Guenther scores in OT to complete Mammoth's 5-4 comeback win over reeling Penguins

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dylan Guenther scored 42 seconds into overtime and the Utah Mammoth rallied to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 on Sunday.

Guenther, who has five goals in his last four games, beat Sergei Murashov with a wrist shot from the slot. Utah won its second straight following a three-game losing streak.

Michael Carcone scored twice for Utah, while Nate Schmidt and Sean Durzi also added third-period goals, as the Mammoth briefly pulled ahead, 4-3, after trailing 3-0 entering the final 20 minutes.

Karel Vejmelka made 12 saves.

Justin Brazeau scored twice for Pittsburgh and Bryan Rust scored in his third straight game. Ben Kindel also scored on a breakaway and added two assists.

Sidney Crosby’s four-game point streak ended and he remains within two of tying Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux’s franchise record for career points.

Kris Letang had an assist to pass Hall of Famer Borje Salming for the 21st-most points by a defenseman in NHL history.

Murashov stopped 32 shots.

Pittsburgh earned a point for the ninth time in 11 games, but the Penguins lost their fifth straight. The Penguins, who are 1-9 in overtime, blew a 5-1 third-period lead against San Jose on Saturday and lost to Anaheim earlier this week after the Ducks forced overtime with one-tenth of a second left.

Utah needed just six minutes to erase a three-goal deficit and take a brief third-period lead.

Schmidt scored off a rebound at 1:07 of the third and Carcone scored his first goal at 1:22 when he banked his own rebound off Murashov’s back. Durzi tied the game at 5:35 on a shot through traffic. Pittsburgh challenged it for goaltender interference. When the goal was upheld, Carcone gave the Mammoth a 4-3 lead with a power-play goal on a one-timer from the right circle.

Brazeau tied it at 14:06 when he tipped Erik Karlsson’s point shot behind Vejmelka.

Pittsburgh played again without goaltender Stuart Skinner and defenseman Brett Kulak, who were acquired Friday from Edmonton in a trade for Tristan Jarry and Sam Poulin. Skinner and Kulak were granted non-roster status to settle the immigration process.

Mammoth: Continue a three-game road trip Tuesday at Boston.

Penguins: Close a five-game homestand Tuesday against Edmonton.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) and Nick Schmaltz (8) celebrate after their team defeated the Vancouver Canucks in an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP)

Austin Florian and Mystique Ro, winners of the mixed skeleton world championship last season, were announced Monday as two of the four members of the U.S. team that will compete in the head-first sliding event at the Milan Cortina Olympics next month.

Florian and Dan Barefoot got men's spots, while Ro and Kelly Curtis were picked for the women's roster.

Curtis is the lone returning member of the 2022 Olympic team.

Florian, Ro and Curtis all were on the World Cup circuit this season. Barefoot was on the World Cup for the first half of the season — not finishing higher than 23rd in any of his four races — then regrouped with three wins in a six-day span earlier this month on the North American Cup circuit to collect the points he needed for an Olympic nod.

Katie Uhlaender, a five-time Olympian, tried to earn a spot by competing in NAC and Asian Cup races this season and fell just short. She asked the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation last week to award full points from a race she won on Jan. 11; if that request was granted, it's possible she could have made the Olympic squad.

Uhlaender said a decision by Canadian coaches to pull some of their sliders out of that race in Lake Placid, New York, was unfair, since it lowered the total standings points available in that event. The IBSF investigated and found no rules were broken by Canada's decision.

The skeleton competition at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, runs from Feb. 12-15.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Austin Florian of the USA races down the track, during the men's single, 1st run of the Skeleton World Cup, in Altenberg, Germany, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Robert Michael/dpa via AP)