Utah Mammoth get 1st win of preseason, 2-1 over Kings, in Delta Center re-opening

SALT LAKE CITY — It took six tries, but the Utah Mammoth finally got a win this preseason.

Lawson Crouse contributed an assist and a goal to help Utah to a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday at the first Delta Center event held since April.

The defense held onto the lead through a 5-on-3 power play for the Kings in the second period and goaltender Vitek Vanecek put up 32 saves and a .970 save percentage to hold the Los Angeles to just a single goal scored by former top-five pick Alex Turcotte.

"(Vanecek) was rock solid and gave us the opportunity to win," head coach Andre Tourigny said of the 29-year-old free agent signed in July. "I liked the way we were mature at the end of the game. Obviously, there's still some stuff to clean up, especially on our breakout, I felt we were a little bit too open. But for the rest, we're happy."

Utah was still without several key pieces it hopes to have back for the regular season opener next Thursday, or possibly even Saturday's preseason finale against San Jose, including its top three centers: Logan Cooley, Barrett Hayton and Jack McBain.

Veteran center Kevin Stenlund filled in admirably on Thursday, coming in second among forwards in time on the ice and tapping in Crouse's assist on the opening goal.

"He's a guy who you can count on in big moments," Tourigny said. "He was on the ice in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup, when they were protecting a lead and they were short a man, so that's the kind of a man he is. He goes out there and not just produced, he played really well defensively. He's a stabilizing force for us."

Stenlund won the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers in 2024 before signing with Utah, similar to Vanecek and defenseman Nate Schmidt joining the Mammoth this past offseason following a successful title defense for Florida.

Schmidt was third in defensemen minutes on Thursday behind the top pairing of Mikhail Sergachev and John Marino and contributed one of Utah's 11 blocked shots on the night.

Saturday's preseason finale starts at 6 p.m. MDT at the Delta Center, before Utah hits the road for a three-game road trip to open the season, beginning in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. MDT.

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