Nic Dowd scored the go-ahead goal 7:20 into the third period and Carter Hart made 31 saves as the Vegas Golden Knights rallied for a 4-2 victory over the Utah Mammoth in Game 1 of their best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series on Sunday night in Las Vegas.
Colton Sissons had a goal and an assist, Noah Hanifin had two assists and Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev also scored goals for Vegas, which improved to 8-0-1 since John Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy as head coach. Game 2 is Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
Logan Cooley and Kevin Stenlund each scored goals for Utah, which was playing its first playoff game in franchise history. Karel Vejmelka finished with 27 saves.
Pacific Division champion Vegas had the first good scoring chance during a physical first period that featured more than 30 hits, several scrums and 10 penalty minutes when Stone blasted a slap shot from inside the blue line that caromed off the right post.
Utah took a 1-0 lead just before the end of the period when former Golden Knight Nate Schmidt rifled a cross-ice pass to Cooley, who one-timed a shot from the middle of the right circle inside the right post for his first career playoff goal.
Vegas tied it 3:44 into the second period when Sissons tapped in Cole Smith’s no-look backhand pass into the blue paint.
The Mammoth regained the lead just 1:23 later. Stenlund fired a shot from along the right boards that Hart knocked away with his stick into defenseman Kaedan Korczak skating by the left side of the crease. The puck then ricocheted off Korczak and into the net to give the Mammoth a 2-1 lead.
The Golden Knights tied it at 2-all at the 5:33 mark of the third period on a power-play goal by Stone, who roofed a rebound of a Tomas Hertl shot into an open net on the backdoor. It was Stone’s 37th career playoff goal with Vegas, breaking a tie with Jonathan Marchessault for most in team history.
Dowd gave the Golden Knights their first lead when he deflected Noah Hanifin’s shot from the left point past Vejmelka’s glove side.
Utah pulled Vejmelka for an extra attacker with 1:45 to go, and Barbashev sealed the win with an empty-netter before Vejmelka fully left the ice.
