NHL: Mammoth take down Predators for 5th straight win

Dylan Guenther and Nick Schmaltz each recorded a goal and an assist, while Clayton Keller added three primary assists to lead the Utah Mammoth to a 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night, moving Utah closer to a Stanley Cup playoff berth.

Kailer Yamamoto and Lawson Crouse also scored, and Logan Cooley contributed two assists for Utah (42-30-6, 90 points), which extended its winning streak to five games. The Mammoth could clinch a playoff spot as early as Thursday night if the Anaheim Ducks defeat the San Jose Sharks in any fashion.

Goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves to help Utah widen its lead over Nashville (37-32-10, 84 points) to six points in the race for the Western Conference’s first wild-card position.

Erik Haula scored the lone goal for Nashville, while Juuse Saros stopped 23 shots. The Predators saw their four-game point streak (3-0-1) come to an end.

Utah opened the scoring at 14:26 of the first period when Yamamoto jammed in a Guenther cross-ice pass through Saros’ pads during an odd-man rush.

The Mammoth doubled the lead early in the second period on the power play, as Schmaltz finished off a Keller feed inside the left post. The goal marked the seventh consecutive game in which Utah has scored on the power play.

Utah put the game out of reach with two goals in the opening 6:05 of the third period to make it 4-0. Crouse scored first with a shot from the right circle before Guenther added his team-leading 39th goal, finishing a 2-on-1 rush with Keller.

Haula got Nashville on the board later in the third with a power-play goal, converting a rebound from a Zachary L’Heureux shot, but it was not enough to spark a comeback.

Nashville captain Roman Josi was a late scratch after participating in pregame warmups due to an upper-body injury and is listed as day to day. -Field Level Media/Reuters