{"id":556988,"date":"2026-04-21T00:30:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T00:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/556988\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T00:30:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T00:30:15","slug":"vegas-golden-knights-delivering-physicality-against-utah-mammoth-golden-knights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/556988\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegas Golden Knights delivering physicality against Utah Mammoth | Golden Knights"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Vegas Golden Knights<\/a> aren\u2019t afraid to throw their weight around.<\/p>\n

They just don\u2019t do it often. They were in the top half of the league in hits because it didn\u2019t need to be a calling card in the regular season.<\/p>\n

But they proved in Game 1 in their 4-2 win over the Utah Mammoth<\/a> that they can get physical if need be with 51 hits in a game that saw an 82 combined.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the message,\u201d said winger Keegan Kolesar, who had a team-high nine of those hits. \u201cAny team going into a playoff series is going to be physical with the opponent and see the distance their willing to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kolesar gave credit to winger Ivan Barbashev for setting the tone. The top-six forward, known for his bulldozing mentality, had eight hits along with his empty-net goal that sealed the win.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fair to expect that kind of play won\u2019t carry over throughout a seven-game series, especially Tuesday when the Knights look to take a 2-0 series lead at T-Mobile Arena.<\/p>\n

But Kolesar, who was seventh in the league with 270 hits in the regular season, thinks it\u2019s absolutely sustainable, even if it takes a toll one way or another.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we play all year for,\u201d Kolesar said. \u201cIt\u2019s a style of play. It\u2019s not like none of us are out there checking this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Knights averaged 20.49 hits this season, good for 14th in the league. A respectable number, but they\u2019re not out there trying to go after the opposition.<\/p>\n

Utah didn\u2019t look rattled in its first ever playoff game, willing to mix it up with the Knights after every other whistle.<\/p>\n

Mammoth left wing Lawson Crouse matched Kolesar\u2019s total with nine of Utah\u2019s 31 hits.<\/p>\n

The temperature turned up as the game went on. Of the 16 penalty minutes handed out Sunday, 12 of them were roughing penalties.<\/p>\n

Even Utah defenseman Sean Durzi landed a headbutt<\/a> at Knights defenseman Rasmus Andersson in the first period. Only a roughing penalty was called, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re a big team,\u201d defenseman Brayden McNabb said. \u201cWe can play a lot of different styles. Being physical is just the playoffs. That\u2019s how it is. It\u2019s an important part this time of year. We have guys that can do it throughout the lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was one of the areas of Game 1 that coach John Tortorella liked. He also thought the Knights did a good job sticking with it even when trailing 1-0 after the first and 2-1 after the second.<\/p>\n

As for what else he\u2019d like to see improved on, Tortorella is keeping things close to the vest for now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stuff we need to work on, we\u2019re going to keep that in the room,\u201d Tortorella said. \u201cThere\u2019s always some good stuff after games. There\u2019s always some stuff you need to improve on. We had a good meeting today, and we\u2019ll be ready to play our next one.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Knights needed another third-period comeback to put themselves in a position to take a commanding 2-0 series lead when it shifts to Salt Lake City on Friday.<\/p>\n

History shows that Game 2 tends to be a struggle point. The Knights are 10-8 all-time in the second game of a best-of-7 series and just 7-7 at home.<\/p>\n

The Knights can lean on that physicality to get the home crowd engaged. They might need to in order to keep the momentum going.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt tends to skyrocket, and that\u2019s the best part about it,\u201d McNabb said. \u201cYou ask anyone, it\u2019s the most fun. The intensity is through the roof.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com.<\/a> Follow @DannyWebster21<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n

Up next<\/p>\n

Who: Mammoth at Golden Knights<\/p>\n

What: Game 2, first round (Knights lead 1-0)<\/p>\n

When: Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Where: T-Mobile Arena<\/p>\n

TV: KMCC-34, ESPN2<\/p>\n

Radio: KFLG 94.7 FM\/KKGK 1340 AM<\/p>\n

Line: Knights -160; total 6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Vegas Golden Knights aren\u2019t afraid to throw their weight around. They just don\u2019t do it often. They…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5129],"tags":[149,5317,5,4,74,39,5316],"class_list":{"0":"post-556988","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vegas-golden-knights","8":"tag-golden-knights","9":"tag-goldenknights","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-vegas","13":"tag-vegas-golden-knights","14":"tag-vegasgoldenknights"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116439877114867932","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}