3 Things to Watch: Golden Knights at Mammoth, Game 4 of Western Conference 1st Round

(1P) Golden Knights at (1WC) Mammoth

Western Conference First Round, Game 4

Utah leads best-of-7 series 2-1

9:30 p.m. ET; Utah16, SCRIPPS, ESPN, SN360, SN, TVAS, CBC

SALT LAKE CITY -- The Vegas Golden Knights feel confident entering Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round even though they've lost two straight and fallen behind in the series.

If they defeat the Utah Mammoth at Delta Center on Monday, they'll tie the series 2-2 and have a chance to take a 3-2 lead at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in Game 5 on Wednesday.

"Obviously, we're down in the series, so we'd rather be up," Vegas defenseman Noah Hanifin said. "But I think we have a lot of guys that are veteran guys that have been through long playoff series in here, and you know how it works. It's a seven-game series for a reason. We've just got to make sure we take care of the next one, then we go home and reset."

The Golden Knights got it done in the same situation in the first round last year. After losing Games 2 and 3 to the Minnesota Wild to fall behind 2-1, they won three in a row and took the series in six.

"This is what playoff hockey's all about," Hanifin said. "It's about playing in these crunch-time moments and dealing with some adversity. It's not always going to go your way, so it's a good opportunity for us to bounce back and get some momentum back."

The Mammoth stayed even-keeled when they entered the series as underdogs making their first Stanley Cup Playoff appearance and when they lost Game 1 on the road. Now they must do it after two straight wins with expectations rising at home.

If they defeat the Golden Knights, they will have a chance to eliminate them on their own ice in Game 5.

"They're a veteran team," Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. "We already said that, but in our room, we have a lot of veterans as well. A lot of guys have been there, done that, so it's important to stay even-keeled, not just when you have adversity or challenge, but when you have success as well. ...

"Obviously, there's a good team on the other side, and they will have their moment. They will have their push. We need to have ours, and we need to be able to respond as quick as possible."

Here are three things to watch in Game 4:

1. Adjustments

The Golden Knights made adjustments in Game 3 to slow down the Mammoth in the neutral zone. Now they have shuffled their top three lines and two power-play units after scoring four goals and going 1-for-8 on the power play over the past two games.

"It's just to create some extra juice, different looks, not much more than that," Vegas forward Reilly Smith said. "We created a lot. We got to start putting the puck in the net."

Golden Knights coach John Tortorella said they need to get inside more at 5-on-5 and on the power play.

The Mammoth must be ready to counter

"It's always a chess game, kind of, 'OK, you make your move, then they make their move, then you need to react,'" Tourigny said. "They made some adjustments we need to be aware of and see how much that impacts our game and how much that impacts their game and see what adjustments we can make."

2. Power play

Shea Theodore has replaced Mitch Marner as the quarterback on Vegas' top power-play unit with Pavel Dorofeyev on the right flank.

The Golden Knights need to get Dorofeyev going. He has 72 goals over the past two seasons -- 16 more than anyone else on the team -- but one in 11 playoff games. He has no points in this series.

Tortorella said the power play has been too deliberate, allowing Utah's penalty killers to set up based on their scouting.

"I think we tried to bring them into a fight that we wanted," Mammoth forward Lawson Crouse said. "Obviously, they're going to be doing a lot of video and seeing what they can do to pick us apart, so we got to be doing the same and just know that things are constantly going to be changing."

3. "Veggie"

Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka is excelling in his first NHL playoff series. He's 2-1 with a 2.36 goals-against average and .916 save percentage after making 30 saves in a 4-2 win in Game 3.

"It's huge, I think," Crouse said. "There has been a lot of talk about the (penalty kill), but (Vejmelka) has been our best (penalty killer). He's the backbone of our PK when he's making those saves. And yeah, all season long, especially of late, he's been giving us a chance to win, and it energizes our group, especially when he comes up with a massive save for us. It gives you life. You can really build off that."

Vegas goalie Carter Hart is 1-2 with a 3.10 GAA and .892 save percentage after allowing four goals on 12 shots in Game 3.

Golden Knights projected lineup

Ivan Barbashev -- Jack Eichel -- Pavel Dorofeyev

Reilly Smith -- Mitch Marner -- Mark Stone

Brett Howden -- Tomas Hertl -- Keegan Kolesar

Cole Smith -- Nic Dowd -- Colton Sissons

Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore

Noah Hanifin -- Rasmus Andersson

Jeremy Lauzon -- Kaedan Korczak

Carter Hart

Adin Hill

Scratched: Braeden Bowman, Trevor Connelly, Ben Hutton, Brandon Saad, Akira Schmid

Injured: William Karlsson (lower body), Jonas Rondbjerg (lower body)

Mammoth projected lineup

Clayton Keller -- Nick Schmaltz -- Lawson Crouse

Kailer Yamamoto -- Logan Cooley -- Dylan Guenther

JJ Peterka -- Alexander Kerfoot -- Michael Carcone

Liam O'Brien -- Kevin Stenlund -- Brandon Tanev

Mikhail Sergachev -- MacKenzie Weegar

Nate Schmidt -- John Marino

Ian Cole -- Sean Durzi

Karel Vejmelka

Vitek Vanecek

Scratched: Daniil But, Kevin Rooney, Nick DeSimone, Dmitri Simashev, Matt Villalta

Injured: Barrett Hayton (upper body)

Status report

Forwards Bowman and Connelly were recalled from Henderson of the American Hockey League on Sunday. They practiced with the Golden Knights but are not expected to play Game 4.