Cooley breaks tie late in 3rd, Mammoth edge Golden Knights in Game 2 to even West 1st Round

LAS VEGAS -- Logan Cooley scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period to help the Utah Mammoth win their first Stanley Cup Playoff game in franchise history with a 3-2 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of the Western Conference First Round at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.

“It’s awesome. It’s nice to get to win,” Cooley said. “It’s tough to score in this League. That was the main focus of getting to the front of the net, letting our 'D' get through, and that’s where greasy goals are scored.”

After Dylan Guenther put his own rebound off the left post, Cooley pounced on the loose puck as he crashed the net and slid it past the right skate of Carter Hart to put Utah up 3-2 at 14:00.

“We talked about building speed through the middle, and we’re a fast line,” Guenther said. “I heard ‘Cools,’ but I didn’t see him, so I just wanted to attack the net and break them down. It’s a lot of greasy goals in the playoffs.”

Guenther scored his first playoff goal and had an assist for the Mammoth, who are the first wild card from the West. Kailer Yamamoto had two assists, and Karel Vejmelka made 19 saves for his first career playoff win.

“We talked about being level-headed since training camp,” Guenther said. “We did a really good job at that. We’ll enjoy this one, take a little time off and get ready for the next.”

Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev scored for the Golden Knights, who are the No. 1 seed from the Pacific Division. Jack Eichel had two assists, and Hart made 26 saves.

“We got a couple of things to fix,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said, "but that’s why it’s a series.”

Utah evened the best-of-7 series 1-1. Game 3 will be at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Friday (9:30 p.m. ET; TBS, HBO Max, SN360, TVAS2, SCRIPPS, Utah16).

“If you want to win a series, you need to start winning at some point,” Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said. “Obviously, we want to win every game, but we try to keep a really here-and-now mindset.”

Stone put the Golden Knights up 1-0 with a power-play goal at 11:42 of the first period. Eichel sent the puck to Stone at the goal line to the left of the net, and Stone thew the puck into the crease where it deflected in off the right skate of Mammoth defenseman Mikhail Sergachev.

MacKenzie Weegar was credited with a goal to tie it 1-1 at 16:59 after his long-distance wrist shot rebounded off Hart and Vegas defenseman Rasmus Andersson kicked the puck into the net from in front.

Guenther put Utah up 2-1 at 14:56 of the second period. Yamamoto fed a cross-ice pass to Guenther, who buried a one-timer from above the left circle over Hart's blocker for his first playoff goal.

Barbashev evened the score 2-2 at 15:58 after Eichel deflected a breakout pass from Sergachev. Barbashev intercepted the puck in the neutral zone, split the defense and lifted a backhander past Vejmelka's glove from in tight.

“'Barbs’s been playing some great hockey,” Vegas forward Mitch Marner said. “He’s always been a guy that just keeps ramping his game up throughout the year and keeps bringing the pressure and brings a lot of energy.”

The Mammoth outshot the Golden Knights 13-4 in the second period.

“We played our game for the most part in the first half, then kind of got away from it,” Vegas forward Brett Howden said. “They obviously had a push. They’re a good team, and we knew this wasn’t going to be easy. I think just trying to continue some more play in the offensive zone and hanging onto the puck (will help). We’ll try to regroup here and be ready to go.”

NOTES: Cooley became the youngest American player in NHL history to score in each of their first two career playoff games, besting the previous benchmark held by Utah captain Clayton Keller (22 years, 6 days). ... Stone (74 points; 38 goals, 36 assists) needs one point to tie Jonathan Marchessault (75) for the most in Golden Knights playoff history.