The Mammoth first. Edmonton, with the most fearsome forward group in the league. On the road, no less.
Honestly, I couldn’t see us winning this one.
From the opening faceoff we pressured, took the puck away, and started generating chance after chance in their end. The game broke open just past the ten-minute mark of the first. On the power play, a gorgeous outlet pass from Marino sprang Yamamoto, who patiently held his man off all the way in and nudged a shot at the net. Hayton buried the rebound, and the Mammoth were in front. And would you believe it — we held that Edmonton team to three shots in the first period. Three.
Midway through the second, a power play off an unsportsmanlike conduct call produced another. The puck was zipping around their zone when Schmaltz couldn’t quite handle it; the loose puck found Cooley, who fed it between his own legs to Keller, and Keller finished it. A beautiful goal. Two power play goals against a team that good, and we were in control.
The good feeling lasted all of two minutes. McDavid fed Draisaitl, who went five-hole on Veggie, and just like that it was a one-goal game. Watching those two play, I always end up thinking the same thing: was scoring always this easy? But then came my favorite moment of the night. Schmidt sent it from behind our net to Guenther in the neutral zone. Guenther found Trocheck coming up the left side. Trocheck, with a defender on his back, slid it across the crease, and Cooley tapped it in to make it 3-1. That ugly one-goal-game feeling, wiped out by the Pittsburgh connection. Cools’s long-awaited first goal of the season came in the exact mirror image of last game, when Cooley fed Trocheck to hammer one home. Is the Pittsburgh connection real?!
We went into the third up 3-1 and gave one straight back off a delayed penalty: 3-2. And then it was long. So long. You do not simply stop wave after wave from what might be the best forward group in hockey. We hung on by our fingernails, and with under three minutes left they pulled their goalie. 6-on-5. Hang on, I thought, wasn’t this exactly how the Toronto game went? Every Mammoth player was throwing his body in front of shots, and any time we won the puck we flung it down the ice, icing be damned. Nothing to do but pray.
Then, with about thirty seconds left, a scramble in our own end: Keller blocked a shot, Crouse stretched out his stick and dug the loose puck free, Schmaltz picked it up along the boards and laid a careful pass onto Kells’s tape. Kells slid it the length of the ice into the empty net. 4-2, and a very big win.
I may well be wrong, but I can’t remember this franchise ever winning in Edmonton — not in the Coyotes days either. And this was Edmonton’s first regulation loss of the season. The Mammoth handed it to them.
For a team that has spent years getting beaten up by Edmonton, a night like this — fighting through every hard stretch and coming away with the best possible result — feels like a turning point. The last game was the same. I think it’s exactly these brutal nights that open the road toward being a champion.
Cooley was unplayable tonight. The box score doesn’t capture it. He was flying at both ends, and on offense especially he was razor sharp, like he was working off every bit of frustration that had built up. He also threw a punch at Bouchard, and got away with it. He has the face of a kid and he is as feisty as they come. Every so often he runs too hot and loses himself out there. Youth.
No time to enjoy it: Saturday brings Edmonton again, this time at our place. A team that good, embarrassed on its own ice, is going to show up in send-them-to-hell mode. Genuinely frightening.
I want the Mammoth to meet it the same way — not sitting back, but going right at them.
And hey — discipline! There was another pointless one tonight, a too-many-men call!
Meanwhile, the Jazz played their preseason finale against the Suns. Booker, Green, Brooks — a group of excellent players, and the question was how our young team would handle them.
Against a Suns side that came at us physically and let threes fly, we built our offense around JJJ. And JJJ could not be stopped. He hunted mismatches in isolation and scored almost at will. He also fouled almost at will (sigh). Five again, and his night ended early. But in 21 minutes: 6-of-10 from the field with a three, 17 points, plus two steals and two blocks. Excellent at both ends. Man, though, I want him to rebound more. Three. Three rebounds. With a frame like that he ought to box out and pull down far more on the defensive glass. My general impression is that the Jazz as a team struggle to secure defensive rebounds. Filipowski grabbed seven in the fourth, so the team totals don’t end up looking too bad.
Off the bench, Sensabaugh was excellent. He has a wonderful shooting touch and real ability, but he runs hot and cold, and on bad nights he gets frustrated and plays himself out of the game. Tonight the first three went down and he was away. Around 17 minutes, 4-of-7 from three, and three assists, so he contributed as a playmaker too. I just want the swings to stop. Key, from the same draft class, got his extension; for Brice it’s going to come down to this season.
Key gave up four turnovers tonight, one of them on a flop, but overall I thought he was excellent. The way he draws fouls is so valuable. Two steals as well, so he’s working on defense. And zero personal fouls tonight.
Ace was excellent again. He’s excellent every night now, and I can’t stop being excited watching him. Twenty-one minutes, 3-of-3 from the field including a three, three rebounds, two steals. The alley-oop from DP was the highlight of the night. But what made me happiest was that he drove and drew fouls himself. Six trips to the free throw line. If he can do that consistently, he becomes a serious player. He still rushes when he attacks and ends up on the floor a lot, so I want him to stay calm, hold his pace, and keep going at people.
And DP. The shooting touch wasn’t there tonight. But six rebounds, six assists and a steal — the fact that he can still contribute when the shot isn’t falling is remarkable for a rookie. It was a close game, and he was out there for the closing stretch of the fourth. Thank you, Hardy. Preseason or not, giving him those minutes matters. He brought the ball up calmly in a tight game and looked to attack himself at times. Whether the shot goes in isn’t the point. What matters is whether he can carry the big moments, and seeing him do that made me genuinely happy.
The one small worry is the jump shot. The floater was falling again tonight, but the jumper was way off. More than the misses, I can feel hesitation in it, like he’s shooting while backing away from it. Maybe that’s why his body drifts, and why it looks like he’s shooting on the way up.
I don’t care if he misses. I don’t care if he gets blocked. I want him to go all the way up, hang there like Booker, and shoot from the top.
On a different note, the rest of the rookie class keeps being outstanding. Caleb Wilson looks like he could turn into a frightening player. Against the Wolves he detonated two ridiculous blocks. His dunks are spectacular, and he’s actually shooting it better from outside than AJ Dybantsa. Honestly, Hall of Fame class? AJ was playing well too, but he came down from a jumper onto an opponent’s foot, sprained his ankle and had to leave the game. He’s an enormous talent as well, so let’s hope it’s nothing serious. Mikel Brown on the Nets looks good too. Sweet-faced kid, and nothing out there fazes him. You can really see the feel for the game. And Yaxel at Golden State keeps producing consistently at both ends.
And that’s the preparation done. Next week, the real thing starts.
Eighty-two games is a long road. I just want all of them to come through it healthy.
Spread your wings, DP!!!
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