Clayton Keller scored twice and the Utah Mammoth beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on Thursday at Rogers Place, handing Edmonton its first regulation loss of the season. The result also pushed Utah to 6-2-0 and gave the Mammoth a third straight win.
That is why the game drew attention immediately: the Oilers had won their previous five and were the last team in the NHL without a regulation loss. The shift came in a game that moved quickly from tight to decisive, with Barrett Hayton opening the scoring on the power play at 10:38 of the first period, Keller adding another power-play goal at 11:57 of the second and Logan Cooley making it 3-1 at 14:17 of the second.
Leon Draisaitl answered at 13:54 of the second period to pull Edmonton within one, and Connor McDavid’s assist on that goal extended his season-long point streak to seven games. McDavid has four goals and 14 assists, and his production kept Edmonton in the fight long enough for the Oilers to keep pressing.
But Utah kept finding the response it needed. Nick Schmaltz set up two goals, Cooley added a goal and an assist, and Karel Vejmelka turned aside 22 shots to back a team that looked organized from start to finish. Andre Tourigny said the group was proud of how it defended and played away from the puck, and Barrett Hayton said the Mammoth knew they were facing a unique situation in playing the same team twice in a row, which made focus even more important.
Edmonton still produced chances and got 20 saves from Devon Levi, but the final score matched the tone of a night when the Oilers worked without getting the result they wanted. Mike Babcock said the Oilers competed and put in a good effort, while McDavid called it a tight-checking game that came down to special teams and the fact that Utah found a way to score and Edmonton did not. The teams meet again on Saturday, and the Oilers will have to decide whether they can turn that effort into a result before Utah tries to make the streak four.
