The Vegas Golden Knights will forge a new postseason journey as they face the Utah Mammoth in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Vegas has qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the eighth time in franchise history and will face Utah in the postseason for the first time. Game 1 of the first round for Vegas is set for 7 p.m. PT on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena.
SERIES SCHEDULE
All times PST
Game 1: Sunday, April 19 at 7 p.m. | T-Mobile Arena | BUY TICKETS
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: Wednesday, April 29 – Time TBD | T-Mobile Arena | BUY TICKETS
Game 6: Friday, May 1 – Time TBD | Delta Center
Game 7: Sunday, May 3 – Time TBD | T-Mobile Arena | BUY TICKETS
All games will air on Scripps Sports and KnightTime+ locally. Beyond the Golden Knights’ television territory, fans can watch the series on ESPN or TNT in the United States and Sportsnet or TVA in Canada.
SEASON SERIES
The Golden Knights dropped the season series to the Mammoth with a record of 1-0-2 in three games. In their first meeting, on Nov. 20, at Delta Center, the Golden Knights defeated the Mammoth, 4-1. Jack Eichel (2G, 1A) and Shea Theodore (3A) both recorded a three-point night, while Braeden Bowman netted his third goal of the season and picked up his first NHL assist. Ben Hutton also tallied a goal in the victory, and Akira Schmid stopped 25-of-26 shots, posting a .962 save percentage to secure the win for Vegas. Four days later, on Nov. 24, Vegas fell, 5-1, to Utah at Delta Center, fueled by a four-goal performance by Logan Cooley. Dylan Guenther also found the back of the net for the Mammoth, while Ivan Barbashev tallied the lone goal for Vegas. In their final meeting, the Golden Knights were blanked by the Mammoth, 4-0, on March 19 at T-Mobile Arena. Clayton Keller notched two goals while Jack McBain and Barrett Hayton each added to Utah’s tally. Utah netminder Karel Vejmelka turned aside all 28 of Vegas’ shots in the shutout effort.
Eichel (2G, 2A), Bowman (1G, 2A), and Theodore (3A) led the way for the Golden Knights against the Mammoth during the three contests. Seven different skaters registered at least one point for Vegas against Utah this season. Cooley paced the Mammoth with five points (4G, 1A) against the Golden Knights, while Nate Schmidt (1G, 3A) and Keller (2G, 1A) were a point per game players in their three appearances against Vegas.
HOW THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS GOT HERE
The Golden Knights claimed the Pacific Division crown for the fifth time in nine seasons as the team completed the 2025-26 regular season with a 39-26-17 record and 95 points. Vegas’ five division titles since the 2017-18 season are the most among all teams in the NHL. Vegas posted a home record of 20-12-9 at T-Mobile Arena to become the first franchise in NHL history to record at least 20 home wins in each of its first nine seasons. The Golden Knights also posted a 24.6 power-play percentage, recording a franchise-best 58 goals on the man advantage with 236 power-play opportunities.
The Golden Knights kicked off the season with a 5-0-2 record. In their final home game of the season, the Golden Knights clinched the Pacific Division title with a 4-1 win against the Seattle Kraken. Vegas’ best stretch of hockey came in the final 10 games of the season, posting a 7-0-3 record and outscoring its opponents 40 to 23. Jack Eichel (27G, 63A) reached the 90-point mark for the second consecutive season in 74 games. Mitch Marner finished second on the team in scoring with 80 points (24G, 56A) in 81 games, followed by Mark Stone, who posted 73 points (28G, 45A) in 60 games. Pavel Dorofeyev set a new franchise record for power-play goals in a season, as 20 of his 37 scores came on the man advantage. Shea Theodore led the blueline in scoring with 39 points (10G, 29) in 70 games.
In net, Carter Hart, Adin Hill, and Akira Schmid all made consistent appearances. Hart carries a six-game win streak into the postseason to go with a 1.66 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage since returning from injury on April 2. Hart posted an 11-3-3 record through 18 appearances in the 2025-26 regular season, accompanied by a 2.71 goals-against average and an .891 save percentage.
HOW THE MAMMOTH GOT HERE
Utah clinched its first-ever playoff spot on April 9, by virtue of defeating Nashville 4-1 and Anaheim defeating San Jose. The Mammoth joined a short list of post-expansion era teams, including the Golden Knights, to qualify for the playoffs within their first two NHL seasons. Utah finished the 2025-26 campaign with a 43-33-6 record and 92 points to claim the first wild card spot in the Western Conference. The season started strong for Utah as the team opened with an 8-2-0 record in its first 10 games, which included a franchise-best seven-game win streak between Oct. 15 and Oct. 26. Utah’s best month of the regular season came in January when the team put up a 10-4-1 record in 15 games which propelled the Mammoth to hold a playoff spot since Feb. 2.
Clayton Keller led the team in scoring with 88 points (26G, 62A) in 82 GP to mark the third time in the last four seasons Keller has surpassed the 80-point mark. Nick Schmaltz and Dylan Guenther both reached new heights with 74 points (33G, 41A) and 73 points (40G, 33A) each. At 29 years old, Schmaltz recorded his first 30-goal season and surpassed the 70-point mark in 82 games for the first time in his 10-year career. Guenther led the way for Utah to become the first 40-goal scorer in the franchise’s young history in just his second full NHL season. Logan Cooley was limited by an injury in early December, which saw the 21-year-old miss 28 games, but he still managed to post 43 points (24G, 19A) in 54 appearances. Karel Vejmelka was the No. 1 netminder for Utah this season, appearing in a League-high 64 games with a 38-20-3 record. Vejmelka was the first goaltender to reach the 30-win mark in the NHL and posted a 2.75 goals-against average and an .897 save percentage.
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS PLAYOFF HISTORY
The Vegas Golden Knights reached the postseason for the eighth time in their first nine seasons in 2026. Vegas has qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for four consecutive seasons, including the organization’s first Stanley Cup title in 2023 when the Golden Knights defeated the Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, and Florida Panthers to win the championship. The Golden Knights’ 12 series victories and 62 wins are both tied for the second-most in the NHL since 2018. Vegas has won at least one playoff series in five of its seven previous postseason runs and has made three appearances in the Western Conference Final.
The Golden Knights have four players on their roster who have put up 60-or-more points in the postseason for the franchise in Mark Stone (72pts in 85 games), William Karlsson (71pts in 106 games), Reilly Smith (70pts in 99 games), and Shea Theodore (65pts in 105 games).
UTAH MAMMOTH PLAYOFF HISTORY
Utah is set to make its Stanley Cup Playoffs debut in just the second season as a franchise after failing to qualify last season. Defenseman Nate Schmidt leads all Mammoth players in postseason scoring in his career with 40 points (10G, 30A) in 99 games to go with the Stanley Cup he won as a member of the Florida Panthers in 2025. Two-time Stanley Cup Champions Mikhail Sergachev (34pts in 100 games) and Ian Cole (31pts in 129 games) are joined by Kevin Stenlund (3pts in 31 games) and Vítek Vaněček (10 GP) as players on the Mammoth roster whose names are etched on the Cup.
