Cooley, Schmaltz each score twice as Mammoth stay hot with 6-2 win over Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Logan Cooley scored twice in the first 3:29, Nick Schmaltz also had two goals and the Utah Mammoth won their sixth straight game, beating the Minnesota Wild 6-2 on Saturday night.

Two days after scoring a first-period hat trick at St. Louis, Cooley opened the scoring Saturday with a goal 56 seconds in. The former University of Minnesota star backhanded the puck out of midair and past Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson for an early 1-0 lead.

Cooley netted his second goal of the game on the power play at the 3:29 mark of the first period. Cooley and Utah took advantage of a slashing penalty to Minnesota’s Yakov Trenin.

The Mammoth went up 3-0 less than two minutes later when Schmaltz scored his sixth goal of the season just shy of five minutes into the game.

Wild veteran Marcus Johansson single-handedly got his team back in the game with a pair goals. Johansson put Minnesota on the board with a one-timer from Zeev Buium with 4:21 left in the first.

Johansson, who entered the game with just one goal this season, notched his second on the power play late in the second period. Johansson received a nice back-handed pass from fourth-liner Vinnie Hinostroza and made it 3-2 with eight seconds remaining on the power play.

JJ Peterka made it 4-2 with 6:23 remaining in the third, and Schmaltz scored his second for a 5-2 margin. Schmaltz has scored seven goals in his past five games.