Takeaways: Logan Cooley enjoys return to Minnesota, Wild not so much as Mammoth roll to 6-2 victory

Logan Cooley was a one-season wonder with the Gophers, the forward having a short-but-sweet college career before graduating to the NHL.

But Cooley enjoyed being back in the Twin Cities, and he played like it, too.

His sizzling start continued Saturday when his pair of goals and assist helped the Mammoth run away 6-2 at Grand Casino Arena for their sixth consecutive victory that ruined the Wild’s return home from a miserable road trip.

“We’re on a streak right now, and I’m just fortunate to be scoring right now,” said Cooley, who was at 3M Arena at Mariucci on Friday night to watch the Gophers host Minnesota Duluth. “So, it’s a lot of fun. Just got to keep it rolling.”

Cooley scored twice in 2 minutes, 33 seconds during a three-goal blitz for Utah early in the first period that sunk the Wild into a hole they’d stay in for the rest of the night.

He also set up a key insurance goal for JJ Peterka in the third period that thwarted the Wild’s comeback.

With only one victory in their past six games, the Wild are 3-5-1.

A nifty display of Cooley’s hand-eye coordination kicked off the parade of goals.

Only 56 seconds after the opening faceoff and with his back to the net, Cooley batted the puck out of midair past Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson.

“I didn’t even see the puck really,” Cooley said. “It kind of just popped up and turned quick and just tried to whack it and get it on net. I didn’t know exactly where it was going, but I was lucky it went in.”

Then at 3:29, Cooley kept swatting at the puck in front during the Mammoth’s only power play until a shot finally bounced behind Gustavsson. Although the Wild’s Marcus Foligno swiped the puck away, video review confirmed it crossed the goal line before the clear.

“We put ourselves in that position,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “Some of the details around the net weren’t what they needed to be.”

Utah, which added Mammoth as its nickname before its second season in the league since relocating from Arizona, kept testing the Wild, and secured its third goal on six shots when Nick Schmaltz tipped in a wind-up from another former Gopher in Nate Schmidt.

“Once they get that first one, we get a little bit shook up maybe, and then they get some momentum,” said Wild forward Marcus Johansson. “But it’s not like we were not there. It’s tough to say. I feel a couple bounces that maybe don’t happen in the first 10 [minutes], and it’s a completely different game.”

The Wild’s rally stalled after two goals by Johansson.

With 4:21 to go in the first, Johansson polished off a tic-tac-toe passing play through Utah’s zone: Kirill Kaprizov dropped for Zeev Buium, who forwarded the puck to Johansson for a one-timer.

A similar shot worked again for Johansson on the power play, with the veteran winger who’s coming up on 1,000 NHL games wiring in a Vinnie Hinostroza backhand pass at 15:43 of the second period; the goal snapped a 0-for-11 drought for the power play during the Wild’s 1-3-1 road trip.

“It helps when you have a guy that can skate like that and he can make plays and he’s got a consistent effort and a competitiveness about him,” Hynes said of Johansson.

But the Wild never got any closer to Utah despite improving.

They had two more power plays in the third period but couldn’t capitalize, finishing 1-for-4.

Cue the Mammoth.

Peterka accepted a Cooley pass and snapped a shot by Gustavsson at 13:37 before Schmaltz nabbed his second of the game off a breakaway just 1:37 later. John Marino drained a 142-foot empty-netter with 6 seconds remaining.

Vejmelka totaled 33 saves, and Gustavsson had 35 in another effort that kept the Wild competitive.

“The easy goals, like the first one, it affects the whole team,” Gustavsson said. “We have to eliminate those.”

Utah’s three goals in the first period were the fastest three tallied by a road team since Edmonton’s 3:55 tear Dec. 30, 2022, at Seattle.

“It’s an uphill battle the rest of the way,” Johansson said.

BOXSCORE: Utah 6, Wild 2

The Wild’s inconsistency hurt them again.

Yes, they were better after falling behind 3-0, but that still didn’t make up for their early lapses. Before their comeback attempt, the Wild were out of sorts: They had blatant giveaways, put themselves off-side, and their passing was off.

They reset to put the pressure on the Mammoth, and they had enough momentum to complete the comeback.

That they didn’t, though, shows that their execution isn’t strong enough to be in control for only stretches of the game and come away successful.

“It’s frustrating because we’re trying so hard,” Johansson said. “I almost feel like we’re trying too hard at times, where we want it so bad and one little mistake costs us. It’s frustrating, but we’ve got to do better.”