Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- The Utah Mammoth lost to the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 on Monday night.
- Utah's Barrett Hayton emphasized the need for more aggressive play around the net.
- The Mammoth return home to face the Calgary Flames on Wednesday at the Delta Center.
CHICAGO — The Utah Mammoth lost a key defenseman over the weekend, but the real issues so far this season lie on the other side of the ice.
Utah's NHL side had 16 goals through the first three games last season but has just five over the same span to begin 2025.
The Mammoth put up 23 shots and won 55% of faceoffs — thanks in part to the return of center Barrett Hayton — but scored just one goal Monday against a Chicago team that had conceded at least three goals to every opponent before Monday in its 0-3 start to the season.
"I think we've got to look at ourselves on this one," Hayton said. "Over these first three games, I don't think we've been nearly hard enough around the net. I think that's a big thing. There's another big piece of our team being able to have two guys inside, compete around the net and be hard in there.
"We've just been too perimeter," Hayton added. "And when we have gotten around the net, we haven't been hard enough. We got to fight around there."
Head coach Andre Tourigny echoed that sentiment by saying his team needs to score more "greasy goals" around the net if they want to have a chance to "separate (themselves)" in the standings.
"In the NHL, you need to score greasy goals," Tourigny said. "It's not just the goals when you have time and space."
POSTGAME
— Utah Mammoth PR (@UtahMammoth_PR) October 14, 2025
"In the NHL, you need to score greasy goals. It's not just a goal when you have time and space... We need to score those greasy goals if we want to have a chance to separate ourselves."@utahmammoth André Tourigny on the team needing to push to the net pic.twitter.com/VJxd4rJIFU
To Chicago's credit, there wasn't much time and space to be had at the United Center on Monday, with the Blackhawks clogging up the central lane and intercepting through pucks from the Mammoth all night.
The game was scoreless until Chicago's Ilya Mikheyev broke through with a "greasy goal" at the 9:21 mark of the second period. Utah equalized a minute into the third period with JJ Peterka's first goal in a Mammoth jersey, but a power play goal and an empty-netter gave Chicago the final 3-1 advantage.
Utah falls to 1-2 on the season as the Mammoth return to the Delta Center for the team's home opener on Wednesday against the Calgary Flames.
"I can't wait to get in there and start playing," Hayton said.
The festivities begin at 4 p.m. MDT on Wednesday with cover band "Shuffle" performing outside the Delta Center, followed by a "Mountain Blue carpet" walk-in from the players at 4:30 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m., and fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 7 p.m. for a "special surprise moment and pregame entertainment."
