Mammoth vs. Oilers: Clayton Keller Scores Twice as Utah Hands Edmonton Its First Regulation Loss

The Edmonton Oilers started Thursday night as the last team in the NHL without a regulation loss. The Utah Mammoth decided that streak had gone on long enough.

Clayton Keller scored twice, once on the power play and once into an empty net, and the Mammoth beat the Oilers 4-2 at Rogers Place to snap Edmonton's five-game winning streak. Utah has now won three straight, and it did it against an Edmonton lineup that, per the AP, was missing five starting forwards and a defenseman.

Special Teams Set the Tone

This one was decided by the power play, and Utah got the first crack. Josh Samanski took a double minor for high-sticking Kevin Stenlund at 9:23 of the first, and the Mammoth cashed in at 10:38. Kailer Yamamoto got off a point-blank shot, and Barrett Hayton cleaned up the rebound in close for his first goal of the season. John Marino picked up the second assist.

Hayton's goal also stretched his point streak to five games, with one goal and five assists in that span, per NHL.com. He said the team spent time before the game talking about the strange setup of facing the same opponent twice in a row. "We talked prior to this game about kind of a unique situation of playing a team two times in a row," Hayton said.

The second period started quietly, and then Utah struck on the power play again. At 11:57, Logan Cooley threaded a pass through his own legs from the slot, and Keller snapped it short side past Devon Levi's glove for a 2-0 lead. Nick Schmaltz drew the second assist, and the Keller-Schmaltz connection has now factored on the same goal seven times this season. The only duo with more is Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, with nine, according to NHL.com.

The Turning Point: 23 Seconds

Edmonton finally broke through at 13:54. McDavid and Draisaitl worked a give-and-go, and Draisaitl slid the puck through Karel Vejmelka's legs to make it 2-1. The assist pushed McDavid's season-opening point streak to seven games. He now has four goals and 14 assists for a league-leading 18 points, his best start to a season, per the AP.

Edmonton had life for exactly 23 seconds. Then Vincent Trocheck slipped a backhand pass to the front, Cooley drove hard to the crease to meet it, and he lifted it past Levi's glove for his first goal of the season. Dylan Guenther picked up the second assist, and it was 3-1.

That quick answer was the whole game in miniature. Edmonton's best players produced a goal, and Utah's depth erased it before the Oilers could build on it.

"Obviously, they're an unbelievable team over there. Some of the best players in the world, and when we have a showing like that, playing committed hockey, we can beat anyone in this league," Cooley said.

Edmonton's Last Push

The Oilers did make it interesting. At 1:40 of the third, Shakir Mukhamadullin let a shot go from the point, and it bounced in off the skate of Mammoth defenseman Andrew Peeke to cut it to 3-2. It was his first goal with Edmonton since the Oilers acquired him from San Jose on July 1, per NHL.com. Owen Michaels and Mathieu Joseph assisted.

Oilers defenseman Connor Murphy felt Edmonton found its game as the night went on, just too late. "We just didn't start the game off that way," Murphy said.

Vejmelka held firm, and Keller sealed it with an empty-net goal with 28 seconds left, with Schmaltz and Lawson Crouse assisting.

The Stars

Keller scored twice in 16:55 and blocked two shots. Cooley had a goal and an assist, and the through-the-legs feed on Keller's goal was the prettiest pass of the night. Schmaltz had two assists.

Vejmelka made 22 saves on 24 shots, and Utah coach Andre Tourigny loved the team in front of him. "I'm really proud of the way we defended, the way we played away from the puck," Tourigny said. "We were really structured, were physical and I think we made it hard, every inch on the ice, for the team on the other side."

For Edmonton, McDavid played 25:52 and kept his streak alive, Draisaitl scored in 23:00, and Evan Bouchard logged 27:03 with an assist. NHL.com noted Bouchard has a four-game point streak and leads NHL defensemen with 15 points. Levi made 21 saves on 24 shots.

McDavid did not sound panicked. "It was a tight-checking game, both teams really dug in," he said. "Two good teams that were working and checking and it came down to special teams, they found a way to get a couple and we didn't."

Stats That Matter

• 2-for-3: Utah's power play, which scored the first two goals of the night.
• 0-for-2: Edmonton's power play.
• 23 seconds: The gap between Draisaitl's goal and Cooley's answer.
• 18: McDavid's league-leading point total through a seven-game point streak.
• 31-22: Edmonton's faceoff edge, which did not matter as much as special teams.

What It Means

Utah improves to 6-2-0 with 12 points and has won three in a row. Coming in, Edmonton was 5-0-1 against the Mammoth while outscoring them 31-16, and 3-0-0 at home against Utah, according to the AP. Thursday flipped that script. "I think we were competing with emotion, but we were under control. I'm extremely proud of the boys," Tourigny said.

Edmonton falls to 5-1-1 with 11 points and takes its first regulation loss of the season. Oilers coach Mike Babcock pointed to the missing bodies. "We needed our big boys. Obviously, I played them too much, but I thought we competed and put in a good effort," he said. "They have a deep team and we're going to have a deep team, too, but right now we're not as deep and I thought that showed tonight."

The two teams do it all again on Saturday in Utah.

Closing Take

This was Part 1 of a two-game miniseries, and Utah won the premiere. Cooley said it almost feels like summertime, like the team was "just out there playing around." McDavid offered the counterpoint for Edmonton: "We expect to win every night no matter who is in the lineup. It's just the way it is." Saturday's sequel will tell us whose version of the story holds up.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.