SALT LAKE CITY – Nick Schmaltz had a night to remember, breaking his goal drought and leading the Utah Mammoth to a resounding victory over the San Jose Sharks. Schmaltz, who hadn’t scored in the first four games of the season, exploded with three goals and an assist, contributing significantly to the Mammoth’s 6-3 victory.
Utah coach Andre Tourigny had anticipated Schmaltz’s scoring awakening.I feel like I’ve had a lot of opportunities early in the season. I’m trying to shoot the puck more, go more towards the net and be closer to it. Some teammates made great plays to find me in open areas. It was fun to see them go in for me.
Nick Schmaltz
Schmaltz opened the scoring at 9:39 of the first period, taking advantage of a pass from Logan Cooley on a five-on-three power play. Less than four minutes later, he expanded his personal account with a goal after receiving a pass from Clayton Keller, scoring in the upper left corner of the goal defended by Yaroslav Askarov. After Liam O’Brien put Utah back ahead at 3:51 of the second period, Schmaltz completed his second hat-trick of his career at 54 seconds of the third. He received a pass from Keller, who assisted on all three of Schmaltz’s goals, and scored from the left side to increase Utah’s lead to 4-2. It was incredible, especially in front of our fans. Greetings to my grandfather, he has seen me play twice, in Arizona and here, and he has seen a hat-trick on both occasions. Schmaltz then assisted Keller for a goal with 8 and a half minutes remaining, extending the Mammoth’s lead to 6-2, giving both players four points on the night. Schmaltz described Keller’s goal as “a great pass and go. I saw him open and he made a great shot to finish it.”Since the beginning of the season, he has been playing very well. He’s had many opportunities. He reloads very well, on both sides of the puck, he’s a threat. He gets involved a lot. It was a matter of time… today was the day.
Andre Tourigny
