The Vegas Golden Knights came up short in a 3-2 loss to the Utah Mammoth in Game 2 of the first-round matchup Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena.
The best-of-seven series is now tied at 1-1.
The two clubs were tied after the first and second periods, but Utah broke the tie late in the third period to secure the first postseason win in franchise history.
The Game 2 loss marks the first time the Golden Knights have lost in regulation under head coach John Tortorella.
Carter Hart made 27 saves in his first loss since returning from injury. Karel Vejmelka picked up his first career playoff win with 19 saves on 21 shots.
It was all Golden Knights in a dominant first period that was interrupted by countless Utah icings and featured 16 penalty minutes. That being said, the Golden Knights were fantastic.
For the second game in a row, Mark Stone scored on the power play.
It looked as though Tomas Hertl had finally snapped his goalless drought, but it was, indeed, the captain who was credited with the goal, as his centering feed to Hertl ricocheted off Mikhail Sergachev’s skate before crossing the goal line. The goal gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 11:42.
Vegas went back to the power play shortly thereafter, and, once again, it appeared as though Hertl would finally put an end to his 21-game drought. However, he missed a wide-open net and remains snakebitten.
Despite the lopsided opening 20 minutes, the two clubs entered intermission tied at 1-1 thanks to a very unlucky bounce. Hart made a save on a harmless MacKenzie Weegar shot from the point, but Rasmus Andersson accidentally kicked the rebound into his own net with 3:01 remaining.
In 12:28 of ice time at 5-on-5, the Mammoth generated 0.02 expected goals. At all strengths, the Golden Knights led 24-12 in shot attempts, 10-6 in shots, 12-4 in scoring chances and had 72.29 percent of the expected goal share. However, the two clubs were tied after one.
The Golden Knights killed another penalty a few minutes into the second period, and shot blocks had Noah Hanifin and Jeremy Lauzon hobbling. However, both were able to return to action.
Ivan Barbashev made an outstanding move to deke around a defenseman and get a chance in tight on Karel Vejmelka, but he was unable to finish the highlight-reel move.
More penalties were called, and the Golden Knights came up with another huge block, this time by Nic Dowd.
But at 14:56, the Mammoth took their first lead of the game. A failed clear by the Golden Knights led to a cross-ice feed from Kailer Yamamoto to the ever-dangerous Dylan Guenther, who blasted a one-timed, top-shelf rocket to the back of the net.
But just 62 seconds later, Barbashev made another dazzling move; this time, he finished the play. The Mammoth turned the puck over in the neutral zone. Barbashev waited for the play to be inside before deking through the defense and roofing a backhand shot up and over Vejmelka to tie the game with 4:02 remaining.
In the second period, Utah led 25-8 in Corsi, 13-4 in shots and 16-3 in scoring chances while generating 88.76 percent of the expected goal share (1.59-0.2), but the two clubs were tied at 2-2 after two.
The Vegas penalty kill was called upon almost six minutes into the third period and came through with another strong effort to keep things even.
But the Mammoth scored the go-ahead when Logan Cooley cleaned up a rebound in front. It was a goal in transition, with Yamamoto setting up Guenther in the neutral zone. Guenther used his speed to blow past the Vegas defense before putting the puck on net. Hart made the initial save, but Cooley won the race to the puck and put home the rebound to give Utah the 3-2 lead.
Tortorella pulled Hart with 2:51 left to give Vegas a chance. Cooley had an opportunity to end it, but Andersson made a great save to protect the empty net and keep the deficit at one. The Golden Knights called timeout with 53 seconds left, and it was a frantic finish, but the Golden Knights were unable to net the equalizer.
The Golden Knights were dominant in the first period, whereas Utah carried play in the second thanks to multiple power plays. But the Mammoth used their speed effectively to win the third period, and they made one more play than Vegas to take Game 2, even the series and steal home-ice advantage.
“I thought our first period was one of our better first periods in a while,” Tortorella said. “We lost any type of flow in the second period the way everything was going on. I thought we had a good start to the third period and had some opportunities. We couldn’t score. [The Mammoth] find a way with some of their speed.”
The Mammoth are a young, talented and speedy team. That’s no secret. Utah used that speed to its advantage in the third, which ultimately proved to be the difference in the game.
“They’re a fast team,” Brett Howden said. “They come through the neutral zone with speed. I thought we played our game for the most part in the first half of the game and then kind of got away from it.”
Howden said the Golden Knights need to generate more sustained pressure in the offensive zone and use physicality to slow down Utah’s speed. However, he said the Golden Knights can’t force it.
“Being physical and being hard when it’s there,” he said. “You go out searching for it, that’s when you get burned. Just doing it at the right time and being hard all over the ice. That’s our motto, that’s our gameplan. We got a lot of guys in this locker room to buy in and do that.”
But the Golden Knights didn’t play poorly. They scored on the power play for the second game in a row, the penalty kill continues to be perfect, and the goaltending was solid once again.
Hart turned aside 27 of 29 shots for a .931 save percentage. It was another game that featured a goal off an unfortunate bounce, but he made timely saves throughout the contest, was excellent on the penalty kill and continues to be a reliable backstop for the Golden Knights.
“He’s been great for us,” Brett Howden said about the Vegas netminder. “The last two games, two goals have been bad bounces, too. Unfortunate plays on those. He’s made some stellar saves for us. At times in the game when they’ve had a push, he’s really kept us in it. We see what he’s doing back there, and we’re super confident when he’s playing like that.”
Another notable performer from Game 2 was Barbashev, who had a standout performance. His impressive equalizer late in the second was an outstanding individual effort and a particularly clutch play to prevent Vegas from trailing after two. He has been one of the Golden Knights’ most effective players — both offensively and physically — through two games of this series.
“It’s huge,” Mitch Marner said of Barbashev’s play. “Barbie’s been playing some great hockey for a long time. He’s always been a guy that just keeps ramping his game up throughout the year and keeps bringing the pressure and brings a lot of energy. It was a massive goal for us at the end of the second. He’s been making some big plays for us.”
Tortorella echoed that sentiment.
“He’s played well,” the Vegas bench boss said. “He’s a good 200-foot player. Certainly a good, honest, physical player. Has given us some good minutes.”
At the end of the day, the game was there for the taking in the third period, but the Golden Knights weren’t able to make it happen.
“We had decent looks,” Marner said. “We gotta do maybe a better job in our O-zone of just sustaining pressure, supporting each other.”
It didn’t feel like the same Golden Knights team that came out in the third period and rallied in Game 1. There was some hesitance in Game 2, and the Golden Knights looked tentative. Part of that likely was due to Utah’s mid-game adjustments, but part of it was a lack of killer instinct, including from the top of the lineup.
Stone and Barbashev each have two goals, with Vegas’ other tallies coming off the sticks of Colton Sissons and Dowd. Depth scoring is vital, but the stars have to come through.
Marner has two secondary assists on the power play but hasn’t been a consistent offensive threat or particularly dynamic. Eichel had two assists in Game 2 but needs to deliver more.
One player who cannot catch a break is Hertl, though it’s not for lack of trying. He was in position on Stone’s first-period power-play goal, and he generated plenty of chances throughout the game. In fact, Hertl, Reilly Smith and Keegan Kolesar led 8-1 in Corsi and maintained 95.80 percent of the expected goal share in 4:40. Hertl is the definition of snakebitten right now, though it seems he’s on the precipice.
Tortorella said the Golden Knights have a few things to work on but declined to elaborate. “That’s why it’s a series,” he said.
They’ll have a chance to bounce back when the series shifts to Salt Lake City for Game 3 on Friday. It will be the first NHL playoff game in the state of Utah, so the Delta Center will be loud, but the experienced Golden Knights have been through it before.
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.
Photo courtesy of the Golden Knights