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Idaho Central Arena was the site of Tuesday night’s preseason clash between the Los Angeles Kings and the Utah Mammoth.
Both the Mammoth and the Kings came with lineups full of players on the bubble of making their respective NHL rosters. With only a week left before the regular season, it is now crunch time for these players to showcase their talent and for management to make the tough final decisions.
Game Recap
As you would expect in a game where so many players were fighting for jobs, the pace of play was high despite a tight-checking start to the game. Midway through the first period, the Kings opened the scoring on a goal from Andrei Kuzmenko. Jeff Malott and Brandt Clarke assisted on the goal.
While this was the only goal of the opening frame, both teams had chances to add more. The Kings failed to convert on two power-play opportunities in the frame, and the Mammoth were unable to score on a partial man-advantage opportunity, with half of the power play extending into the second period.
After failing to score on the other half of their power play to open the second period, the Mammoth allowed another goal, letting Andre Lee rifle a wrist shot home from the slot, which beat Karel Vejmelka’s glove. It was also his first of the preseason in his second game.
However, it did not take the Mammoth long to respond. Four minutes later, Cameron Hebig, who played a ton of minutes in this game, broke the ice for the Mammoth. Nick DeSimone and Daniil But had the assists on the goal.
But it was not done there, on his next shift, he rifled home a wrist shot from the top of the left circle to tie the game 2-2, his second point in less than two minutes.
The rest of the second period stayed scoreless, and the Mammoth came out dominating the puck in the third period. However, the Kings finally got a clean breakout, and it led to Taylor Ward’s goal off the rush. It was Ward’s third goal of the preseason.
After taking the 3-2 lead, they did not look back and went on to close out the game with a one-goal lead. With the victory, the Kings move to 4-1-0 in the preseason, while the Mammoth remain winless.
These two will square off again on Thursday at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.