Quentin CarneyThu, November 27, 2025 at 1:00 PM UTC·6 min readA lot of greats things were happening for the Mammoth before it inevitably lost 4-3 to the Canadiens.
Barrett Hayton was stepping up big for Utah, not only scoring its first 5-on-4 power-play goal in over a month, but scoring his third goal of the season.
"Us as a group were not happy with our production there," said Hayton. "We had a couple of games where we talked and kind of got back to the foundation and what made us good in the past—just having that attack mindset, winning battles that compete, and letting our skill take over from there."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIt couldn't be more perfect. Getting production from Hayton and a power play goal all at the same time was something Utah has been desperately looking for all season
Soon after that, Utah got unlikely goals from both Michael Carcone and Kailer Yamamoto.To top it all off, all three goals came in the second period to give Utah a 3-2 lead heading into the third, overcoming its usual second-period struggles in the process.
But just as there were many surprising moments for the Mammoth, the same could be said for the Canadiens.
Just as it looked like all the momentum had swung toward Utah, the script flipped once again, with both Nick Suzuki and Ivan Demidov scoring goals in just 1:27 of game time.
ll it took for Utah to lose its lead was one pass in the neutral zone to Demidov. Though John Marino was back and ready to defend, Demidov showed why he is the rookie leader in goals and a potential Calder Trophy winner.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSuddenly, with Demidov’s shot going through Marino’s legs, the puck hit the back of the net and Utah went from having a firm 3-2 lead to trailing 4-3 all because of Demidov’s incredible play.
And though Utah continued to get shots on net, outshooting Montreal 34-17 for the game, it was never able to tie the score again.
But in a game where the unexpected kept happening, there was no shortage of surprises from both the Mammoth and the Canadiens.
Dobes Prevents Utah's Comeback
Nov 26, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) catches the puck during the first period against the Utah Mammoth at Delta Center. (Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images)Coming into the night, Montreal’s goaltending had been a major issue, with Samuel Montembeault averaging a 3.63 goals-against average. Even worse, Jakub Dobes — who started the year allowing only a 1.97 GAA with a .930 save percentage — was suddenly allowing a staggering 4.15 GAA with an .843 save percentage.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThough Dobes did allow the Mammoth to score those three second-period goals, he ended the night with 31 saves, giving him a .912 save percentage. Dobes’ performance in the third was a crucial reason why the Canadiens were able to get the win.
Time and time again down the stretch — when the Mammoth generated good shot attempts, earned a power play due to an Oliver Kapanen penalty, or even sent out their extra attacker — the Canadiens were able to rely on Dobes to make big saves.
Though it felt like this could be the game the Utah Mammoth would get their first-ever 6-on-5 goal, Montreal stood strong despite enduring some close calls from the likes of Nick Schmaltz, Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley.
Special Team SurprisesUtah has to be one of the strangest special-teams groups the league has seen in a long time. And the stats show it too.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementComing into its game against Montreal, the Utah Mammoth had the sixth-best penalty kill and the third-worst power play on the season.
But that's looking at the whole season. When looking at the power play and penalty kill in November, Utah had both the highest-rated PK% at 96.6 and the lowest-rated PP% at 3.7%. Somehow, Utah has had some of the most elite and abysmal special-teams units at the same time.
However, Utah’s special teams couldn’t have been more surprising than they were against the Canadiens. Not only did Utah score its first 5-on-4 goal since its 3-2 win over Winnipeg on Oct. 26, but its usually iron-tight penalty-kill unit was completely cracked by Montreal.
Zack Bolduc and Suzuki each scored a power-play goal, and the Mammoth killed off only 1 of 3 of the Canadiens’ power-play opportunities. And that came even with a successful Utah challenge that originally wiped out one of Montreal’s power-play goals.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"I think we played a good game, but unfortunately we got beat on our strength," said André Tourigny. " Tonight we were not as sharp on our PK. [To have a] power play score and a big goal was important for us. (Montreal) is a good team defensively and we generated a volume of shot quality and inside game. We had a lot of traffic there. I think (Montreal) scored two goals off of their rush; that’s unfortunate."
It was expected that at some point Utah would give up more penalty-kill goals and score more on the power play, but for it to happen at the same time was bizarre and, ultimately, a bit untimely.
Sean Durzi ReturnsThough Utah Mammoth couldn't get a win in his game back, having Sean Durzi healthy is a huge win for the Mammoth.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"Watching the guys all year, you kind of see how they go through the ups and downs," said Durzi. You try to be in all the meetings you can be, but when I’m rehabbing, they’re on the road and can’t see it all. You try to see the guy’s ways in warm-ups, things like that. Routines change so much throughout the year. Just wanted to contribute, whether it’s on the ice or off the ice, bring some energy. Do something."
Having the second highest time on the ice with 21:34, Durzi didn't appear to be too rusty or still laboring an injury either. But he still will need a bit of time to get back to true form, seeing as though he didn't get any shots on goal-a rarity for him.
But nonetheless, Utah will be glad to have one of its best defenseman back playing. Now all Utah needs is for Alexander Kerfoot to get healthy too.
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