The Vegas Golden Knights opened the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 4-2 victory over the Utah Mammoth in Game 1 of their first-round series on Sunday night at T-Mobile Arena. Vegas leads the series, 1-0.
HOW IT WENT DOWN
Logan Cooley struck first to give the Mammoth a 1-0 lead with 11 seconds remaining in the opening frame. Colton Sissons pulled the game even, 1-1, at 3:44 in the middle period when Cole Smith backhanded the puck from the goal line toward the slot, and Sissons fought to poke the puck in the net for the game-tying score. Less than two minutes later, Kevin Stenlund scored to give Utah their second lead of the night. Mark Stone tied the game, 2-2, with a power-play goal at 5:33 in the final frame. Mitch Marner launched a shot on goal, and Tomas Hertl fed the loose puck to Stone, who fired it into a wide-open net. At 7:20 in the third period, Nic Dowd netted the go-ahead goal to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 edge. Dowd redirected a dish from Noah Hanifin past Karel Vejmelka for his first playoff goal as a Golden Knight. Ivan Barbashev sealed the victory for Vegas with an empty-netter, and Hanifin recorded his second assist of the night with 1:39 remaining in the game. Carter Hart turned aside 31 out of 33 shots to lift the Golden Knights to their first win of the series.
TOP PERFORMERS
Colton Sissons: Sissons scored a game-tying goal and picked up a helper to bring his career playoff point total to 27 (11G, 16A).
Nic Dowd: Dowd recorded the game-winning goal, boosting his career postseason goal total to five.
Carter Hart: Hart posted a .939 save percentage in the victory and has a perfect record since returning from injury on April 2.
Mark Stone: Stone pulled the game even on Sunday night with his 42nd postseason goal.
SERIES AT A GLANCEAll times PST
Game 1: Sunday, April 19 at 7 p.m. | T-Mobile Arena | Highlights
Game 2: Tuesday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m. | T-Mobile Arena | BUY TICKETS
Game 3: Friday, April 24 at 6:30 p.m. | Delta Center
Game 4: Monday, April 27 – Time TBD | Delta Center
Game 5: (if necessary): Wednesday, April 29 – Time TBD | T-Mobile Arena | BUY TICKETS
Game 6: (if necessary): Friday, May 1 – Time TBD | Delta Center
Game 7: (if necessary): Sunday, May 3 – Time TBD | T-Mobile Arena | BUY TICKETS
VGK STATS OF THE KNIGHT
Mark Stone scored his 37th playoff goal as a Golden Knight, which is the most postseason goals in franchise history.
Reilly Smith and Brayden McNabb each appeared in their 100th playoff game as Golden Knights on Sunday night.
The Golden Knights recorded their 63rd playoff win, which is the most in the NHL since the franchise entered the league in 2017-18.
The Golden Knights improved to 12-7 in the first game of a best-of-seven playoff series.
Vegas nearly doubled Utah's hits (30) with 52 total in the win.
ATTENDANCE: 17,979
LOOKING AHEAD
The Golden Knights and Utah Mammoth will meet in Game 2 of the series on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena. Catch the action on Vegas 34 in Las Vegas, ESPN2 nationally, or listen on FOX Sports Las Vegas 94.7/1340 and Deportes Vegas 1460.
