On the heels of a 1-3-1 road trip, Wild coach John Hynes said Friday he wanted to see his team battle with more consistency throughout a full 60-minute game; on draws, on the boards and in the corners — anywhere that players can win possession and put their team on the attack.
It didn’t happen on Saturday. The Wild came out of the gates with little energy and, in less than five minutes, fell behind the Utah Mammoth 3-0 — and it cost them another two points.
Former Gophers star Logan Cooley scored a pair of goals in the game’s first 3:29, and goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped 33 shots as the Mammoth made that early lead stick in a 6-2 victory at Grand Casino Arena.
The Wild have lost four of their past five and fell to 3-5-1.
“We need the points right now, so it doesn’t matter how it happened,” said left wing Marcus Johansson, who scored Minnesota’s two goals. “We just need to figure it out.”
Nick Schmaltz made it 3-0 with a goal at 4:58, giving the Mammoth all the goals they would need to improve to 7-2-0. Cooley had the first assist on J.J Peterka’s goal at 13:37 of third period, and Schmaltz added a second goal on a late breakaway.
Ultimately, going up 3-0 in the first five minutes was enough offense for Utah. Cooley started the scoring when he deflected an arcing puck with his backhand to score over Gustavsson’s open glove. His second goal, poked up and over Gustavsson at the crease, made it 2-0 at 3:29.
“That’s something we can’t really do, the easy goals like the first one — it affects the whole team,” Gustavsson said. “We have to eliminate those.”
Gustavsson finished with 35 saves.
Johansson had his first two-goal game since Jan. 23, 2024, against Washington, and sixth since December 2017. His second, a 3-on-4, power-play goal, pulled the Wild within 3-2 with just more than four minutes to play in the second period.
The Wild drew a quick power play to start the third period — Jack McBain was called for tripping — but, despite some juicy chances, couldn’t add to their momentum, even as they spent the next 10 minutes dominating play.
The next goal to go in was Utah’s, a shot from the top of the slot by Peterka after he raced in from the bench on a line change.
“We can’t really do anything after the first three went in, just … stop caring and make the next save,” Gustavsson said. “Peterka got a good look there and I couldn’t catch it.”
The Mammoth have scored 34 goals against 22 allowed this season.
“It’s always a lot more fun when you’re scoring, and obviously winning, too,” Cooley said. “We’re on a streak right now. Just fortunate enough to be scoring right now. It’s a lot of fun and we’ve got to just keep it rolling.”
The Wild scored a quick-strike goal late in the first when Johansson one-timed a pass from Zeem Buium to cap a tic-tac-toe rush and make it 3-1 at 15:39. It was the kind of play the team has been missing at even strength.
“Sometimes it comes down to execution,” Hynes said. “I don’t think our execution has been as sharp as it can be in some of those situations. Like the other night in New Jersey (a 4-1 loss), we had three odd-man rushes, 3-on-1s and stuff like that, and we didn’t get a shot.
“So, some of it just comes down to execution when you’re getting those opportunities. Tonight, you see the difference when you get an opportunity like that, you execute on it, it winds up in the back of the net.”
The Wild are host to San Jose on Sunday. Puck drop is set for 5 p.m. The Wild are tied for 12th in the 16-team Western Conference with seven points.
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