Schmaltz scores twice, Mammoth clinch 1st wild card in West with win against Jets

SALT LAKE CITY -- Nick Schmaltz scored twice on the power play, and the Utah Mammoth clinched the first wild card in the Western Conference with a 5-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Delta Center on Tuesday.​

“I think we were just trying to play as best we could these last two games,” Schmaltz said. “We had two losses in a row, so we wanted to bounce back at home and put ourselves in the best position we can.”

Logan Cooley had a goal and an assist, and Clayton Keller had an assist to extend his point streak to a franchise-record nine games for the Mammoth (43-32-6), who had lost two in a row but have won six of their past eight. Karel Vejmelka made 21 saves.

“I’m really happy about the way we played,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “Obviously, in the third period, we made it tougher than we should have, but it will be good learning for us. All of our guys are pros; we know that. So, it is not like we learned something tonight. We knew that, so it just happened. I am glad it happened though.”

Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and an assist for the Jets (35-34-12), who have lost three straight games and were eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention following a 6-2 loss at the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday. Gabriel Vilardi had two assists, and Eric Comrie made 31 saves.

“There was a little bit of a hangover from last night coming in from Vegas. We were real slow,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “Utah was real quick and we turned a lot of pucks over. We didn't get through the neutral zone and allowed them to get their rush game going.”

Cooley gave Utah a 1-0 lead at 8:05 of the first period, sliding the puck between the legs of Comrie on the breakaway.

Schmaltz scored on the power play to make it 2-0 at 4:54 of the second period, collecting a rebound in front of the crease off a shot by Mikhail Sergachev and tapping it past Comrie.

Connor’s power-play goal cut it to 2-1 at 17:09, picking up his own rebound and poking the puck past Vejmelka.

“There's still a lot of pride in there,” Connor said. “Every time you put on your uniform, you got to respect the game out there and your teammates and fight for each other.”

Schmaltz scored again on the power play to make it 3-1 at 7:16 of the third period after he took a pass from Keller and slotted the puck past Comrie.

JJ Peterka scored 26 seconds later to push it to 4-1 at 7:42, picking up a pass in the slot and finishing past Comrie blocker side.

“We're a better team when we move the puck quickly and use our speed and catch them off guard a little bit,” Schmaltz said. “When we try to drag it back and teams get set, it's hard to beat all five guys. So, when we can move the puck up quick in transition and use our speed, we're pretty difficult to play against.”

Scheifele made it 4-2 at 12:36, beating Vejmelka on the blocker side on the breakaway.

Isak Rosen’s power-play goal cut it to 4-3 at 14:23 when he fired a wrist shot past the blocker of Vejmelka. It was the sixth career goal for the 23-year-old forward, who was acquired as part of a trade with the Buffalo Sabres on March 6 after being selected in the first-round (No. 14) of the 2021 NHL Draft.

“He's getting more and more comfortable as he's playing games here,” Arniel said of Rosen. “Tonight I tried to put a young guy with two veterans on every line. We kind of mixed it up in the third a little bit, but at the end of the day, those guys are all gaining real in-game experience in tough buildings.”

Alex Kerfoot then scored an empty-net goal at 19:36 for the 5-3 final.

“It's going to be awesome; I am super pumped,” Peterka said of the playoffs. “I am even talking to fans here, they're all so excited to bring the playoffs here, so yeah, I can't wait for it to begin.”

NOTES: Mammoth defenseman Sean Durzi left the game with an upper-body injury with 9:31 remaining in the second period and did not return. There was no update. … Keller, who has 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) during his nine-game streak, became the 12th American player in NHL history to record consecutive 60-assist seasons and just the sixth active, joining Quinn Hughes (five dating to 2021-22), Matthew Tkachuk (three from 2021-22 to 2023-24), Lane Hutson (two dating to 2024-25), Jack Eichel (two dating to 2024-25) and Adam Fox (two from 2021-22 to 2022-23). ... Schmaltz set a new career high for power-play goals in a season with 11.