Mammoth suffer first home shutout of season in 4-0 loss to Blackhawks

SALT LAKE CITY — After a fast, physical start against Minnesota on Friday, the Mammoth fell flat against a struggling Blackhawks team two days later.

Chicago goaltender Arvid Soderblom was efficient in net, and the defense surrounding him helped the Blackhawks stifle Utah as they picked up a 4-0 shutout win.

Soderblom made 22 saves as part of his first career shutout in what was also the Mammoth's first home shutout of the season — and fifth shutout loss of the season.

"We need to take that game and learn, and that has to hurt big time, so we make sure that doesn't happen again," Mammoth head coach Andre Tourigny said.

In the home team's net was Karel Vejmelka, and on paper it did not look good, but he was solid for the Mammoth for much of the game; however, Vejmelka was left in some tough spots at times, including the Blackhawks first goal.

Four opening period penalties gave way to three power plays to Chicago, and the Blackhawks finally capitalized on the third one. Teuvo Teravainen got the rebound and put his shot past Vejmelka near the side of the net.

Teravainen had a strong game for the Blackhawks with two goals, both of which were scored on special teams. His second of the game was a short-handed score.

Within a two minute span in the second period, Chicago picked up two more goals thanks to Nick Foligno and Landon Slaggert.

Foligno scored after he gained control of the puck on a faceoff in the Mammoth zone and temporarily froze Vejmelka with a stutter move. Minutes later, Slaggert's shot deflected off of Vejmelka's glove and into the net for the three-goal lead.

"When you're disconnected, you're chasing the game," defenseman Mikhail Sergachev said. "When you're chasing the game, you're taking penalties, and then one goes over the other, and you're losing the game."

Utah struggled to get anything going offensively throughout the game and squandered power play opportunities with some lackadaisical passes to go 0-of-2 on the man advantage.

Plenty of the lapses and careless mistakes left Vejmelka out to dry, and the Blackhawks were the aggressors who capitalized.

It seemed like the Mammoth had a chance to get something going to start the final period on a man advantage, but Chicago stayed aggressive and made Utah pay with Teravainen's short-handed goal.

The Mammoth were beaten in all fronts of the game, and it culminated in what was arguably the worst loss of the season for Utah.

"That should never happen, that kind of effort in front of our fans," Tourigny said. "I don't think anybody was good."

Chicago skaters swarmed to the puck all game and got their sticks in the passing lanes to break up passes when the Mammoth tried to make anything happen.

"I haven't seen it on video, but the feel of it was not great," Ian Cole said. "They had good pace, they took away time and space. We didn't handle it well."

The Blackhawks played a pretty clean game to prevent themselves from being on the other end of power play while also taking advantage with their own special teams and putting the puck in the net.

"At the end of the day, we're serious about our business and whoever's on the other side," Tourigny said. "We need two points every night and we're in a hell of a race."

After closing out a six-game homestand, Utah will be on the road for the next five games as they look to hold onto their current wild card spot.

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