LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Utah Mammoth's first-ever playoff game started out promising but ended in heartbreak.
The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Mammoth 4-2 on Sunday night in Game 1 of their first-round series.
The Golden Knights, who twice trailed before scoring three third-period goals, have not lost in regulation since John Tortorella (8-0-1) took over as coach.
Colton Sissons had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights, and Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev also scored. Carter Hart stopped 32 shots. Hanifin had two assists.
Logan Cooley and Kevin Stenlund scored for the Mammoth. Karel Vejmelka made 27 saves. Captain Clayton Keller, who closed the regular season with 16 assists over a 10-game streak, failed to record one in this game.
The Golden Knights took the fight to the Mammoth from the beginning and finished with 52 hits to 29 for Utah. Vegas' high in the regular season was 36 against Los Angeles in the Oct. 8 opener.
Both teams broke into several fights, including one after the final buzzer.
Former Golden Knight Nate Schmidt delivered a tremendous cross-ice pass to Cooley, whose one-timer from the right circle put the Mammoth on the scoreboard first with just 11 seconds left in the first period.
Sissons scored the equalizer at 3:44 of the second period, jamming in the puck after a backhand pass from Cole Smith. Utah retook the lead not even two minutes later when Hart found himself out of position and Vegas defenseman Kaeden Korczak knocked the puck into his own net, though it was officially credited to Kevin Stenlund.
The Golden Knights again tied it when Stone put a rebound into the open net for a power-play goal 5:33 of the third period. They then soon had the lead when Utah defenseman MacKenzie Weegar turned over the puck in his zone, and Dowd knocked in Hanifin's shot.
Barbashev closed the scoring with an empty-netter.
The next game of the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night, again in Las Vegas.
