Golden Knights even series with 5-4 win over Mammoth in OT thriller

SALT LAKE CITY — The Golden Knights survived a furious Mammoth comeback attempt Monday night, with Shea Theodore playing the hero for Vegas by sinking the game-winning goal in overtime.

Utah erased a 3-0 deficit midway through the second period with four unanswered goals to take a 4-3 lead going into the third period.

Clayton Keller scored his first goal of the playoffs to give the Mammoth the lead, but the Golden Knights were eventually able to stop the bleeding thanks to Brett Howden's second goal of the night to even up the scores and force overtime.

It took nearly an entire overtime period for a winner to be decided as both teams traded flurries of shots. Vegas even had a goal called back due to offsides before the puck found its way to Theodore, who buried the goal for the win.

"I think we just didn't quit," Theodore said. "I think even in the second, giving up a couple, we had the lead going to the third, we're still feeling good about our game; we never stopped. It sucks that that one got called back, but it was good to get it done."

Theodore scored the winning goal, but the two teammates who picked up an assist on the score, each contributed in the win. Howden and Jack Eichel both tallied 3 points, with Howden netting two goals and an assist while Eichel picked up three assists.

Mikhail Sergachev notched three assists, as well, for Utah, with Nick Schmaltz adding a goal and an assist.

Early on, it didn't look like Game 4 would be the game or thrilling outcome all witnessed Monday night. The Mammoth did not look like a team that was eager to take full control of the series with a potential 3-1 lead on the line at home.

A disastrous first period pushed Utah into a hole early after the home team fell down 2-0 in the opening frame. Careless passes and a failure to move the puck on the power play kept the Mammoth out of sync and led to scoring opportunities for the Golden Knights.

Vegas wasted no time getting to work early on a goal from Pavel Dorofeyev just over a minute into the game. Ivan Barbashev set up Dorofeyev with an easy one-timer shot that beat Karel Vejemelka.

Special teams have continued to be a struggle through the first four games for Utah after an 0-for-3 performance on the man-advantage in Game 4 dropped the Mammoth to just 1-for-8 on the power play this series.

Vegas has struggled, too, but they were able to take advantage of a careless first period from Utah and added to their lead with a shorthanded goal from Howden.

The Golden Knights carried that momentum over into the second period and quickly added to the lead when Cole Smith battled Sean Durzi near the crease and got a deflection to go for a goal to give Vegas a three-goal advantage.

But momentum completely flipped midway through the second after the Mammoth scored a pair of goals to cut into the deficit. Nick Schmaltz ended the scoring drought with his first goal of the playoffs after Utah had its best offensive zone shift of the game to that point.

Schmaltz cleaned up his own shot and flipped the puck up and in for the goal. Just 29 seconds later, Ian Cole loaded up a slap shot from near the blue line to score to make it a one-goal game.

"We had a great PK," Mammoth head coach Andre Tourigny said. "Right away after we had won the draw and took a good shot, we went on the forecheck and created some momentum. Right there, it sparked us a little bit. One shift after the other, after we had more momentum and we scored a big goal. (Schmaltz) scored a big goal, and then (Cole). For sure, that gave us energy. We were much better after."

Nearly two minutes into the third period, Michael Carcone tied the game up with a one-timer off a pass from Guenther, which sent the Delta Center crowd into a frenzy.

After taking the lead on Keller's goal, the Mammoth failed to close out the game and eventually gave up the game-winning goal in the final seconds of the first overtime period. Despite its best efforts, Utah could not come away with a victory and they now find itself in a best-of-three series.

"I loved our fight," Keller said. "We're still playing confident. We got down in the game, but kept going. Everyone was contributing. Got some momentum there from the fans, as well. All in all, we fought well until the end. We'll learn from this game and still be really confident, for sure."

For a young team like the Mammoth, there is much to learn from the game, especially the mistakes that plagued the team in the first half of the game. Special teams will need to improve but the team has gotten better at handling the physicality game after game.

"There is plenty of hockey left in this series — a tied series going back," Cole said. "It's a three-game series. (We're) focusing on what we can control and where we stand right now. I think that will do us well."

The series returns to Las Vegas for Game 5 on Wednesday (8 p.m. MDT, TNT).

Related topics