Yamamoto nets 2 goals, but Mammoth rally comes up short in 3-2 loss to Stars

SALT LAKE CITY — Poor starts are becoming an alarming trend for the Utah Mammoth.

And it was another sluggish start that helped contribute to Utah falling to the Dallas Stars 3-2 Saturday. Dallas jumped out to an early power play and took advantage. Another goal on the man advantage in the first 10 minutes for the Stars quickly put the Mammoth in an 0-2 hole.

In five of the team's last seven games, Utah has allowed a goal within the first four minutes. The Mammoth have been able to weather the early storm and battle back to take the lead, and even come away with wins in those games, but Saturday it caught up to them.

Two costly delay of game penalties early against the second-best power play in the league was not a winning recipe for Utah. Dallas deserves credit for capitalizing on the opportunity, but the Mammoth will need to better performances from its special teams.

"Our special team has to be better, has to give us a chance to win," Mammoth head coach Andre Tourigny said. "We won the five-on-five game 2-1, even if we didn't play the way we played in the last two months. Our special team has to step up, especially in those games."

The power play for Utah has been a problem all season. The Mammoth currently sit dead last in the NHL on the power play, as well as 19th on the penalty kill after sitting around the top five PK teams just a month ago.

When asked if the team isn't getting enough shots on goal, J.J. Peterka said "definitely not."

"I think we're just trying to make the perfect play right now," Peterka said. "I think we'v got to go back to just making easy plays, more shots on net."

It didn't work for Utah Saturday, but Kailer Yamamoto continued his red-hot play for Utah as he recorded his second straight multi-point game. Yamamoto scored two goals and helped pick up the slack on offense for the Mammoth who struggled on offense for most of the night.

Since being reinserted into the lineup on Jan. 24 against Nashville, Yamamoto has 7 points, with 5 coming in the past two games.

Yamamoto has played among different lines over the past five games, but joined Barrett Hayton and Peterka on the second line against the Stars on Saturday. Peterka connected with Yamamoto on both of his goals, giving himself his own 2-point night.

"I haven't played too many games, but obviously playing with JJ and (Hayton) they're amazing players," Yamamoto said. "They make plays with the best of them — very easy to read off."

Outside of the second line, offense was hard to come by for Utah. Dallas dominated on shots on goal, recording 29, while the Mammoth had a season-low of 14.

"(Dallas) played a really good game, especially defensively," Tourigny said. "It was really tough for us to create any kind of offense. I thought it took too long for us to get in the game and to get to our game, and to play with some kind of a pace."

Two power-play goals for the Stars helped spark a three-goal opening period for Dallas, which set the tone for the rest of the game. Thomas Harley and Wyatt Johnston picked up the two goals on the man advantage, while Matt Duchene added the third goal.

Utah tightened its defense up in the second and third period but were still unable to generate any type of consistent offense. The Mammoth were 0-for-2 on the man advantage but couldn't find any creative ways to set up any chances on offense.

"I don't think we have any swagger right now," Tourigny said of his team's power play. "I don't think we have any kind of execution."

Despite the struggles on the power play, Yamamoto still helped close the gap in the third period with his second goal. Peterka set the table for Yamamoto, who finished the play off with a snap shot goal.

One final push, with goaltender Karel Vejmelka pulled, and an extra skater on the ice, Utah failed to score and force overtime.

"I think giving up two goals anytime in a game is tough," Yamamoto said. "Obviously, early in the game, to battle back from that, it's definitely tough. But I thought the guys showed a lot of heart. We were that close to coming back but obviously fell a little short."

With just two games remaining until the Olympic break, the Mammoth will need to find a way to pick up a win against the last place Canucks before another home game against the Red Wings.

If Utah can pick up at least 3 points over the two games, they'll still be sitting in a good spot at the break.

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