Nate Schmidt delivered a dominant all-around performance, scoring twice and setting up two more goals as the Utah Mammoth pulled away for a 6–3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.
Utah continued its strong stretch of play, earning its third straight victory and winning for the sixth time in its last seven games. Lawson Crouse also played a key role, finishing with a goal and two assists. Kevin Stenlund, Nick Schmaltz, and Barrett Hayton rounded out the scoring, while goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped 18 shots.
Seattle’s offense came from Jordan Eberle, Matty Beniers, and Chandler Stephenson, but the Kraken dropped their third consecutive game and fell to 1-3-2 over their past six outings. Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves in the loss.
Schmidt’s second goal proved to be the turning point. With 5:30 remaining in the third period, he fired a shot past Ryker Evans’ stick and over Grubauer’s glove shortly after Seattle had erased a two-goal deficit to tie the game.
The Kraken struck quickly, as Eberle opened the scoring just 69 seconds into the contest with a backhand that slipped over Vejmelka’s shoulder, giving Seattle an early 1–0 lead and pushing his season total to 17 goals.
Utah responded with a short-handed tally at 2:47 of the first period, only 11 seconds into a Seattle power play. Stenlund finished off a setup from Crouse to even the score.
The Mammoth grabbed the lead early in the second period when Schmidt connected from long range just 28 seconds after the puck dropped. Schmaltz extended the advantage at 4:31, burying his 18th goal of the season on a perfectly placed feed from Crouse to make it 3–1.
Beniers brought Seattle back within one late in the second, battling through traffic before tapping in a short wrist shot. Stephenson then tied the game with 2:17 left in the period, finishing from close range to complete the comeback.
Utah, however, regained control in the third and closed out the win behind Schmidt’s go-ahead goal and additional insurance tallies.
Up next:
The Kraken return home to host Pittsburgh on Monday night.
The Mammoth stay home to face Philadelphia on Wednesday night.
