The Mammoth earned it — the game and the expected-goals battle both.
Utah's 65% expected goal advantage told the story the 5–2 scoreline only hinted at. The Mammoth controlled play so completely that Buffalo's defensive structure crumbled across three periods.
Utah held 66% of shot attempts (37–19), a volume advantage that compounded with each shift. Expected goals finished 5.04–2.70—a 65–35 split that should have looked wider on the scoreboard.
High-danger chances tied at 5–5, but the execution diverged sharply. Utah converted 2 of 5 (40%); Buffalo couldn't convert any. That split—a team clinical against another team cold when it mattered—is how dominance plays out.
K. Vejmelka was a wall. He faced 5 high-danger attempts and stopped all 5, finishing with 17 saves on 19 shots (0.895 SV%). C. Ellis, Buffalo's netminder, matched that efficiency (0.889 SV%) while stopping 1.0 more goals than expected, but elite goaltending cannot overcome Utah's volume.
Utah's surge came on the rush. C. Keller's snap from the point at 19:33 of the second opened the floodgates; Utah would score 4 times on 28 rush chances total. N. Schmaltz (1G, 1A in 20:04) and C. Keller (1G, 1A in 18:28) orchestrated the onslaught.
Buffalo mounted a counteroffensive through I. Rosen (2G in 15:56), but the damage was done early. Both teams crashed the net—Buffalo generated 6 rebound opportunities, Utah 5—but neither converted them. Utah's victory came from efficiency on the rush and in the high-danger zone.