Golden Knights win in 2OT, push Mammoth to brink in Game 5 of West 1st Round

LAS VEGAS -- Brett Howden scored short-handed at 5:28 of double overtime for the Vegas Golden Knights, who pushed the Utah Mammoth to the brink with a 5-4 win in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday.

Howden won it following a puck battle in the right circle, scoring on a wrist shot after Reilly Smith’s high-sticking penalty at 3:42.

“I kind of blacked out there,” Howden said. “Mitch (Marner) did a really good job. It’s like the other night on PK. He did a good job of getting a stick in there, interrupting the play. Just kind of popped out, and I tried to get a shot.”

Howden’s goal came after Pavel Dorofeyev completed the hat trick for Vegas at 19:07 of the third period to tie it 4-4 when he found a loose puck in front of the net with Carter Hart pulled for the extra attacker.

“I was so fired up, and good things happen when you go to the blue paint,” Dorofeyev said. “We don’t quit on the game until the final whistle, and we always help each other and just believe.”

Shea Theodore also had a goal and an assist, and Jack Eichel had two assists for the Golden Knights, who are the No. 1 seed from the Pacific Division. Hart made 34 saves.

“They’ve regained their confidence,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “They realized how good they can be. I, you, can tell they never feel they’re out of a game. It’s a good locker room, and it’s a really good locker room when you win in the playoffs.”

Dylan Guenther, Lawson Crouse, and Michael Carcone scored for the Mammoth, who are the first wild card in the West. Clayton Keller had two assists, and Karel Vejmelka made 31 saves.

Vegas leads the best-of-7 series 3-2. Game 6 will be at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday (10 p.m. ET; Utah16, SCRIPPS, ESPN, TVAS2, SN360, SN).

“We’re a confident group. We believe in one another and in our team,” Keller said. “These are the most fun games to be a part of. Down 3-2, we get to go home, playing in front of our fans. If you are not fired up for that, then you’ve got something wrong with you.”

John Marino gave Utah a 1-0 lead at 17:11 of the first period. He recovered Keller’s shot off the end boards and scored off Hart’s right pad.

“We play and stick to our game,” Marino said. “We know how effective we can be against them. … It’s a pretty deep group. Line after line, we just keep coming after them. That’s when we’re at our best.”

Dorofeyev’s power-play goal tied it 1-1 at 19:19 with a wrist shot that went bar down.

Crouse put the Mammoth back ahead 2-1 at 10:40 of the second period on a wrist shot from the high slot off a feed from Keller.

Dorofeyev’s second goal of the game tied it 2-2 at 15:37. Theodore dropped the puck from below the goal line to Dorofeyev, who roofed a wrist shot.

“It’s awesome to see him find the back of the net a few times,” Eichel said of Dorofeyev. “It seems like he’s been playing his best these last few nights. Great to see him get rewarded.”

Theodore gave Vegas a 3-2 lead at 17:17 on a wrist shot from the high slot.

“We need to get some things going from our back end,” Tortorella said. “Shea’s beginning to find his way there. He’s made some really good plays the past couple of nights. … Shea’s done a pretty good job for us out of our end zone, and also finding some lanes to put them through.”

Guenther tied it 3-3 at 5:54 of the third period. Mammoth defenseman MacKenzie Weegar flipped the puck into the neutral zone to Kailer Yamamoto, who found Guenther with a cross-ice pass on the rush.

Carcone put Utah ahead 4-3 at 12:42 with a one-timer on a 2-on-1 rush.

“We had a little slump for about three minutes where we didn’t do the specific what we need to do to be successful against Vegas,” Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said. “Right away, you saw, I saw, we stopped doing it, and they were coming.

“Both teams play really hard. We were really close, unfortunately.”

NOTES: Howden became the second player to score a short-handed winner in a game that required multiple overtimes (since 1933-34 when goals by type began being tracked), following teammate Tomas Hertl, who did so in Game 6 of the 2019 First Round against the Golden Knights while he was a member of the San Jose Sharks. … Dorofeyev became the fourth player in franchise history with a playoff hat trick, following Mark Stone (Game 5 of 2023 Stanley Cup Final and Game 3 of 2019 First Found), Jonathan Marchessault (Game 6 of 2023 Second Round and Game 4 of 2021 Second Round) and Mattias Janmark (Game 7 of 2021 First Round). He also became the fourth player in NHL history to score three game-tying goals in a playoff contest, following Dale Hunter (Game 2 of 1993 DSF), Dirk Graham (Game 4 of 1992 SCF) and Michel Goulet (Game 3 of 1985 DF). … Eichel became the fastest American player to reach 40 career playoff assists (45 games), eclipsing Brian Leetch (48).