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

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

Western Conference First Round, Game 3

Best-of-7 series tied 1-1

9:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, Utah16, SCRIPPS, TBS, TVAS2, SN360

SALT LAKE CITY -- The atmosphere will be charged for the first Stanley Cup Playoff game in Utah. But will that help the Utah Mammoth, the Vegas Golden Knights or both in Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round at Delta Center on Friday?

The Mammoth have the momentum, coming off a 3-2 road win in Game 2 on Tuesday.

“I think it will be electric,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “I think it will be a moment of pride for all of us, and when I say all of us, I mean surely the players, the coaches, but the management, the marketing team, the owner, the fans, everybody. We’re all in this together, all the state.”

The NHL Board of Governors voted to establish a new franchise in Utah on April 18, 2024, with the team to acquire the Arizona Coyotes hockey assets. Several players will experience a home playoff crowd for the first time. You would expect the Mammoth to come out flying.

But sometimes teams feel more pressure in front of their home crowd, and the Golden Knights are making their eighth playoff appearance in nine seasons since entering the NHL as an expansion team.

Forward Reilly Smith and defensemen Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore were part of the Golden Knights’ first playoff game, with Theodore scoring the goal in a 1-0 home win against the Los Angeles Kings on April 11, 2018. (Utah defenseman Nate Schmidt also played for Vegas in that game.)

They know what to expect.

“I think it’ll be very similar,” Smith said. “They’ll be super excited. It seems like they have a fan base that mimics what we had, and it’s a cool opportunity for them to be able to showcase that.”

McNabb said the atmosphere should be fun.

“I think it might play to our advantage too,” he said. “It’s exciting for us, too, when their crowd’s going. We’re used to it. We’re a veteran group. We’ve played in loud buildings before in playoff runs, so I’m sure it’ll be something similar to what we’re used to.”

Teams that have taken a 2-1 lead in a best-of-7 series have won the series 69 percent of the time (396-178) in NHL history.

Here are three things to watch in Game 3:

1. Utah’s speed

The Mammoth’s strength is their speed. Prime example: the winning goal in Game 2. Forward Dylan Guenther raced past Theodore and fired a shot. Goalie Carter Hart made the save. But Guenther clanked the rebound off the left post, and center Logan Cooley drove to the net and banged in the puck.

“Obviously, their speed has shown up in the series, right? Especially Game 2,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “It’s a concern of ours. I think we can fix it.”

Smith said the Golden Knights didn’t control the pace of Game 2.

“I don’t think we checked as well as we needed to, and they’re a team that can make you pay when you give them time and space,” he said. “And we just gave them too much of that.”

2. Vegas’ swarm

Utah’s line of Crouse, Keller and center Nick Schmaltz has one point through two games, an assist by Crouse on the opening goal in Game 1. Schmaltz said the line is still adjusting to the playoff style and needs “to bring a little more jam.”

“I think you’ve got to find other ways to create,” Schmaltz said. “There’s not a lot of rushes. There’s not a lot of open space out there. It’s a lot of forechecking, a lot of kind of pucks on net and try to get a loose puck somewhere around the net.”

The Golden Knights have been more aggressive since Tortorella took over March 29, trying to snuff out plays before they start and go the other way as fast as possible.

“I feel like they swarm us pretty quick,” Schmaltz said. “They’re a big team. They get on us quick. So, we’ve got to get out of those swarm situations and kind of open up the ice for us and try to wear them down that way.”

3. Ready to break out?

Forward Pavel Dorofeyev led Vegas with 37 goals during the regular season but has no points in this series.

Center Tomas Hertl had 24 goals in the regular season, tied for fourth on the Golden Knights. But he had no goals in his final 20 regular-season games and has one assist in this series.

Hertl had chances in Game 2, sweeping one puck just wide of the left post.

“Some guys are close,” Tortorella said. “… I trust the hockey club, Tommy included.”

Golden Knights projected lineup

Ivan Barbashev -- Jack Eichel -- Mark Stone

Brett Howden -- Mitch Marner -- Pavel Dorofeyev

Reilly Smith -- 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: 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

Each team held an optional morning skate. ... No lineup changes are expected for either team.

NHL.com independent correspondent Matt Komma contributed to this report