Hockey

Schmaltz Hits 500 Points as Mammoth Power Past Blue Jackets

By Hugo Brennan

Schmaltz Hits 500 Points as Mammoth Power Past Blue Jackets

Nick Schmaltz reached a career milestone while the Utah Mammoth’s power play did the damage Saturday, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 at Nationwide Arena.

Schmaltz scored twice, including his 500th NHL point, and Dylan Guenther posted a goal and two assists as Utah moved to 2-0-0. Mikhail Sergachev added a goal and an assist, while Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley each supplied two assists.

Sebastian Cossa stopped 17 shots in his first NHL start and second NHL appearance. His previous NHL action came in relief for the Detroit Red Wings, when he earned a shootout victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 9, 2024.

Utah pulled away with special teams

  1. Sergachev opened the scoring at 11:55 of the first period, firing from the high slot through traffic on the power play. It was the first man-advantage goal Columbus had surrendered after killing its first seven penalties of the season.

  2. Schmaltz doubled the Mammoth lead at 16:31 of the opening frame. Keller set him up for a low one-timer from the left circle, with the assist giving Keller the 600th point of his NHL career.

  3. Columbus answered 1:30 into the second period. Goaltender Jet Greaves denied Keller at the right post with a pad stop, but Matthew Knies moved the puck off the boards from the defensive zone to send Kent Johnson in alone. Johnson slipped his shot between Cossa’s pads to make it 2-1.

  4. Guenther restored the two-goal cushion at 5:59 of the third. Stationed in the left circle, he hammered Cooley’s cross-ice feed past Greaves on the power play.

  5. Schmaltz finished the scoring at 14:13, putting Utah 3-for-4 with the extra skater. The goal also brought him to 500 NHL points.

Columbus starts behind again

The Blue Jackets fell to 1-1-0 and gave up the opening goal for the second straight game. Greaves made 27 saves in the loss.

Johnson provided Columbus’ lone goal after recording two goals and an assist in his Blue Jackets debut against Buffalo on Thursday. Knies, who played a key role in setting up Johnson’s breakaway, had also made his Columbus debut in that win over the Sabres.