Utah Mammoth lose their 1st game of the season
· Yahoo Sports
For the first time ever, the Utah Mammoth have lost a game in the state of New York.
The team went 6-0-0 there in their first two seasons, beating the New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Buffalo Sabres every time they headed east. Ironically, that changed as soon as the Mammoth acquired star forwards from both the Rangers and the Islanders.
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Sunday’s visit to Madison Square Garden proved to be the Mammoth’s first true test of the 2026-27 season. After missing the playoffs the last two seasons, the Rangers seem intent on changing their fortune — and they’ve looked like a team to beat thus far.
On Sunday they won 4-2.
“I thought the effort was there. We worked hard, we competed, we battled,” said Andrew Peeke, who scored his first goal as a Mammoth in the game. “... Just a little sloppy on some execution things. We made (goaltender Karel Vejmelka) have to stand on his head.”
The Mammoth’s problem came from odd-man rushes. They allowed two breakaways in the first period, plus a 3-on-0, a 3-on-1 and a handful of 2-on-1s throughout the game. Vejmelka bailed his team out on most of them, but he could only do so much.
GABE WITH THE REBOUND 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/eOh9epZNCn
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 5, 2026
Head coach André Tourigny gave his diagnosis after the game.
“We were impatient. We were forcing plays. Instead of reloading quickly and being above (the puck), we were forcing things. We were waiting to see if we would cut the play before we reloaded. (In this) league, there’s no forgiveness,” he said.
“Don’t get me wrong: Our reloads is one of our strengths. ... If we don’t reload properly, that will cost us.”
The big controversy
In December 2011, Jack Jablonski, a high school hockey player in Minnesota, crashed head-first into the boards after taking a hit from behind, and it left him a quadriplegic.
That situation is not unique to Jablonski — it’s a real danger in the game of hockey — which is why “boarding” is such a serious penalty.
Mammoth forward Dylan Guenther was on the receiving end of a similar hit Sunday, though he was fortunate to avoid Jablonski’s outcome. Guenther had a split second to turn his body, giving his shoulder the brunt of the impact rather than his head.
By the NHL’s own admission, its rulebook allows referees “an enormous amount of judgement” when it comes to boarding. It can result in anything from a two-minute minor to a match penalty, depending on the severity and the degree of injury.
The rulebook states that the onus is on the offending player to avoid the hit if his opponent is in a vulnerable position. However, it also lists several potential mitigating factors for the referees to consider when making the call:
- The degree of the impact with the boards.
- Whether it results in an injury to the face or the head.
- Whether the check could have been avoided.
- Whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position immediately before or during the check.
In this instance, Rangers forward Will Cuylle, who threw the hit, was not forced into a corner. He was not off-balance. He could have eased up on the hit. He chose not to, and instead risked the long-term health of another person.
Despite all that, Cuylle got nothing more than a slap on the wrist in the form of a minor penalty.
I don't care about the implications on the game, but I do care about the safety of the players.
— Brogan Houston (@houston_brogan) October 4, 2026
This was a dirty hit that has no place in hockey. The fact that this was only a 2-minute minor is an absolute joke.#TusksUp#NYRhttps://t.co/sxcnbFCLAl
The applicable mitigating factors in this instance were that Guenther did not sustain an injury and that he was slightly crouched when Cuylle initiated the hit.
Jack McBain, who roomed with Guenther the past two seasons, stood up for his teammate at his first opportunity, dropping the gloves. Cuylle is no stranger to fighting and held his own in the scrap.
Cuylle brushed it off after the game.
“Obviously they thought it was a dirty hit, so, I guess, just answer the bell,” he said. “They challenged me, so (I had to) just stand up for myself. They’ve got to stand up for their guys. That’s hockey. Happy to do it.”
Utah Mammoth center Jack McBain (22) and New York Rangers' Will Cuylle (50) fight during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa) | Heather Khalifa