British stone. PAUL, Minn. — Former University of Minnesota star Logan Cooley continued to light the lights, helping the Utah Mammoths take an early three-goal lead before assisting on a goal in the third period to end the Minnesota Wild's comeback attempt with a 6-2 victory over Utah on Saturday night.
Marcus Johansson was promoted to the starting lineup and scored his 16th career two-goal game, but Karel Vejmelka made 11 saves in three games in the third period for the Wild Power, finishing with 33 saves to help the team win its sixth straight game.
With pressure from a skidding Wilder team, Cooley gave the Mammoths some breathing room when he came off the bench to fly into the penalty area with an off-the-wall pass to set up JJ Peterka's goal with 6:23 left in the third quarter. The puck was just caught by Johnson. That ended with 29 saves for Filip Gustavsson, who has been outstanding since Utah's early chaos.
“It just bounced. I went to a guy who thought he was going to bounce it and it went over his stick,” Johnson said. “It's frustrating because we're trying so hard. Sometimes I almost feel like we're trying too hard, we want it so bad, and one little mistake can cost us. It's frustrating, but we have to do better.”
🚨 JJ Peterka makes it 4-2, Utah! pic.twitter.com/l63Nu7YgBS
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) October 26, 2025
Less than two minutes later, however, Nick Schmaltz scored his second goal of the game and seventh in the past five games to seal the 7-2 victory for the Mammoths.
After a 1-3-1 road trip, it wasn't an ideal way for the 3-5-1 Wild to start a six-game homestand. The Wild will take on the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night with Jesper Wallstedt slated to be the starter.
“I don't think we've played our best game yet,” guard Brock Faber said. “It was a quick turnaround. So on to the next one. We needed those two points (Sunday). We needed them badly. To turn things around. That was our ninth game. We still have a long way to go. And it's a lot better.”
Cooley continues to be hot
In a game in St. Louis, Cooley scored a hat trick in 4 minutes and 48 seconds, scoring twice in the first 3 minutes and 29 seconds and 2 minutes and 34 seconds to help the Jazz lead 2-0. Cooley's first goal came when he backhanded a puck into the air from the Wild's Marco Rossi.
“I didn’t even really see the puck,” said Cooley, who watched the Gophers play Friday against Minnesota-Duluth with teammate Nate Schmidt. “It popped up and turned around really fast trying to knock it and get it to the net. I didn't know where the hell it was going to go, but I was lucky it went in.”
Logan Cooley, are you serious? ! ? ! 🥶 pic.twitter.com/Rdv4Jrbovd
— NHL (@NHL) October 25, 2025
Cooley's second goal came after an inadvertent chip from Yakov Trenin about 200 feet from the net, and Jonas Brodin's stick check set up Cooley's third goal of the season.
“That's why we put ourselves in that position,” coach John Hines said. “Some of the details online are not what they need.”
Logan Cooley just scored again 🤯
He has scored five goals in his last four hockey games! pic.twitter.com/6x2c8saZXr
— NHL (@NHL) October 25, 2025
When Schmaltz scored at 4:58 of the game to make it 3-0, it was the three fastest goals in Mammoth history and the fastest three goals by an NHL team on the road since Edmonton scored three in the first 3:55 of the game in Seattle on Dec. 30, 2022.
Cooley has five goals in two games, the most by a Utah player in two games.
“It’s always more fun when you score and obviously win,” Cooley said. “We're on a winning streak right now. We're lucky to be scoring goals right now. It's fun and we have to keep it going.”
Wholesale line changes
The Wild entered Saturday's game ranked last in the league with nine goals allowed at five-on-five. That resulted in all four forwards being put into a blender against Utah State.
Kirill Kaprizov centers Rossi and Johansson, Danila Yurov moves from fourth-line center to second-line left wing to join Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy, and Vladimir Tarasenko Tarasenko was moved from the second-line right wing to the third-line right wing next to Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman, with Ben Jones joining Treinen and Vinnie Hinostroza at fourth-line center.
Johnson's first goal came after Rossi led a charge and Kaprizov hit rookie Zeev Buium, who found Johnson for a one-timer.
Defense ➡️ Offense pic.twitter.com/ZysSYWwRre
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 25, 2025
Then, on a power play late in the second period, Hinostroza found Johnson with the goal wide open. His shot just beat the outstretched racket of Vermelka, his first two-goal game since January 23, 2024. In fact, of Johnson's 16 career two-goal games, his last six came while Hines coached him in New Jersey and Minnesota.
Johnson's goal was the first in Minnesota's last 13 power play possessions.
“I think Marcus has been very consistent,” Hines said. “I think his speed is a factor every night. I think he's very capable offensively. When he's in an area where he can shoot, he shoots, and the line seems to work no matter where we put him. When you have a guy who can skate like that, who can attack, and he has a consistent effort and competitiveness, it helps.
“So, he's kind of bounced around on different lines, and where he's been, usually that line has been pretty good, which is a sign of a guy playing solid hockey.”
Ways to describe the experience: Dirty, dirty, disgusting, all of the above pic.twitter.com/prsNPNCuOs
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 25, 2025
Faber beats himself
Faber, a Calder Cup finalist two years ago and now in the first year of an eight-year contract with $8.5 million AAV, desperately needs something that works for him.
Faber is scoreless in nine games and is minus-5 points. On Saturday, he was minus-2 points in a game where he had three field goals, another three attempts, and came close to tying the game a couple of times. But he ended up on the ice for Cooley's second goal, and his turnover led to Peterka's goal after a lengthy offensive zone move by the Wild left him and Brodin stranded on the ice with both fatigued.
“I mean, I'm better than this. I know I am,” Faber said. “I thought I had a chance to have a solid game, I'm just going to get back to the first side. I've got to defend better. I've got to limit my turnovers and I've got to let the game come to me. I think everybody has things they need to do better, especially for me, and that's what I need to do right now to help this team out, like I said, two things: limit turnovers and defend harder.
“They still score, and I can look in the mirror and know I tried my best. I have to get better at that. I have to, I have to stay more positive, and I know that.”
“I think he definitely got some tonight because he put himself in some good positions,” Hines said. “It didn't work out, but Fabes is a guy and he cares and it's really a combination. We try to make sure we continue to help him and keep his game going, but on the other hand, you can't be too frustrated and too picky with him. You have to keep at it. He's a really good player. He cares a lot and sometimes I think when you care a lot, you don't want it to seep into the rest of your game.”
“I thought he had some really good looks tonight that didn't go his way in some situations right now, but he's a tough kid. He cares a lot. He's a great player, so our job is to help him get better and be more consistent because he does have high-end ability.”