The Mammoth snuff the Blues

Cooley's three first-period goals keep Utah burning

Cooley lights the fuse

Two candles from the West shelf met in St. Louis, and only one would leave still lit. The Utah Mammoth had snuffed the Predators on qualification night. The St. Louis Blues had doused the Flames. Both had gone dark on qualification night in earlier Gauntlets, so this time a loss meant giving back a round they had only just won.

Ian Cole, a defenseman, opened it with a wrist shot at 3:18. Then Logan Cooley took over. He ripped a slap shot at 6:07, buried a backhand 1:50 later, and with Oskar Sundqvist off for tripping he finished a power-play wrist shot at 10:55. Dylan Guenther assisted all three. Joel Hofer faced 6 shots and stopped 3 before Jordan Binnington replaced him.

The Blues claw back

St. Louis wouldn't go quietly. Pius Suter scored with a wrist shot at 5:58 of the 2nd, and Pavel Buchnevich added a power-play goal 1:15 later. Clayton Keller answered at 19:24 with the eventual winner. In the 3rd, Nathan Walker snapped one home at 2:19 and Philip Broberg, a defenseman, scored on a wraparound at 5:43. Suddenly it was 5-4.

Utah shuts the door

With Suter in the box for a faceoff violation, Nick Schmaltz tipped in a power-play goal at 9:51. Keller hit the empty net at 18:20. Karel Vejmelka finished with 16 saves on 20 shots, and the Blues' flame went cold. Utah's still burns, one of 12 left.