Historically, teams that have gone up 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs went on to win their series 87.5% of the time. After winning Game 1 by a score of 4-2, the Vegas Golden Knights entered Tuesday’s matchup with the Utah Mammoth desperate to grab a stranglehold over the series. 

Or, at least, the Golden Knights entered the first period desperate to grab a stranglehold over the series. They controlled play and outshot the Mammoth 10-7. They generated 12 scoring chances while holding Utah to four.

The Golden Knights broke the ice on the power play at 11:42 in the first. Mark Stone threw a centering pass towards the net, and it went off of Mikhail Sergachev’s skate and in past Karel Vejmelka. 

The Mammoth responded at 16:59 in the first. Noah Hanifin blocked MacKenzie Weegar’s shot on goal, but the puck took a bounce into Rasmus Andersson’s shin and into the net.

All of that first period urgency slipped away in the second. As the parade to the box continued, the Golden Knights struggled to find rhythm. The stats reflect it— the Mammoth outshot them 13-4, generated 16 scoring chances while holding Vegas to just three, and controlled 88.76% of the expected goal share.  

The Mammoth took their first lead of the night at 14:56 in the second. Kailer Yamamoto jumped to glove down Noah Hanifin’s flip-pass and found Dylan Guenther above the left circle; Guenther ripped a one-timer past Carter Hart short-side for his first career playoff goal.

The Golden Knights found the equalizer just 1:02 later. Jack Eichel got a stick on Mikhail Sergachev’s stretch-pass attempt, and Ivan Barbashev corralled the puck at the blue line. Barbashev entered the zone, split the defense, and beat Karel Vejmelka on the backhand.

In the third period, the Golden Knights were largely unable to generate any kind of offense. Shots were 10-7 in favor of the Mammoth, and Utah controlled 70.79% of the expected goal share.

The Mammoth regained the lead at 14:00 in the third. Kailer Yamamoto backhanded a pass to Dylan Guenther, who entered the zone with speed, flew past Shea Theodore, and snapped a shot on goal. When Carter Hart made the save, Guenther got his own rebound and put it off the post. Undetected, Logan Cooley cut to the middle and scored on the third attempt.

The Golden Knights pulled Carter Hart for the extra attacker with 2:51 remaining in regulation and tried to mount yet another third-period comeback. They generated their looks, but managed only two shots on goal, and the Mammoth held on for a 3-2 win.

“I thought our first period was one of our better first periods in a while,” said Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella postgame. “We lost any type of flow in the second period. The way everything was going on, we had a good start to the third period and had some opportunities. We couldn’t score, and they found a way with some of their speed.”

1. In Game 1, the Golden Knights were the more physical team by a wide margin and out-hit the Mammoth 51-31. For whatever reason, they just didn’t have that same edge in Game 2. It was a less intense affair, but the Mammoth had the edge tonight, 39-33.

“Being physical and playing hard… when you go out searching for it, that’s when you get burned,” said Brett Howden postgame.

2. Carter Hart was excellent tonight against the initial shot, but struggled to control the rebound. For the most part, the team in front of him did a good job of boxing the Mammoth out and preventing any second-chance opportunities. But on Utah’s game-winner, no one caught Logan Cooley crashing the net, and it cost them.

3. It’s been a long time since Hertl has scored a goal. He’s had his fair share of chances, but he just can’t seem to finish one. He’s not playing poorly– Hertl is doing the little things right, and he’s  recorded eight hits over the first two games of this series.

But he’s not scoring. And that, more than anything, continues to haunt the Golden Knights. With a chance to go up 2-0 in their second power play of the night, Hertl stared down an empty net… and sent it wide.