On Monday, the Vegas Golden Knights (10-5-7) finished off a three-game road trip against the Utah Mammoth (12-8-3). They fell behind early and, despite a strong second period, never recovered. The Mammoth hit the empty net twice to defeat the Golden Knights 5-1.
Much like when the two teams met on Thursday, the Mammoth were the better team in the first period. Aided by an early power play, the Mammoth generated five high-danger scoring chances to the Golden Knights’ two and outshot them 9-8.
The Mammoth broke the ice at 14:54 in the first. Logan Cooley entered the zone, evaded Ben Hutton, and dropped a pass for Dylan Guenther, who ripped it home.
Just 1:17 later, the Mammoth doubled their lead. Logan Cooley crashed the net to finish off a give-and-go with Dylan Guenther and tap the puck past Carl Lindbom.
In the second period, the Golden Knights flipped the script and took control of the game. They clogged up the neutral zone and generated scoring chances off the rush. The Golden Knights outshot the Mammoth 16-4 and controlled 78.35%of the expected goal share.
The Golden Knights got on the board 5:24 into the second period. Ben Hutton sent a stretch pass to Jack Eichel, who entered the zone and threaded a cross-ice pass to Braedan Bowman. Bowman tried to find Ivan Barbashev in front of the net, but the puck went through to Eichel’s stick. Eichel centered for Barbashev, who backhanded the puck into the empty net.
Barbashev’s goal gave the Golden Knights life, and they continued to press with a vengeance. However, despite their second-period domination, they didn’t get another past Karel Vejmelka.
The Mammoth scored the dagger 4:19 into the third period. After a mad scramble in front of the Mammoth net, Jack Eichel lost the puck, springing Logan Cooley on a breakaway. Carl Lindbom made the initial save, but the puck bounced right into Cooley’s skate and into the net.
Jack Eichel loses the puck at the blue line springing Logan Cooley on a breakaway. Carl Lindbom makes the initial save, but Cooley pots his own rebound.
3-1, Golden Knights
— Hannah Kirkell (@h_kirk6) November 25, 2025
The Golden Knights never recovered from the third goal, and the Mammoth outshot them 11-10 in the third. The Golden Knights pulled Carl Lindbom for the extra attacker with over 4:30 remaining in regulation, and Logan Cooley completed the hat trick.
The Golden Knights drew a penalty with 3:16 remaining and again pulled Lindbom for the extra attacker. Logan Cooley once again found the net and recorded the first four-goal game in Utah Mammoth franchise history.
7 Golden Knights Observations
1. The Golden Knights allowed the first goal for the 13th time this season. After tonight’s regulation loss, they have a record of 4-4-5 when allowing the first goal.
2. Carl Lindbom has played six NHL games and is still searching for his first win. It’s hard to find much fault with him tonight because of all the defensive breakdowns, and because the Golden Knights only managed to score one goal. Lindom allowed three goals but finished the night with a positive .29 GSAx.
3. The Golden Knights’ fourth line is doing all the right things. Tonight, they outshot their opponents 8-3 at 5-on-5. The problem is that they can’t buy a goal– only Cole Reinhardt has scored this season.
4. Pavel Dorofeyev started the season red hot, but has cooled off. After scoring nine goals in the first 10 games, he has just two goals in his last 12. Both of those goals have come on the power play.
5. It’s becoming a recurring trend that if the Golden Knights can’t score, the puck often ends up in the back of their net. It happened twice tonight. Pavel Dorofeyev hit the post right before the Mammoth scored their first goal of the night, and there was a mad scramble in front of the Utah net before Logan Cooley scored his breakaway goal.
6. You have to give credit where credit is due– Karel Vejmelka was fantastic tonight. He made 33 saves on 34 shots faced for an average save percentage of .971 and 2.08 GSAx.
7. No matter how you slice it, the Golden Knights have lost 10 of their last 15 games. Five of those losses came in overtime, but 5-5-5 isn’t a record to write home about for a team supposedly contending for the Stanley Cup.