Mammoth Bury Kings 6-3, Los Angeles Drops to 0-2 in Preseason
Utah scored on the power play, off the rush and into an empty net Tuesday at Crypto.com Arena, holding off three separate Kings pushes.
The Utah Mammoth beat the Los Angeles Kings 6-3 on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena, sending the Kings to 0-2 in the 2026 preseason.
Utah struck first midway through the opening period on its second power play, with MacKenzie Weegar finding room at the center point and Daniil But tipping the shot through as he stood unchecked in the slot. Late in the first, a Kings turnover along the left wall let Utah reload, and Clayton Keller stepped into the slot and beat Darcy Kuemper from between the circles for a 2-0 lead.
Los Angeles answered early in the second with a power-play goal of its own. Brandt Clarke rotated down low, Adrian Kempe worked to the top of the zone, and Clarke got a deflection in tight on Kempe's shot to slip it past Karol Vejmelka.
That was as close as the Kings got for a while. Mikhail Sergachev slid the puck down to Nick Schmaltz in the left circle, and Schmaltz picked the near post for 3-1. Utah then went up 4-1 off the rush when Anders Lee buried a feed from But from the slot.
Martin Chromiak cut it to 4-2 before the second intermission after Clarke chipped the puck off the glass and out to spring him behind the Utah defense, and Chromiak finished on his backhand.
Early in the third, Kenny Connors shook his defender and set up Taylor Ward for a one-timer from the left circle to make it 4-3. Connors has assists in back-to-back exhibition games, three straight counting the Rookie Faceoff.
Utah restored the cushion soon after when Liam O'Brien cleaned up a rebound outside the crease following a Kuemper pad save. An empty-net goal closed it out at 6-3.
Kings head coach Peter Laviolette spoke after the game, along with Clarke and forward Liam Lefebvre.
