Logan Cooley and the Utah Mammoth are riding high as they prepare to play host to the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday in Salt Lake City.
Cooley is coming off a franchise-best four-goal, five-point night while leading the Mammoth to a 5-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday. Going into the clash, he had only one goal in 11 games.
“Just to see how excited the guys were for me, too, you get a cool feeling when you get the support of your teammates,” Cooley said. “I just think in general we have such a tight group. Guys really care about each other and want everyone on the team to have success. So, it’s awesome.”
Utah, which staked a 2-0 lead in the first period and never looked back, has won two straight and is on a 3-1-3 run.
Decisively handing the Golden Knights their first regulation-time loss in two weeks is a huge boost for the Mammoth heading into the last outing in a four-game home stand.
“I think we are a really good team, and if we want to be successful, we need to find a way every night, and that’s part of being one of the best teams in the NHL,” said goaltender Karel Vejmelka, who posted a 33-save performance. “So, we need to find a way every single night, no matter what, and we did it tonight. We showed up, and it feels really good.”
Cooley isn’t the only Mammoth to find his scoring touch. Dylan Guenther scored one goal and had an assist after only managing three goals in his last 11 games.
Montreal, meanwhile, is starting a three-game road trip and feeling optimistic.
The Canadiens snapped a five-game skid with a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, a clash in which they scored twice in the first period and twice more in the second frame.
“We played with a lot of pace, made it hard for them, just playing a deep game, forechecking,” said defenseman Noah Dobson, who scored twice. “And then when we do that, we get all our looks we want in the ‘O’ zone and find our chances. And we were able to capitalize.”
Montreal, which is dealing with a wave of injuries that has put forwards Alex Newhook, Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach on the shelf, has newcomer Alexandre Texier on the trip.
Texier, who was released from his contract with the St. Louis Blues and signed by Montreal on Sunday, is hoping the change of scenery will be a boon to his career.
“No matter what, you’ve always got something to prove,” Texier told the Montreal Gazette. “I’ll have something to prove now, even if everything goes well. We have to prove it again and again. That’s part of the NHL.”
Whether Texier plays on Wednesday remains to be seen, but he is pegged to skate on the third or fourth line.
“He’s got a high level of skill,” said coach Martin St. Louis. “He needs to get acclimated with the group. He needs to figure out how we play collectively, on both sides of the puck. There’s a process for that.”
