The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Utah Mammoth, 4-2, in Game 1 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs First-Round series on Sunday night at T-Mobile Arena. Here's what some Golden Knights players and Head Coach John Tortorella had to say following the victory.
Cole Smith on the performance of his line…
I really liked our game tonight. Especially our line, we stuck to our identity. We played really hard, forechecked hard. When we had to make plays in the D-zone, get the puck out, we stuck together and kept them to the outside. I love the way we played, and we came up with some big goals tonight.
Smith on what it takes to be successful in a playoff series...
It was a fast game tonight. I think what we learned is that it takes all 60. You've just got to keep grinding and grinding. Even though in the second when we were getting frustrated, not scoring goals, down one goal still, we stuck with it, and we had a great third period, and we came out with a win. So, it's going to take every minute of every game.
Nic Dowd on the fourth line's identity…
In the playoffs, there's not a lot of space out there. Teams get really good at defending. It's hard to score goals. It's hard to get shots. You see it throughout the league right now. Shots are low in a lot of games, and special teams play a big role. But, I think the forechecking, especially with our line, the way that Colton Sissons, Cole Smith, and I play, we have to play to what we do well. There’s going to be nights in this series and, hopefully beyond, where we're going to consistently try to do the same thing over and over and over. Some nights we're going to get rewarded and some nights we're not. But I think it's going to be our line's role to cause a little bit of chaos and hymn teams in and then potentially get a good change and put someone else out on the ice and gain some momentum.
Dowd on the emotion and physicality of the postseason…
It's an emotional game. You want to play the game with emotion. I think it makes players better. It drags guys into the fight, and you want to see your team be emotional and stick up for each other and protect your goal, your crease, whatever it may be. Protect each other, but you’ve got to walk the fine line. You don't want to be the guy to step over it and take a penalty and basically do the complete opposite of what you're trying to do. I think it's going to be chippy all series. I mean, across the NHL, it's all the same. They’re playing hard, too.
Colton Sissons on playing with his linemates...
We're pretty comfortable with each other and just playing predictable hockey and getting to work on the forecheck and just being heavy to play, heavy on the forecheck. Just competing as hard as we can and just leaning on teams and investing throughout a series.
Ivan Barbashev on the physicality of the team...
I think our team is best when we play physical, and I think we showed that today. Just got to get the legs going early on, and that's what we did.
Head Coach John Tortorella on the fourth line’s performance…
They do all the little things, and I'm comfortable playing them against anybody. They got rewarded tonight. I think they gave us a little spark, and it's nice to see them get rewarded. Sometimes you don't, the way they play, sometimes you don't get it. They did tonight.
