{"id":556694,"date":"2026-04-20T13:33:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T13:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/556694\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T13:33:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T13:33:28","slug":"utahs-historic-playoff-night-ends-in-vegas-comeback-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/556694\/","title":{"rendered":"Utah\u2019s Historic Playoff Night Ends In Vegas Comeback Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Utah Mammoth<\/a>\u2019s first taste of playoff hockey delivered everything it promised\u2014speed, chaos, physicality\u2014and then ended in a gut punch.<\/p>\n

The Vegas Golden Knights<\/a> rallied from multiple deficits to defeat Utah 4\u20132 on Sunday night in Game 1 of their first-round series, flipping what felt like a tightly controlled debut into a third-period collapse for the visitors.<\/p>\n

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Vegas, now unbeaten in regulation in its recent stretch under head coach John Tortorella (8-0-1), once again leaned on relentless pressure and depth scoring to overwhelm Utah late. Colton Sissons<\/a> led the charge with a goal and an assist, while Mark Stone<\/a> and Ivan Barbashev<\/a> also found the back of the net. Carter Hart<\/a> turned aside 32 shots, and Noah Hanifin<\/a> chipped in two assists from the blue line.<\/p>\n

For Utah, Logan Cooley<\/a> and Kevin Stenlund<\/a> provided the offense, and Karel Vejmelka<\/a> stopped 27 shots in a game that featured momentum swings, heavy contact, and a simmering edge that boiled over several times\u2014including a post-buzzer altercation.<\/p>\n

Utah didn\u2019t just show up\u2014they struck first, and nearly carried that energy into intermission.<\/p>\n

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Former Golden Knight Nate Schmidt<\/a> threaded a perfect cross-ice feed to Logan Cooley, who buried a one-timer from the right circle with just 11 seconds left in the opening period. It was the kind of moment that briefly quieted the building and hinted at a dream start for the league\u2019s newest postseason entrant.<\/p>\n

The second period, however, belonged to chaos.<\/p>\n

Sissons tied the game at 3:44, jamming home a rebound off a Cole Smith<\/a> feed. Utah responded quickly, reclaiming the lead when a strange sequence near the crease ended with the puck deflecting into the net off a Vegas miscue, officially credited to Kevin Stenlund.<\/p>\n

But that edge was fragile.<\/p>\n

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The Golden Knights<\/a>\u2019 response came in waves\u2014and with force.<\/p>\n

Mark Stone evened things up on the power play, hammering home a rebound at 5:33 of the third period. From there, the tone of the game shifted entirely. Vegas tilted the ice, leaned on Utah\u2019s defensive zone mistakes, and eventually broke through again when a turnover by MacKenzie Weegar<\/a> led to a decisive go-ahead goal off a Noah Hanifin shot, finished by Sissons\u2019 presence around the puck.<\/p>\n

Ivan Barbashev sealed it with an empty-net goal, putting a punctuation mark on a night where Vegas simply refused to fade.<\/p>\n

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Utah, meanwhile, was left to absorb the reality of playoff margins\u2014small mistakes, magnified instantly.<\/p>\n

The series continues Tuesday night back in Las Vegas, where Utah will try to reset before the moment starts feeling even heavier.<\/p>\n

\"Image\"<\/p>\n

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