Sebastian Cossa #33 of the Utah Mammoth tends net during the first period of the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on October 03, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – After suffering a brutal defeat to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night, the Utah Mammoth bounced back yet again with a big win over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.
Facing yet another late push by their opponents in a tight game down the stretch, rookie goaltender Sebastian Cossa made the save of the night to secure the victory and his first career win at the Delta Center.
For the second time in roughly a week, the Utah Mammoth treated the Delta Center to yet another gut-wrenching finish as they battled to survive a 6-on-5 attack late in the third.
While the overall result was the product of nine goals and a collection of critical moments, the game was ultimately defined by one key save from No. 33.
With only seconds remaining on the clock as Pittsburgh desperately scrambled to tie the game, Cossa heroically kicked out his left pad to rob forward Ben Kindel on a puck that should’ve found the back of the net.
BIG save from Sebastian Cossa 🤩 https://t.co/1UiIWLuYyC
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) October 20, 2026
“[I was] pretty excited,” Cossa said with a giddy grin. “I was like, is the game over yet?”
“I saw the puck go out & then there was quite a bit of bodies in front of me. So, make sure we get the win & then Weegs & Schmidty were right there. Pretty awesome.”
Sebastian Cossa on his big save:
“Pretty excited. I was like, is the game over yet?”
“I saw the puck go out & then there was quite a bit of bodies in front of me. So, make sure we get the win & then Weegs & Schmidty were right there. Pretty awesome.”
#TusksUp https://t.co/OkHr81bWK9
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) October 20, 2026
Upon making the save and successfully outlasting Pittsburgh 5-4, Cossa was immediately mobbed by his defensemen to celebrate his first career win at the Delta Center.
“I think he squeezed me pretty hard after that last one,” Schmidt said. “He deserves it.”
“When we needed him, he was great tonight & that’s the most important part for a young goalie.”
As Schmidt pointed out, Cossa came up big when the Mammoth needed him the most.
Didn’t matter that it was somewhat of a forgetful night before that final stop with only 14 saves on 18 shots.
That last attempt by Pittsburgh was the most important and he kept it out.
For a young goaltender navigating the NHL, it’s those kinds of clutch moments that will eventually give him the confidence he needs to feel comfortable between the pipes.
“Like every young player who arrives in the league, the game has to slow down for them,” head coach Andre Tourigny explained. “Right now, that game is probably fast for him. He gets surprised in some situations and stuff like that.”
“When we say that, it has nothing to do with your ability to play. It’s ability to relax, settle down, be comfortable…I think he wants to do great. He won a big game for us.”
What’s important to remember about Cossa is that he’s still young.
Tonight was only his third start and second complete game in the National Hockey League.
He’s not going to be stopping pucks at a .900 clip consistently for some time.
But as Schmidt noted, clutch saves in big moments are critical for a young goaltender’s confidence as they attempt to find their way.
While Utah’s power play sits nice and pretty at the very top of the NHL (35.3 percent), it’s been a completely different story on the other side of the special team’s puck.
Despite beating Pittsburgh 5-4 on home ice, Utah’s PK continued to struggle as two of the Penguins goals came on the man advantage which effectively dropped Utah’s overall percentage to 29th in the league (68 percent).
A PPG FOR PGH.
💰: https://t.co/EwnxWgMqMZ https://t.co/Ho21tt1hrA
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 20, 2026
He wanted it.
He got it.
He tied it. https://t.co/Gu8B470rKf— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 20, 2026
On both of the Penguins power play goals, it was simply a case of the Mammoth watching the puck and committing too far to one side.
On the first, Daniil But found himself on an island, and by the time Erik Karlsson stepped up to take the shot, it was simply too late for Kevin Stenlund to close down the shooting lane.
As for the second, both MacKenzie Weegar and Mikhail Sergachev overcommitted to Sidney Crosby in the slot which opened up space for two other Penguins on the left wing to get the puck down low and find the back of the net.
Simple mistakes but easily exploited.
“The second one we were way too high on our two-on-one,” Tourigny explained. “That’s too bad because that was pre-scout, that was addressed after the first period. We knew that was a hole and we tried to prevent it.”
“That’s a break down that should have not happened.”
Now, to be fair to the Mammoth, similar to the Edmonton Oilers (26th PK) and Vegas Golden Knights who sit at the top of the Western Conference standings, they’re still finding way to consistently win hockey games.
But as demonstrated against Pittsburgh, giving up numerous power play goals can put a team in uncomfortable positions down the stretch that could potentially be avoided.
For now, Utah will have to go back to the drawing board in order the figure out how to solve these repeated issues.
“Could be a combination of things,” Nate Schmidt said. “Right now, we’re going to take a look at it because that’s obviously something that we really pride ourselves in. The guys take a lot of pride in how we play on the PK.”
Our gameplan each night is to have good pressure and pace. So, we’ll look at the stuff that we can. We’ll take a peek at it and see what changes we can make.”
The Utah Mammoth will face the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday night at 8 p.m. MT.
The game will be available on ESPN+, Disney+ and Hulu.
All Mammoth games will also be broadcast live on the KSL Sports Zone (97.5 FM/1280 AM).
Cole Bagley is the Utah Mammoth insider for KSL Sports. Follow him on X. You can hear Cole break down the team on KSL Sports Zone and KSL 5 TV.
