NHL: Mammoth score 6 unanswered goals in rout of Kraken

Logan Cooley scored twice and added an assist, while Dylan Guenther had a goal and two assists, as the Utah Mammoth rallied from an early two-goal deficit to beat the host Seattle Kraken 6-2 Thursday night.

Nick Schmaltz contributed a goal and an assist, JJ Peterka and Michael Carcone also scored, and Kailer Yamamoto added two assists for Utah (39-30-6, 84 points), who secured their second straight win to maintain a five-point lead atop the Western Conference wild-card standings. Goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped 25 shots.

Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny successfully challenged two calls, overturning one goal for Seattle and adding one for Utah.

Jordan Eberle and Bobby McCann scored for Seattle (32-31-11, 75 points), who dropped their third consecutive game, further hurting their playoff chances. Joey Daccord stopped 25 of 31 shots.

The Kraken jumped to a 2-0 lead early. Eberle scored 41 seconds into the game by chipping a rebound over Vejmelka. McCann extended the lead to 2-0 on a 3-on-2 rush at 13:45 of the first period, firing a spinning backhand past Vejmelka.

Utah responded on the power play at 16:27 as Cooley’s wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle beat a screened Daccord.

Seattle appeared to regain a two-goal advantage in the second period when Jacob Melanson tipped a shot past Vejmelka at 6:11, but a successful challenge by Tourigny ruled the goal off for goaltender interference.

Cooley tied the game at 10:05 on a rebound of MacKenzie Weegar’s shot. Utah took its first lead at 14:56 on Schmaltz’s power-play goal.

Peterka extended the lead to 4-2 at 4:39 of the third period with a wrist shot to the far upper corner. A goal by Guenther at 7:27 was initially waved off for interference, but video review allowed the goal, making it 5-2. Carcone added a power-play goal at 16:37, deflecting a clearance attempt over Daccord’s shoulder to seal the win.

-Field Level Media/Reuters