Cry Of The Last Mammoth

Recapping the Habs' 6-2 victory over the Utah Mammoth.

The Montreal Canadiens crushed the Utah Mammoth in a 6-2 win on Saturday. The Mammoth aren’t an easy team to beat this season (or at least that’s what they’re telling us). The Canadiens were still able to win, doing so by scoring three goals in the third period. A period that’s caused them trouble in the recent past.

The Mammoth played a good game too (at least, until the third period). They had the advantage in puck possession metrics (53.26% Corsi). Utah also had a 21-19 shots on goal advantage. They played a strong defensive game until the third period, when it seemed like Montreal’s dominance frustrated them. The Mammoth had a 33.63% expected goals share in that period alone.

What’s encouraging is that Sam Montembault had an excellent game with a .926 SV%. The first goal against came just over three minutes after the Canadiens’ defense failed to clear the front of the net, and Kailer Yamamoto scored. The second goal is hard to pin on him too, as the Canadiens were too bothered by a non-call, which allowed the Utah Mormons Mammoth to score on a 2-0.

But how about Cole Caufield? He scored two of the Canadiens’ six goals, and both were impressive. I wish Substack were better at letting me post X posts here, but links will do for now. Here, Caufield scored despite a horrible angle. Later, he jammed the puck in after retrieving it from behind the net for his second goal. Caufield is in second in the NHL for goals with 12; Nathan MacKinnon is in first with 14.

Even though the Canadiens still need a 2C, rookie Oliver Kapanen has been excellent on the second line. Kapanen, with Alex Newhook and Ivan Demidov, had a 68% Corsi in a game that favored Utah for puck possession. I’m unsure if Kapanen is their solution at 2C, but either way, the Canadiens’ youth has been stepping up in big ways.