The ‘goalie hugs’ were extra tight in Utah Monday night

One by one, Sebastian Cossa is checking his childhood dreams off his list.

First NHL start? Check. First win? Check. First home game? Check. First times facing Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby? Check and check.

“Every game is a new experience and a new challenge, so it’s cool,” the 23-year-old said after helping the Utah Mammoth to a 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins Monday night.

Cossa had his good and bad moments throughout the game — that’s the life of a hockey goalie — but none was bigger than his game-saving save on Ben Kindel with four seconds left on the clock.

The first thought through his mind after making the save? “Is the game over yet?” Cossa smiled.

“I think (Cossa) squeezed me pretty hard at the end of that one,” teased Utah defenseman Nate Schmidt, one of the defensemen responsible for covering Kindel in that instance. “But he deserves it. I might have to go get an oxygen tank.”

Cossa hasn’t had a perfect start to his NHL career. His statistics don’t match those of the best goalies in the league. But in two of his three starts to this point, he has made the necessary saves to keep his team in the game.

The same analysis can made of fellow Northern Alberta native Grant Fuhr throughout most of his career — and that’s the man Wayne Gretzky says is the greatest goalie of all time. There were plenty of games where Fuhr allowed four, five, even six goals, but if his team was protecting a narrow lead, he simply wouldn’t let another one in.

Mammoth head coach André Tourigny gave meaningful insight into Cossa’s development.

“Like every young player who arrives in the league — it’s an expression (you’ve heard) before — the game has to slow down for him,” the coach said. “Right now, the game is probably fast for him and he gets surprised in some situations.

“When we say that, that has nothing to do with your ability to play in (this) league. It’s the ability to relax, slow down, be comfortable.”

Tourigny mentioned after morning skate Monday that he wants to get Cossa into a rhythm, giving him consistent, manageable starts to help him grow into a top goaltender.

In the present, though, the team was glad to have him.

“When we needed him, he was great tonight, and that’s the most important part for a young goalie,” Schmidt said.

On both sides of the puck, Daniil But has been exactly what Utah has needed this season.

He slotted in on the team’s top line in the preseason, often skating alongside Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz, where he had a two-point game.

He got bumped to the fourth line to start the regular season, and he has been just as effective in that role.

The 21-year-old has points in all four home games, and he probably still has a whole other level of offensive potential. Most impressive, however, is his defensive game.

In both Monday’s game against the Penguins and last Thursday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, the Mammoth coaching staff has trusted But to defend a one-goal lead in the dying minutes of the game, and in both cases, the opponent has had a generational superstar on the ice.

Tourigny said it was an obvious decision in both games.

“There was no way I would not trust them,” he said of the entire fourth line, which also includes Kevin Stenlund and Jack McBain. “... They did not do anything in that period or in that game for me to not trust them.”

Tourigny has had confidence in But for some time now.

“I said it many times about But. But is a ‘when’ player. He’s not an ‘if’ player. He’s a player who gets it, you know?

“And it was the same last year. We told you many times last year how smart he is, how detailed he is, how structured he is, how much he understands the game. He plays the game the right way, so on and so forth.”

What does But need to add to his game to get to the next level? Tourigny put it simply.

“It’s a matter of experience. It’s a matter of having confidence in himself.”