid defensively. I need to talk about Sergachev. He was really, really good. Best player on the ice, in my opinion, for both teams. He’s a big factor in why we got the point. He was at 28 minutes, and yesterday he had a lot of minutes as well. Kudos to him.”
Forward Vincent Trocheck praised the team’s depth for stepping into larger roles under difficult circumstances.
“I think any team, throughout the course of a season, you’re going to have injuries, and it’s very important for the depth to step up and fill the role of whatever they’re asked to do, and I thought everybody did that tonight,” Vincent Trocheck said.
Shootout Outcome and Homestand Ahead
In the shootout, shots from Trocheck and Barrett Hayton kept Utah competitive through seven rounds. St. Louis eventually secured the victory in the eighth round when Connor McMichael converted his attempt. The result earned Utah its first point since an overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens, though the team dropped to 0-0-2 when wearing its Hometown Remix jerseys.
“Losing the top guys that we have out, you can’t really replace those guys,” Jones said. “But the guys that played, I thought, did a great job of just sticking to our roles, and honestly, we played a great game today. Credit to their goalie; he played well, and it’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Despite the result, Tourigny expressed satisfaction with his squad’s overall performance after traveling the previous night.
“On the back-to-back, obviously we wanted the two points,” Tourigny said. “There are no moral victories in the NHL. But we lost in a shootout. We didn’t lose in a 3-on-3; we lost in a skills competition. We wanted the two points, I won’t lie, but I cannot be more proud of our guys.”
The Mammoth continue their four-game homestand on Saturday against the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks carry an 8-11-2 record into the matchup following a 3-2 shootout loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
