Mammoth Need Top Line to Step Up in Order to Beat Golden Knights
Before the Stanley Cup Playoffs started, many talking pundits and fans alike counted out the Utah Mammoth to even win a playoff series. Their first round opponent, the Vegas Golden Knights, are experienced in every facet of the game. Their star core of Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, and Ivan Barbashev all played a part in their 2023 Stanley Cup Championship.
This series marks the Mammoth’s first postseason appearance in their two-year-old franchise . Given the inexperience of the team, expectations were low. However, the Mammoth did not let any skepticism faze them.
Just like the fight between Rocky and Apollo Creed, the underdog team came out swinging and landed a ton of great hits. After winning Games 2 and 3, but dropping Game 4 in OT, the series is now knotted 2-2. The next few games will be the most crucial in the Mammoth’s young history.
If this team even wants a chance to close out the series, it needs its top line of Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, and Lawson Crouse firing on all cylinders. Second-Line Heroes In the first two games of the series, line one was almost nonexistent in each period. Keller only had three shots, two blocked shots, three hits, and one takeaway throughout the games.
Schmaltz underperformed as well, only accumulating six shots, two blocked shots, and one takeaway. The only outlier of the group was Crouse, who accumulated one assist, seven shots, two blocked shots, 12 hits, and one takeaway. With poor stats from their top line, fans thought there was a good chance the team would return to Salt Lake City 0-2.
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