Dylan Guenther's hat trick leads Mammoth to demolition of Islanders

Dylan Guenther collected his first career hat trick and Nick Schmaltz scored twice Thursday for the Utah Mammoth, who rolled to a 7-2 win over the New York Islanders Thursday in Elmont, N.Y.

Mikhail Sergachev and Clayton Keller also scored for the Mammoth, who finished with just 20 shots.

The seven goals tied a season-high for the Mammoth, set previously in a 7-4 win over the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 23 and tied in a 7-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 3

Goalie Karel Vejmelka made 20 saves.

Calum Ritchie and Matthew Schaefer scored for the Islanders, who allowed their most goals since a 9-2 loss to the New York Rangers on April 10, 2025.

The Islanders lost leading scorer Bo Horvat to an injury about eight minutes into the third after he got tangled up with Mammoth defenseman Sean Durzi. Horvat, who missed five games in December with a left ankle injury, was named to Team Canada for the upcoming Milano Cortina Olympics on Wednesday.

Goalie David Rittich, who made his sixth straight start in place of the injured Ilya Sorokin, gave up five goals on 14 shots before being pulled for Marcus Hogberg, who stopped five of seven shots in his season debut.

The teams combined for 16 shots in a scoreless first -- 11 from the Islanders -- before the Mammoth took control in the second, when Guenther opened the scoring just 36 seconds into the period. Ritchie tied the score at 2:35 before Guenther put Utah ahead for good with 9:40 left, when a turnover by Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield behind the New York net led to Guenther beating Rittich stick side from the right faceoff circle.

Islanders defenseman Tony DeAngelo's turnover in the New York zone led to Schmaltz's unassisted goal 5:59 later. Sergachev and Keller scored fewer than three minutes apart early in the third to chase Rittich. Schaefer scored the 10th goal of his rookie season at 11:48 before Guenther and Schmaltz added insurance scores in the final seven minutes.

Guenther entered Thursday with eight career two-goal games, the most recent on Dec. 10.

--Field Level Media