Go get yourself some popcorn and a beverage because this game was one to remember. Week 20 came to you live from the Loud House in Denver, Colorado. The Mammoth took their home turf and welcomed the West’s top dog, the San Diego Seals. Late in the year, a packed barn, playoff vibes, sign us up.
What did you have on your “bingo card” for this game? Spoiler, this one had literally everything. 29 total goals, 66 combined penalty minutes, fighting, physicality, highlight reel goals, and of course phenomenal goaltending. The Mammoth continued their push for the playoffs and a possible repeat, beating the Seals 15-14.
The first half of this game was a tale of two quarters. The first went to San Diego; as we’ve seen many times before, they got off to a hot start. Dane Dobbie opened up the scoring with a bullet from the restraining line. Colorado did rattle off the next two, the first from Anthony Joaquim and the other from Ty Thompson on the power play. San Diego saw those two, and raised two more. Scorers were Wesley Berg twice, both on the power play, Danny Logan, and Dobbie, his second. Connor Robinson stopped the bleeding for a moment with his first, but was answered by Austin Staats’ first. 6-3 Seals after one. This was a ton of scoring, but believe it when I say, the physicality was through the roof.
The second part of the tale told us that Colorado took the second quarter. The Mammoth have proven time and time again that they should never be counted out of games. Berg did get his hat trick and third power play goal of the game to open the quarter, but that’d be the only tally the Seals would have in the frame. Colorado proceeded to go on a five-goal run to finish out the quarter. Scorers were Robinson, his second, Josh Sullivan, Tyson Gibson, John Lintz, and Eli McLaughlin. Just like that, we sat at 8-7 Mammoth going into the break.
“Just trusting the game plan,” said Tim Edwards about the offensive explosion for the Mammoth in the second quarter. “Keep the energy up, keep running, and play a full 60.”
Both goaltenders were busy in the first half, clearly. Dillon Ward really settled in, making 21 saves on 28 shots. Frank Scigliano had a hot start, stopping 19 of 27.
Colorado used their second quarter momentum to continue their lead in the third. Ryan Lee opened the scoring with a power play goal to begin the frame. The power play was an overlap from the end of the second quarter. Kevin Crowley stopped the bleeding, getting his first, and the team’s first goal in over 14 minutes of game play. Colorado had another answer, this time in a three-goal run. Scorers were Thompson, his second, Zed Williams, and Robinson, giving him a hat trick. At this point, San Diego just could not get close. A physical calamity ensued, and as a result, Staats got his second on the power play. Staats found himself triple-teamed and dunked one-handed from behind the net.
Williams got his second, and must have ruffled some San Diego feathers. His goal was at the 5:17 mark, and at the 3:13 mark, he dropped the mitts with Brodie Merrill. Wait, what? Yes, Zeddy Ballgame getting down and dirty with one of the league’s longest serving players. Merrill was playing in his 275th game, good enough for third all-time. The dust settled, and I would say cooler heads prevailed, but the physicality continued. Berg tallied the final two goals of the quarter, his fourth and fifth. His fourth was another power play goal and another sweet dunk from behind the cage. 13-11 Mammoth after three.
There’s no way San Diego gets back in this game, right? Wrong. The Seals tallied the first three goals of the fourth quarter, giving them their first lead in what felt like an eternity. The first was ANOTHER power play goal from Berg, giving him the sock trick. The second was Staats’ hat trick, also on the power play. The third was Dobbie’s hat trick on a slick quick-stick. (Triple rhyme, sorry.)
At the 8:04 mark of the fourth, Merrill received a game misconduct for receiving his second major penalty in the game. While Colorado had the extra attacker, McLaughlin flew in and put one past Scigliano. A few minutes later, McLaughlin sealed the deal with another power play goal, giving him the hat trick. That had to be all the action right? Nah, with mere seconds remaining, Staats fired a shot and it rang off the crossbar. Your final from Ball Arena, 15-14 Mammoth.
Players of the game for San Diego were Berg (6+3), Dobbie (3+4), and Staats (3+1). Scigliano had a rough go of it after the first quarter. The netminder made 34 saves on 47 shots in 55:33 of game play. Christopher Origlieri saw 4:27 of game play midway through the third quarter and made two saves on four shots. The power play unit for the Seals deserves a shout out as well, as they went 7-8 for the game.
For Colorado, McLaughlin (3+3), Robinson (3+1), and Lee (1+7) led the way. The Mammoth had nine different goal scorers for the game. Ward was spectacular in the second half, making 41 saves on 55 shots in total.
“Hey! Was that exciting or what,” said McLaughlin after the game. “We let them back in, too many penalties, but we got the win. Every game is a playoff game, our season is on the line, build off this and cut out the penalties and we’ll be alright.”
First and foremost, mark your calendars because these two teams play again in two weeks. But in the meantime, Colorado (9-7) sits in third in the West. They travel to Saskatchewan next week to take on the Rush (6-9). That contest is Saturday at 9:30 p.m. San Diego (12-4) looks to have a short memory and still sits in first place in the West. They travel back home to take on Las Vegas (5-11), this Saturday at 10 p.m.
