Sergachev, Stenlund help Mammoth hand Canucks 4th straight loss

VANCOUVER -- Mikhail Sergachev and Kevin Stenlund each had a goal and an assist, and the Utah Mammoth defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 at Rogers Arena on Friday.

Nick Schmaltz and John Marino also scored, and Karel Vejmelka made 31 saves for the Mammoth (14-12-3), who have won two in a row after losing the previous four.

“They had a lot of shots, ‘Veggie’ was on top of his game. We had some big blocks and when we had our chances we scored,” Sergachev said. “So that's what you want to see from your team. You defend well and when you have a chance to score, you score.”

Arshdeep Bains scored and Kevin Lankinen made 14 saves for the Canucks (10-15-3), who are winless in four games (0-3-1) and have one win in their past eight (1-6-1).

“We believe we can win every game,” Canucks forward Elias Pettersson said. “Obviously, it hasn't been looking good, the record, but we're giving effort every game and it's not bouncing our way.”

Vejmelka made a few pad saves early, going left to right to deny Elias Pettersson in tight at 4:52, then the other way to rob Linus Karlsson on a backdoor chance at 5:08.

Sergachev put the Mammoth ahead 1-0 on the game’s first power play at 16:00 of the first period when his point shot deflected twice -- first off Elias Pettersson, then defenseman Marcus Pettersson -- and caught Lankinen sliding the other way.

Utah was 1-for-2 on the power play for the second straight game after going 1-for-19 the previous nine games.

“They were both broken plays and lucky goals,” Sergachev said. “So, I don't want to say anything. That's thanks to hockey God, I guess.”

Vancouver outshot Utah 14-7 in the second period, but Vejmelka made another big pad save off Quinn Hughes on a 3-on-2 at 1:48. He also fought off a couple of chances through traffic and got help battling for loose pucks.

“A couple backdoor plays -- I think they had two in the first period -- and he made key saves," Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said. "Even in the second, we did a good job to battle in the blue paint, but they put a lot of pucks with a lot of traffic so he was really good on his tracking, finding pucks. He did a really good job with his tracking tonight.”

Schmaltz extended it to 2-0 at 14:05 after deflecting a Sergachev point shot down over the right pad of Lankinen from the slot.

Bains cut it to 2-1 on a rush chance 4:17 into the third period. He drove to the net and deflected Aatu Raty’s high shot from the top of the left circle past Vejmelka’s glove from close range for his first goal of the season in his 23rd game.

“It's always a good feeling,” Bains said. “You just try to play the right way, and hopefully things happen and luckily tonight, we made some good plays there and I was able to get one.”

Daniil But, playing in his second NHL game, appeared to score for the Mammoth at 13:44 of the third period with Lankinen caught behind the net, but the goal was waved off due to Utah forward Dylan Guenther making incidental contact with the goalie after he played the puck.

Stenlund made it 3-1 at 17:52, finishing a 3-on-2 rush by taking the puck to the net alone and deking around Lankinen on the backhand.

Utah killed off two penalties in the third period, including one with 1:41 left and Lankinen pulled for the extra attacker, before Marino scored short-handed into an empty net from his own end at 19:24 for the 4-1 final.

“It's a big challenge when you go out there against Pettersson and Hughes and [Brock] Boeser, those guys are elite NHL players,” Sergachev said. “You want to shut them down and our guys did a good job blocking shots; goalie was there to bail us out, it's a big one.”

Despite another loss, the Canucks felt there were lots of positives.

“I'm not frustrated, I'm disappointed," Vancouver coach Adam Foote said. "I just watched all the chances for us. Fans might call me crazy, we should have that game, 4- or 5-1. I can't get upset at what we're doing. … Hopefully the goals are going to go in. I hate losing anything, but we're pushing. We could easily win the game, but we have to, again, dig deeper, get dirty. … Maybe a little bit more of a dirty, aggressive mindset around the net, even if we get some battles and start a war there.”

NOTES: Marino is just the fourth defenseman to score a short-handed goal in the NHL this season. … Utah forwards Barrett Hayton and Brandon Tanev were each a healthy scratch for the second straight game after sitting out for the first time this season during a 7-0 win at the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. … Canucks forward Conor Garland played 22:41 after missing the previous two games with an upper-body injury. … Vancouver forward Evander Kane missed the game with illness but could return against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.