Keller scores in OT, Mammoth rally past Flyers for 4th straight win

SALT LAKE CITY -- Clayton Keller scored twice, including the overtime winner at 2:01, and the Utah Mammoth rallied from a two-goal, third-period deficit to extend their winning streak to four games, 5-4 against the Philadelphia Flyers at Delta Center on Wednesday.

Keller tied the game 4-4 at 19:25 of the third period, cutting in from the left boards and lifting a backhander over Samuel Ersson's glove from in tight. He then scored the game-winner with a snap shot from the slot off a pass from Dylan Guenther.

“We stuck with it,” Keller said. “We obviously knew that we weren't playing great, and there were a lot of mistakes and just dumb mistakes, really. We just kept fighting. So many guys made key plays, making saves.”

JJ Peterka, Lawson Crouse and Guenther scored, and Nick Schmaltz had two assists for the Mammoth (26-20-4), who extended their point streak to eight games (7-0-1) and finished a seven-game homestand 6-0-1. Keller also had an assist, and Karel Vejmelka made 25 saves.

“I liked the way we turned things around in the second period,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “There’s things we didn’t like about the game; it’s obvious if you watch the game. But I would like to focus a lot on the positives… The key goals, the comeback, the grit we showed in the second period. We had a good push.”

Christian Dvorak scored twice and had an assist, and Cam York and Bobby Brink scored for the Flyers (23-17-9), who have lost seven of eight (1-5-2). Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale each had two assists, and Ersson made 22 saves.

“We had good parts of [the game], but that's unacceptable what happened tonight,” Philadelphia coach Rick Tocchet said. “We sunk in pressure situations, something that we've got to get out of this team, right? You've got to rise to the occasion. You've got to want to be out there in pressure situations. A couple of guys sunk in certain situations, so it's the bottom line. We've got to recover from it.”

York gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead just 30 seconds into the first period. Dvorak got a piece of Travis Sanheim's shot from the slot before it was initially stopped by Vejmelka, but the rebound was buried by York from the bottom of the right face-off circle.

Dvorak made it 2-0 at 4:36 when he took a pass from Konecny in stride into the offensive zone and went backhand-forehand to tuck the puck around Vejmelka's right pad.

“I thought for the most part we were the better team, played some good hockey, but sat back a little bit,” Dvorak said. “It's a tough loss, it stings, but we can't let it drag on the next game.”

Brink pushed the lead to 3-0 on the power play 58 seconds into the second period. He beat Mammoth forward Jack McBain to the rebound from a Zegras shot at the left of the crease and tapped it in.

Peterka cut the deficit to 3-1 at 5:35 after the puck came loose out of a scrum to the left of the net and he scored into an open net from in front.

Crouse brought Utah to within 3-2 just 36 seconds later at 6:11, taking a feed from Schmaltz and beating Ersson's glove with a snap shot from the slot.

“I liked his performance and how he impacts our team,” Tourigny said of Schmaltz. “I’m glad for him and for everybody, who were here at the Delta Center or at home watching our game, who sees that. It can highlight what Nick Schmaltz means for our team.”

Dvorak put Philadelphia back up 4-2 with a power-play goal at 10:28. He sent a wrist shot from the right circle off the rush and knocked the rebound in under the stick of Vejmelka for his second goal of the game.

Guenther made it 4-3 with a power-play goal at 12:47 with a wrist shot from the left circle.

“Resilience. We did stick with it, the talk was all positive, and we all thought that we could come back and win. It was a huge character win,” Guenther said.

The Flyers had a chance to go up 5-3 at 18:33 of the third when forward Garnet Hathaway skated into the offensive zone toward the empty net, but Schmaltz was able to steal the puck and keep the Mammoth in the game.

“We talked about it in the room after, but none of this happens if 'Schmaltzy' doesn't backcheck and give everything he's got to strip them before they score on the empty net,” Keller said. “That's the difference sometimes.”

Ersson said, “Everybody's got everybody’s back in here. We've had that all year, so nothing changes like that, and obviously it [stinks] losing this game, but it's not on one guy. It's on everybody, and you've just got to find a way to bounce back.”

NOTES: Utah became the first team with points in each game during a homestand of at least seven contests since the Los Angeles Kings (seven games from March 11-26, 2023). ... Keller’s game-tying goal was the first 6-on-5 goal in Mammoth history, and it was the latest game-tying goal in franchise history, besting the previous mark set by Josh Doan (58:06 on Oct. 10, 2024). ... Keller has 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in his past seven games. ... Philadelphia forward Travis Konecny extended his point streak to three games (three goals, two assists).