Vegas Golden Knights center Colton Sissons (10) scores against the Utah Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) during game 1 of first round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the T Mobile Center in Las Vegas (AP News photo)

Stanley Cup Playoffs/Utah Mammoth:

By Tom Walker

SALT LAKE CITY–Utah was positioned to steal home ice advantage in Game 1 of the opening playoff series, but Vegas launched third period comeback for the win 4-2.

The Utah Mammoth played Game 83 for the first time in franchise history on Sunday night, squaring off against the Golden Knights in Las Vegas for Game 1 of the Western Conference First-Round Series. The last time Mammoth predecessors, the Arizona Coyotes, played in the postseason was August 19, 2020 during the strange COVID-shortened season, losing 7-1 in Game 5 of the first round to the Colorado Avalanche.

The lone Coyotes goal-scorer in that game was current Mammoth captain Clayton Keller, assisted by Jason Demers and Derek Stepan. The only other remaining Coyotes player in that game’s box score who also participated in Utah’s Sunday night post-season debut was forward Lawson Crouse. Barrett Hayton, who has been out of the lineup since March 24 with an upper-body injury, also played that final 2020 playoff game for Arizona.

The first period seemed destined to be a scoreless affair, but with 11 ticks left on the clock, Logan Cooley found the back of the net to put Utah up 1-0 on his first career playoff goal. Cooley had initially taken the puck into the offensive zone, and after some keep-away with Vegas defenders passed the puck to Crouse, who sent it to inaugural season Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt, who zipped it back to Cooley who one-timed a slap shot into the net.

At 3:44 of the second period, Colton Sissons knocked in a loose puck at the crease to tie the game, assisted by Cole Smith and Brayden McNabb. The Mammoth regained the lead 83 seconds later on a fluke goal where Kevin Stenlund shot the puck from the dasher boards near the top of the faceoff circle, the puck being slapped away by Vegas netminder Carter Hart but off the body of defenseman Kaedan Korczak and into the net, with Sean Durzi and Ian Cole picking up the assists.

Utah took their 2-1 lead into the third period, but could not hold on. At 3:45 of the frame, Alexander Kerfoot went to the penalty box for hooking against Ivan Barbashev. With 12 seconds remaining in the penalty kill, Mark Stone knocked in a rebound from Karel Vejmelka to even the score at 2-2, assisted by Tomas Hertl and Mitch Marner.

Less than two minutes later, Mammoth defenseman MacKenzie Weegar turned over the puck in Utah’s defensive zone, and Noah Hanifin sent it across to Nic Dowd who deflected it perfectly into the net to give the Golden Knights their first lead of the game 3-2. At 18:21, with Vejmelka pulled for an extra attacker, Barbashev put the game away with an empty net goal to give Vegas the victory and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Interviewed in the locker room after the game, Cooley said, “Right from the start I knew it was going to be physical. A super fast game. Not a lot of room out there. I think early on we did a good job of playing our game, playing our style. We let off a little bit towards the third and it cost us, but it’s a long series and we just gotta regroup and clean up a few things.” Asked about his goal and getting into the pace of his first playoff game, Cooley responded, “It’s always nice to get on the board early, but I think after the first shift you get into it, maybe get a few bumps, and now it’s just another game.” On his own physicality, he commented, “It’s the playoffs, you’re playing for the Cup, you’re doing whatever you can to help your team win – whether that is physical, or scoring, playing good defensively – whatever the team needs, and I think that’s our mindset in this locker room too. It’s all about the team focus and trying to win games.” Wrapping up the interview, Cooley said, “A lot of us, it’s our first playoff game – to get that nerve out, get settled in … obviously we’d like to get the win, but just to get your feet wet a little bit and know how it is and what we need to do to beat them in Game 2.”

Lawson Crouse, one of two Mammoth players on the ice to have participated in the final Arizona Coyotes playoff game in 2020, said, “They played a heck of a game. It was a physical affair. There wasn’t much open ice out there, that’s kind of what we expected, but you know they played a great game. We feel we got a little bit better, but you know we get a day now to learn and make some adjustments. … It’s a different style of hockey in the playoffs, we knew that. I feel like we can be better. We’re competitive guys, we want to do whatever we can to help this team win, just like everyone in our locker room. We’re going to try to step up.” Of teammate Logan Cooley, Crouse said, “Cools is one of the biggest competitors I know. He’s done that all season long, ever since I’ve known him and played with him. He’s a battler and definitely a guy that you want to follow.” Brogan Houston of the Deseret News asked Crouse, “This is the first playoff game for yourself and a lot of the guys with fans in the stands, how does it compare to the COVID bubble?” He responded, “Obviously an incredible atmosphere out there. Their fans do a great job cheering, and to be honest I like that energy. I think we’re able to harness it and use it to our advantage as well. Obviously they’re very into the game. They’re loud. It’s a fun environment to play in.”

Former Golden Knight Nate Schmidt told the media, “This is a long series. That’s what we planned on at the beginning. There’s a lot of lessons to be had tonight. Our effort was there. There were some momentum swings. That’s the playoffs. They score a power play goal to get it even there early in the third and I think it tilted the ice a little bit for ’em, and I liked our response to that in the last little part of the game. There are things to build on for Game 2. I think some of our guys tonight got a taste for what it’s like, and all the emotional parts of it, the [excitement] that is playoff hockey. I’m excited for it to be a long series and for Game 2.” Asked about Cooley, Schmidt added, “I think he is a player that’s ready to take that step on the center stage here in the playoffs and be a guy that commands a lot of space out there and he really makes a lot of plays for guys and creates space for people. I love his game, I love that he’s nasty around the puck. He’s not a someone that’s going to shy away from it, and that’s what I love about him. I think as we go on here, he’s gonna show more and more, and there’s some young legs that are willing to do that dirty work which is something that is really important at this time of year, guys are willing to stand over the puck and be willing to take the abuse and I think he will.”

Head Coach André Tourigny opened his post-game comments, saying, “That was a great game, I think we know Vegas is a really good team. It was a hard fought game – was physical, was intense. Every inch was contested, so I’m proud of our prep – like the way we came out and I think the guys were pretty composed, they were in control – like I said it was a hard fought game. We know when we exploit our speed, that was a good factor for us, we need to keep focusing on that. … I really like the way the guys stayed in control. You just want to get better. From now on it’s a race of improvement. I think we have stuff we can be better, and we’ll make some adjustments and stuff, but I’m really proud of the way we performed.” Of Cooley’s performance, Bear was effusive with praise, “He was on a mission. He was really good. I think him and his line played a solid game. You guys know Cools – how competitive he is – and I think he just put it on display.” Of the team overall, Tourigny added, “I’m proud of the way where our guys were mentally. I think at this point as a coach what you need to do is make sure your team is in the right mindset, the right approach, they’re in control, and they control their performance, and I’m proud of the way they played in that sense. … I think as a first game, would have loved to win the game, no doubt about it, but I think we pushed back after they took the lead, we stayed in control, the guys were calm on the bench, were even-keeled, we didn’t act like we were a young team or a team with a lack of experience – the reverse I felt we were in control.”

The Mammoth look to even the best-of-seven series on Tuesday night, 7:30pm MDT.