Recap: The Golden Knights hosted the Utah Mammoth faced for Game 1 of the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Early on the game was tight and physical with both teams being penalized multiple times. Late in the period Utah struck first for a 1-0 lead.
Vegas answered 3:44 into the middle frame. Colton Sissons poked in a loose puck in front of the net to even the score 1-1. Minutes later the Mammoth regained their one goal advantage.
Five minutes into the final frame the Golden Knights drew a crucial power play opportunity. Captain Mark Stone took advantage and tied the game 2-2. Two shifts later Nic Down gave the Golden Knights their first lead of the game. Ivan Barbashev sealed it with the empty netter.
The Golden Knights win Game 1 against the Mammoth 3-2 and take a 1-0 series lead.
Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday night at 6:30PM PT. (Recap by Jason)
Analysis: The key to this series is going to be which team can avoid allowing the opposing team to get the the style of game they want. VGK did a wonderful job in this opening game to avoid turnovers in their own end which limited most of the Mammoth’s offense. On the other side of the rink, VGK’s depth players did the dirty work necessary at this time of year and found a couple of greasy goals that helped out when the top-six couldn’t do a ton aside from the PP. If Vegas can continue to limit the Utah forecheck they’ll find the Mammoth much easier to keep out. (Recap by Ken)
Upcoming stories from Game 1 of the first round series between the Vegas Golden Knights vs Utah Mammoth at T-Mobile Arena.
- The issue that plagued the Golden Knights disappeared against a team very good at it in Game 1.
Ken’s Three VGK Stars
*** Cole Smith
** Colton Sissons
* Nic Dowd
Jose
4th line warriors.
lynnS
Fourth lines make or break! Great game!
rb7
finally a Vgk team playing tough, aggressive, body checking, shot blocking, scrum battling, truculent hockey.
forget the Lady Byng and start being the aggressors, not the punching bags.
great game by the grinders, who did the job at both ends of the rink.
Torts is bringing up the emotional level of the team, and it looks good on them.
THAT is what they needed.
effin refs, the Vgk should have had more PP chances.
one down, and 15 to go.
DeezNutz
Big boy hockey
TS
Good start to the series. 3rd period push, as usual, but better late than not at all.
We should be fine vs Mammoth. Our past Playoff experience will pay off, then on to the next opponent. Hope we win this series in 4, much needed rest/ recharge before moving on…
GO KNIGHTS!!
Btw: the Wild is a beast! They gave Dallas a whooping!! Would love to see Dallas go home early— do NOT want to face them!!
And the improbable 4- point, 3rd period comeback by Buffalo took the house down!!! WOW!.What a fan base!! They are HUNGRY for Stanley, both players and esp the fans!
Ice Warrior
I read somewhere that of all the playoff teams ticket prices, Buffalo’s were the highest. If I remember correctly an average of $450 per seat. Those folks got their money’s worth yesterday!
TS
Yes, they sure did!! It was fun to watch,.reminded me of our Cup year, seemed like everyone in Vegas was crazy for Hockey!
Pistol Pete
Depth scoring from the fourth line a key to the playoffs!
In watching the replay of UTA’s second goal my son and I concluded it was not on Hart, Ge got back to the net in time. The rebound was a fluke off Korczak’s skate.
Hart: 2GA/.939 (31/33)
Pistol Pete
HE got back to the net in time
TS
Pp, yup, announcers said so. Not Hart’s error. Fluke.
Richie-Rich
R1 G1 Analysis VGK 4, UTA 2
Torts, Hart and the Skaters are on a roll. Keep the ball rolling!
Awful refereeing, several missed penalties on the Tusks. The face off circle was all about the puck drop. Just awful to watch.
How does the Mammoth get a PP on that early scrum?
Personally, I don’t like the UTAH SUCKS chanting. You know, Knights and all that honor stuff. So knock it off.
Did you see the H-A-R-T sweaters behind Carter?
Keep Carter HEALTHY!
TS
Rr, Agreed. That chant should be for the Refs, NOT the team! Bad sportsmanship.
JD
Stop whining you can say what you want with the games. I’m sorry about you being nice and nicey to everybody. This is fucking Hockey crying about Utah. Sucks chant I was there, brother who cares people are crazy on this site.
TS
Jd, no. SOME of us were taught to show respect. Would it be okay if WE were given tbe same treatment at other houses??? It hasn’t hpnd to us because OTHER teams understand respect, too.
Pete Turner
It’s the playoffs. This is what it’s all about.
Everyone feels it—the rush, the nerves, the edge. It’s adrenaline and chaos, passion at its peak. Win or lose, nothing else compares. The fans feel it. The players live it. Every shift matters, every moment burns.
And when we talk about what it takes to go deep—it’s this. It’s sacrifice. It’s toughness. It’s leaving everything out there.
When they hand out the free posters at the next game, they should highlight the battle scars. Nic Dowd with blood running from his temple. Cole Smith with a split lip, still in the fight. That’s what this game demands. That’s what separates contenders from the rest.
Those are the intangibles. The moments you can’t measure—but you can feel.
Bring that every night, and you’re never out of it.
Good job, boys.
Canada
Men vs Boys , great entertainment . Im guessing Utah will feel it this morning . Hats off to Korzack and Theo ,both stepped up their games made better and quicker decisions .Tough break for the Korzack goal but he jumped right back in and was even more aggressive . Hart has something to prove to the world and it looks like he’s going to prove it, he has been fricken awesome . Hats off to management for getting us some tough smart men for that fourth line . Doro to make a difference needs to engage more or he will fade away .Utah is better than i thought , fast and mean enough but maybe not big enough . Kolasar is working his way back into my heart . The way that ended should see some fireworks in game two . Cant wait .
JB
We pounded the crap out of those boys, but they kept coming. Good win, great effort !
TS
The hits were, like 59 vs 30!! Crazy!
knights fan in minny
4th line was solid all night In the ozone all night they’re big and heavy perfect for playoff hockey I love Dowd he takes no crap I love the feistiness in the first period louzan And Barby We’re blowing up people One thing for sure Torch brings out the fire in them I’ve never seen Hannifin play that physical before hart Had a good night We have some fire wagon hockey going on
JB
Yea we saw Barby, playoff style! He was crushing everybody! The “twins”, Cole smith and Dowd were great! Gritty vets!
SHS
“Torch” might be a great alternative nickname for Torts. Not sure if you meant it, but I like it at playoff time!
TS
I LIKE it: theTorch!!
Ice Warrior
considering he’s lit a fire under our teams asses, it’s appropriate.
NAM
The physicality was mainly Vegas. Lauzon, Kolesar, and Barb were pretty brutal. Hopefully this can lead to a beat up Utah team later in this series.
Depth scoring, so absent most of the season, but so critical now. This is great! Sissions on the wing has been a really good move. That 4th line is so much more effective and Dowd/C.Smith are getting used to this team.
Hart, outside one blunder goal, was pretty good. So nice to have good goaltending again. Seriously.
A win is a win, but wasn’t super impressed with some of the play. Eichel, for how much the team runs through him, wasn’t very good that game. Really bad passing, feet behind guys killing plays, weak shot attempts that gave the other team the puck back. The one PP goal was when Eichel finally got driven out of the play. He has been missing some swagger the latter part of the season. He needs to find it again in a bad way.
Good win, hope our adjustments are better than their adjustments for game 2.
Ice Warrior
Torts must have told VGK to exploit their greater size and Hit Hit Hit. 52 hits this game, and we are normally not a hitting team. Barbashev put down some nasty ones. Utah is going to be beat up bad pretty soon. It was a very exciting game. The Mammoth are not to be overlooked. They are young, fast, and aggressive. A couple of bad missed calls in the game. A high stick on Cole Smith and Hart being knocked on his butt ( I was in the restroom when that happened but my seatmates were livid at the lack of call). Nic Dowd also bloodied at the end of the game. Lots of fights. GKG!
Rrale
Last night’s game was a very much needed win for the VGK. It proves what most of us think, they are a good team. Let’s hope the team now believes it.
I agree Refs missed several calls. How about the helmet off headbutt? I believe let the players play the game but not at the expense of someone getting seriously hurt.
KnightWatch
Per NHL PlayerSafety Durzi got the max allowed 5k fine for the head butt
vgk21
Physical play took center stage, and that is why the top six guys on both teams took a back seat to the action.
the analysis was missing the lede of the story, which was the Vgk playing completely out of character by channeling the Big Bad Bruins and the Broad Street Bullies of yesteryear.
….. how refreshing it is to see the Vgk puttin’ on the foil and making the opponents life miserable by playing hardnose, rock ’em sock ’em hockey, instead of the usual polite pokecheck picnic they too often give their opponents.
Torts is channeling Reggie Dunlop, and the tough deadline grinders they added are the Hanson brothers.
and Stone provided the “Slapshot”, which hit the crossbar.
Give us more of these action packed victories.
We love it.
Ice Warrior
Puttin’ on the foil!! “Every game!” “You want some?” Thanks for reminding me of one of my favorite movies.
Vic
We know the first few games of a seven game series are normally very tough with hits and battles before things usually calm down later in the series. Several Utah guys throw lots of hits and can mix it up, but missing last night was Liam O’Brien, and we may see him in game two as they may want to set a more violent tone as they know the VGK will bang away again. Meanwhile the top six have to raise their game to levels we know are there. VGK need to stay away from getting sucked into penalties and stick with the game plan….but keeping banging away (maybe not 17 hits between Barbashev and Koelsar).
Anthony
Typical playoff game with plenty of aggression and physical play.
Barbie was incredible! Stone was great, as he always is in the playoffs—what consistency! What a captain!
Our 4th line was fantastic; roster depth is really what makes the difference in these types of games.
And what can you say about Hart? Finally, a reassuring goalie whose level of play lets us hope and dream of a deep run to the Cup.
On the flip side, Eichel was a major disappointment. Beyond being inaccurate and uninspired, he lost a ton of faceoffs. Marner was also disappointing and shaky, despite his shot being tipped in by Stoney. As for Dorofeyev… was he even on the ice?
Overall, a huge game and a great win for our Knights! Let’s hope Jack, Mitch, and Pavel step up in the next game. And of course, congrats to Torts, who is doing a great job. I have massive respect for Cassidy and was sad to see him go, but you have to admit that the coaching change has been a lifesaver for Vegas.
Go Knights Go!”
knights fan in minny
DURZI 5 grand for head butting Rasmus
KnightWatch
I’m sure there were talks with the NHL Playoff Series Manager/Supervisor about some no calls and the extracurriculars.
I still expect things to be chippy.
Different officiating next game so we’ll see how it’s called.
Larry
I don’t know who those guys were last night, perhaps it was an Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but whoever they were they recognized and accepted it was Playoff hockey, and time to step their game up, well at least Barbashev and the 4 4th liners( have to give Kolesar some props too), hits , scrums and having your teammates backs was something to build on, give hope that something might be brewing.
For tomorrow’s game we will need a little more cohesiveness and action from our top 6 to create scoring chances, as well as the hope that when O’Brien and Kolesar drop the gloves it is not a knockout for the opposition, hold on for dear life Keegan lol!
VGK fan
Not even sure obrien will even be in their lineup for that to even take place but if not could be that mcbain guy, in any case could see it happening