Vegas Golden Knights left wing Ivan Barbashev (49) and center Brett Howden (21) celebrate the game-winning goal by Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore (27), not pictured, during overtime of Game 4 of a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoff series against the Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, April 27, 2026.
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SALT LAKE CITY – Despite an admirable comeback effort after trailing by three, the Utah Mammoth came up just short in overtime as the Vegas Golden Knights claimed Game 4 to even the series.
While the Mammoth eventually discovered their offense in the second period following a slow start, Utah struggled to assert themselves in the offensive zone during key stretches which opened the door for an experienced Vegas team to regain control.
Here are the key takeaways from Utah’s 5-4 loss in OT.
Through the first nine periods of this series, the Utah Mammoth were able to establish a 2-1 lead by winning the vast majority of those frames with their speed, defense and an extremely efficient offensive approach.
However, upon entering Game 4, Vegas came out swinging which instantly caught Utah off guard and quickly resulted in the worst 20 minutes the team has played thus far in the postseason.
In addition to a continued inability to properly produce shots on goal, Utah lacked energy, urgency and confidence which opened the door for Vegas to dominate the period.
Rather than denying the middle of the ice and winning battles in close as they’d done previously, the Mammoth allowed the Knights to get to their spots on a consistent basis.
“They’re a good team,” Clayton Keller said. “We knew they were going to have a good start.”
“Going into next game, we have to be better, be more on our toes, and expect that.”
CAME. OUT. SWINGING. 🚪#ForgedInGold | @CooperRoofSolar pic.twitter.com/DGWUHpnnxg
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) April 28, 2026
these moves are just FILTHY 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/XL6869ehd1
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) April 28, 2026
After scoring less than 90 seconds into the contest, Vegas greatly benefited from Utah’s lack of confidence as Michael Carcone missed a wide-open net at one end and a series of poor decisions led to a shorthanded goal at the other.
“We haven’t been happy with our starts the past two games,” Ian Cole explained. “We’re going to have to rectify that going forward.”
Just as Cole pointed out, Utah has no choice but to start the remaining games in this series with more energy and urgency than the previous two.
Simple as that.
If not, Vegas will quickly run away it and continue to punish Utah for early mistakes just as they did in Game 4.
It’s pretty amazing what can happen when a team decides to shoot the puck, eh?
Not only do they eventually find the back of the net, but momentum can swing in an instant as confidence quickly rises.
Shockingly, that’s all it takes most of the time for a hockey game to do a complete one-eighty.
Not necessarily some well devised, complicated plan that needs to be executed to perfection.
Rather, just throwing pucks on net, generating traffic and watching the lamp light up which is exactly how Utah forced their way back into Game 4.
Nick to net connection! 👏 pic.twitter.com/v5yTtYQq3X
— x – Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) April 28, 2026
Two goals in 29 seconds! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/6IfVqguNma
— x – Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) April 28, 2026
CarcOWNED 🫵 pic.twitter.com/wPzmZqqqBV
— x – Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) April 28, 2026
“Shooting more pucks at the net would be the answer,” Ian Cole explained in regard to what changed for Utah in the second period.
“It’s just a mentality. They have a good team. We can control the puck in the O-zone, hang onto that and generate more chances. That’s good for us. Putting more pucks on net is obviously key.”
The Mammoth are not necessarily outmatched in this series in terms of overall talent.
While the two teams play fairly different styles, the fact that this series is tied at two perfectly illustrates how tight these first four games have been.
However, what Utah does lack is maturity and experience.
Just as Keller noted, Utah knew Vegas would come out swinging, but they failed to properly adjust and play their game.
Thus, only three shots on net in the first period and a 3-0 deficit to crawl back from.
Now, to Utah’s credit, they came all the way back and even took a 4-3 lead for approximately five minutes in the third period.
But part of starting faster means shooting pucks from the beginning instead of allowing themselves to be overwhelmed and refusing to create offense.
“We need a better start,” Mikhail Sergachev said. “We need more pace in the neutral zone. And when we have an opportunity to score a goal, we’ve got to put it in. We had some opportunities (tonight) where we maybe passed on the shots (and) didn’t create enough traffic. Next game, we gotta focus on that.”
“We just got to fix the start, and I think we’ll be fine.”
Like Sergachev said, a better start with a steady number of pucks at the net from the get-go will put Utah in a much better position to compete in Game 5.
To be completely honest, Utah didn’t play poorly during OT against Vegas.
In fact, they even led the period in SOG 9-8 and were the more physical team as they delivered 57 total hits to Vegas’s 41 over the course of the game.
But what seemed to make the difference in the extra period was that Vegas simply had a little bit more gas in the tank as they consistently trapped Utah in their own zone for extended shifts.
That visibly weighed on the Mammoth and eventually led to a Grade A scoring opportunity for Shea Theodore.
“There were a couple times where we’re just trying to keep them on the ice,” Theodore explained. “We all know how it feels to have an extended shift, especially over time when your minutes are generally a lot higher. I thought we stayed on them, and I thought we did a pretty good job.”
NEVER GIVE UP
NEVER BACK DOWN pic.twitter.com/PuUSeD5WH2— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) April 28, 2026
All in all, Utah offered an admirable comeback effort in a game that looked beyond lost in the first period.
Unfortunately, they just didn’t have enough in the tank to seal the deal and take Game 4.
The Utah Mammoth will face the Vegas Golden Knights in game five of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. MT.
The game will be available on SEG+.
All Mammoth games will also be broadcast live on the KSL Sports Zone (97.5 FM/1280 AM).
