DENVER – The Colorado Mammoth dropped a 14-7 decision to the Las Vegas Desert Dogs Friday evening on Marvel Super Hero Night at the LOUD HOUSE.
Falling to 2-3 all-time against the league’s newest franchise before 10,079 dedicated supporters inside Ball Arena, Colorado allowed Las Vegas to string together seven-straight markers throughout the second and third quarter, which ultimately served as the primary difference-maker.
Game-worn, player-signed jerseys and shorts from Friday night’s battle will be available for auction beginning Monday, Feb. 24 by visiting ksc.givesmart.com or by texting 76278. Auction proceeds benefit the community programs of Kroenke Sports Charities with a portion of proceeds supporting American Red Cross to deliver relief and hope to neighbors in need in Colorado.
Stepping in as the sixth man during a delayed penalty, 6-on-5 set, who else but Connor Kelly to get the contest’s scoring on a night where the team was donning custom Captain America jerseys?
Converting from range, he stepped down and sent a saucer past Desert Dogs’ goaltender Landon Kells to give Colorado an early 1-0 lead just two minutes in.
Early in the contest, Mammoth goaltender Dillon Ward surpassed fellow netminder Aaron Bold to move into the No. 8 rank for all-time goaltender minutes played, now above the 9,371-minute mark.
Evening the contest 10 minutes later, Las Vegas forward Jonathan Donville notched his first of the night as the bad guys officially made their appearance on Marvel Super Hero Night.
Getting the hometown heroes back in front, Eli McLaughlin accepted a backdoor feed and instantly fired the ball on net, finishing the set play in epic fashion and beating Kells to net a 2-1 lead.
Causing a turnover while a Mammoth defenseman was attempting to scoop a loose ball, forward Jackson Webster stole the rock and slammed one past Colorado goaltender Dillon Ward to tie the game at twos less than 40 seconds into the second quarter.
Working his way around his defenseman, eventually spinning crease side, Desert Dogs’ rookie Adam Poitras navigated his way into a quality look, beating Ward to give Las Vegas its first advantage of the evening two minutes later. The kid has shown some promise lately and added to his first-year resume as the Dogs netted two straight.
Now three in a row for the road contingent, Brandon Goodwin finished a full-floor transition effort to grant his team a 4-2 lead midway through quarter two.
Saving the ball from nearly crossing back into his team’s D zone, Poitras made an athletic play to keep the play alive – quickly collecting the rock and sprinting towards the crease where he would solidify his second of the night, beating Ward on his left side.
Finishing his hat trick by collecting a rebound which was sitting inside the crease, Poitras notched his third of the night and second-straight as Las Vegas cruised to a 6-2 lead, which would serve as the score heading into the break.
Down four at the half, Colorado understood it needed quite the heroic second half effort if they were to collect win No. 7 on the season.
Corgi races at halftime may have lightened the mood a bit, but the Burgundy Boys had their work cut out for them in the final 30 minutes.
And with Jack Hannah making his way to the scoresheet just 19 seconds into the third quarter, Colorado needed to pull out the infinity stones all of a sudden, down five inside the LOUD HOUSE.
Representing the seventh-consecutive marker for Las Vegas, Casey Jackson beat Ward with a unique angle as he increased his squad’s lead to six at the 2:36 mark.
Pouring it on as the session progressed, Jackson made it look easy, accepting a cross-set pass and firing one home past Ward as the scoreboard read 9-2 three and a half minutes later.
Finally stopping the bleeding after a scoreless 26 minutes of play, Tim Edwards collected a long pass from captain Robert Hope and beat Kells to record his second goal of the season while breathing a hint of life into his squad.
But the LOUD HOUSE was quickly deflated after Sean Westley did some dancing before firing a shot past Ward, re-establishing a seven-goal advantage for Las Vegas a mere 16 seconds later.
Finally, a diving goal on Marvel Super Hero Night as Will Malcom was cleared for liftoff with 3:26 remaining in the third. Hopping over the crease from Kells’ left to right, he skyrocketed into action by netting his 23rd conversion of the season as Colorado climbed back to within four.
Cashing in on the power-play from distance less than a minute later, “The Magic Man” Connor Robinson put his magic to work, stinging the net from afar as the LOUD HOUSE restored a bit of its roar.
Down five, 10-5, when the final 15 dawned, there was a mysterious energy in the air as the home fans knew their team was building momentum.
Recording his eighth point and second goal on the night, Donville restored Las Vegas’ lead to six at the 11:36 mark.
Technically 4-on-4 by nature, Colorado pulled Ward for an extra man and cashed in via a 5-on-4 look as Malcom finished the set play with a backdoor conversion. Down five with just over five to go, the drama intensified.
As did the physicality, with some extra pushes and punches being thrown to stir up some spiciness late. Las Vegas was very much leaning into the villain role.
Taking advantage of an open net, Goodwin logged his second of the night with 3:58 to play as Las Vegas doubled down the Mammoth, 12-6.
Firing from distance once again, Robinson recorded his second of the evening and 19th on the year as the Mammoth were back within five late.
Ward exited the game late in the fourth with the team attending to man-down honors courtesy of a Brett Craig fight, meaning rookie netminder Ethan Robertson got his first on-floor action Friday. Unfortunately he let in a Webster conversion with two and a half minutes to play.
And another as Hannah enjoyed some extra space at the top of the key 30 seconds later, which would solidify the 14-7 final.
Will Malcom paced Mammoth scorers with six points (2g, 4a), while Eli McLaughlin (1g, 2a) and Connor Robinson (2g, 1a) were the only other Colorado contributors to surpass the two-point mark. Goaltender Dillon Ward stopped 33-of-44 in the loss, while Robertson stopped 1-of-3.
Game-worn, player-signed jerseys and shorts from Friday night’s battle will be available for auction beginning Monday, Feb. 24 by visiting ksc.givesmart.com or by texting 76278. Auction proceeds benefit the community programs of Kroenke Sports Charities with a portion of proceeds supporting American Red Cross to deliver relief and hope to neighbors in need in Colorado.
Set to run it back inside Ball Arena next weekend, the team will return to the LOUD HOUSE Saturday, March 1 during a showdown with the Calgary Roughnecks. Limited Tickets remain for the Mammoth’s Grateful Dead Night celebration, so be sure to lock yours in and get ready to TUSK UP!
