After dropping a tough overtime game and a chance to take a commanding a 3-1 series lead, the Utah Mammoth were still feeling positive heading to Las Vegas for Game 5 of their best-of-seven Western Conference first-round matchup with the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night.
“There’s still plenty of hockey left in this series, a tied (2-2) series going back,” Mammoth defenseman Ian 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.”
Utah fell behind 3-0 in Monday’s contest but scored four consecutive goals to take a 4-3 lead. Brett Howden scored his second goal of the game midway through the third period to tie it, 4-4, setting the stage for Shea Theodore’s game-winner with 52 seconds left in the first overtime.
Utah coach Andre Tourigny said his team’s comeback from the early three-goal deficit was something to build on heading into Game 5.
“The pride our guys showed, the resiliency, the way we played the second half of the game, I think there’s a lot to be proud of, a lot to build on,” Tourigny said. “Obviously our start is a big thing. We need to have a hard and really intense start from everybody.”
Mammoth forward Clayton Keller, who has a goal and two assists in the first four games, said the team is focused on remaining even-keeled after the loss.
“That’s something that we’ve worked at all year,” Keller said. “We’ve gotten better, and this is the time we need to be even-keeled the most.”
Statistically, the series couldn’t be much more even. Both teams have scored 13 goals, Utah has a narrow 168-167 edge in hits and Mammoth goaltender Karel Vejmelka has a slight edge over Vegas goalie Carter Hart in save percentage, .899 to .886.
“We just got to fix the start and I think we’ll be fine,” said Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, who had three assists in Monday’s loss.
The overtime win snapped a two-game losing streak for Vegas, which regained home-ice advantage. Game 6 is set for Friday in Salt Lake City and Game 7, if needed, would be back in Las Vegas on Sunday.
“Found a way to win,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “That’s something that we can lean on as we keep moving on in these games.”
“Obviously, it was a huge game for us,” Golden Knights defenseman Jeremy Lauzon said. “We really needed that, but it’s still a long, long series. There’s a lot of games coming up, so we’ve got to be ready for the next one.”
Utah has won two of the three meetings between the two teams in Las Vegas this season, including 3-2 on a third-period goal by Logan Cooley in Game 2.
“There are going to be huge ebbs and flows. It’s playoff hockey,” forward Cole Smith, whose first career playoff goal gave the Golden Knights a 3-0 lead in Game 4, said.
“It’s a tough series,” Vegas defenseman Rasmus Andersson added. “Two good teams. Feels like it’s a battle every night, which playoffs should be. Just try and keep your emotions in check. Now’s it’s a best out of three, and we’ve got home advantage again. So good feeling going into tomorrow.”
