Mammoth score 4 goals in 3rd, end Stars' point streak at 15

DALLAS -- The Utah Mammoth scored four different ways in the third period and ended the Dallas Stars’ 15-game point streak with a 6-3 win at American Airlines Center on Monday.

Utah got a short-handed goal from Jack McBain, an even-strength goal by Kailer Yamamoto, a power-play goal from Michael Carcone and an empty-netter by Lawson Crouse in the final period to break open a 2-2 game.

“I liked our special teams a lot. Our (penalty kill) was rock solid,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “The most important thing, in my opinion, Dallas is a really good team, and they were pushing hard and tough to contain, and even then, we bend but didn’t break. We were solid mentally. We talk a lot about mental toughness and we stayed with it, even when they scored first, and so on and so forth. We got a fortunate stick early in the game, we know that, but still our game got better during the game and throughout the game against a really good team. I am proud of the boys.”

Vitek Vanecek made 27 saves for Utah (35-27-6), which ended at 0-2-2 skid.

The Mammoth hold the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, five points ahead of the Seattle Kraken.

“I thought we had a good reload from our forwards, our defense had to do a really good job grouping their forwards on their side, eliminating their time and space to reach the zone,” Utah defenseman Nate Schmidt said. “Sometimes it slips through the cracks, but that’s why (Vanecek) was great for us tonight. You always have to have a goaltender make a heck of performance like that tonight.”

Sam Steel, Wyatt Johnston and Adam Erne scored for Dallas (42-15-10), which went 15-0-1 over its streak to tie the franchise record set with a 12-0-3 run in 1998-99. Casey DeSmith made 16 saves.

The Stars are second in the Central Division, three points behind the Colorado Avalanche.

“Someone told me there we hadn’t lost in 55 days, but when you lose, it still feels the same,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “Early on, I thought they were a little loose, especially in the first eight minutes, and we just didn’t execute anything. I don’t think we were quite sharp enough in the beginning of the game to capitalize on some of those chances, especially off the line rushes. … After two, I didn’t mind where we were. They got up 3-2 and then we started to press a little bit, and we haven’t done that in a while. You give up three 2-on-1s and they get another and put the game out of reach.”

McBain gave Utah a 3-2 lead at 4:16 in the third period when he scored on a backhand on a short-handed breakaway.

“That was a huge two points,” McBain said. “I thought we played really well. That’s a team that’s been playing really well all year. Especially since the break too. It was a big game for us.

“I think I’ve done a lot of good things. I’ve been getting a lot of shots and chances. But sometimes it doesn’t go your way. But I was just trying to stick with it mentally. It was good to see that one go (in) tonight.”

Yamamoto made it 4-2 at 8:05 when he finished off a 2-on-1 with Alex Kerfoot on a backhand from the slot.

“This week is too important to think about it too much,” Dallas defenseman Lian Bichsel said. “We’re going to watch some video for details, but we’ve got two big games that are coming up that are really important for us. It’s kind of like a playoff mood, just forget about it and move on. All those games now are important, but especially against those teams in the division and playing (for those) points are really important now.”

Carcone extended the lead to 5-2 at 16:06 with a power-play goal from the bottom of the left face-off circle.

Crouse scored into the empty net at 19:20 to extend the lead to 6-2, and Erne scored with four seconds left in the game for the 6-3 final.

“You want to be in these situations in the third period,” Schmidt said. “I know we talked about it a bit in the third period. But this is what you want out of your group. You want to be able to be comfortable in these situations against good teams. This is a really good team in the League and you have to be able to really settle in these types of high-pressure situations. I like the way our guys responded. I think we put a lot of pressure on them, and it forced them to open the game up. When a team starts to open the game up, then your relentlessness can really cause of a lot of turnovers and problems for them.”

Steel gave Dallas a 1-0 lead 6:17 in the first period when he deflected a Jamie Benn shot in the slot.

“For the most part, I like where our game’s at,” Steel said. “It’s not going to be a perfect 60 minutes every night, but even tonight I thought we did some good things. They pushed, made some big plays, some crazy shots that go in. That’s just the way it goes sometimes. We’ve got to put it aside and get ready for Wednesday (against Colorado),” “I think we’ve got good heads on our shoulders here. We know you’re not going to get the right bounces every single night, every single shift. We know what works and just keep sticking with that.”

Clayton Keller tied it 1-1 at 12:11 when his shot from near the goal line popped the top of the net over DeSmith’s shoulder.

Schmidt gave Utah a 2-1 lead at 7:20 of the second period when his shot from the point deflected off of Thomas Harley’s stick.

Johnston tied it 2-2 at 15:34 when he reached out to deflect a Miro Heiskanen point shot in the high slot.

“You can learn lessons from every game you play in this league. Every team is so good now, anybody can win each and every night,” Benn said. “It’s a lot like playoffs right now. You can’t let one game affect the next. It’s about moving on quickly here and learning from this one. We’ve got a big game coming up here (against Colorado). We want to get two points against those guys every chance we can get. Looking forward to another big game here.”