Logan Cooley scores late as the
Mammoth beat the Golden Knights 3-2 to even playoffs series
[April 22, 2026]
By MARK ANDERSON
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Logan Cooley scored off a rebound with six minutes
left to give the Mammoth a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights
on Tuesday night, and they will head back to Utah with a split of
the first two games in their first-round playoffs series.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Friday night in Salt Lake
City.
Cooley, a 21-year-old from Pittsburgh, is the youngest U.S.-born
player to scored a goal in each of his first two playoff games.
“It's so exciting playing in these games,” Cooley said. “You're
playing for the (Stanley) Cup. That's what you dream about since
you're a little kid. You just want to leave everything out there.
The games are so intense, physical, fast and I think that kind of
fits my game.”
Cooley, who missed 28 games because of a lower-body injury, scored
24 goals and 43 points in 54 games in the regular season. He
finished strong with seven goals and 13 points in his final 10 games
before the playoffs.
"I don’t know if it’s impressive when you see him every day,"
Mammoth coach André Tourigny said. “We know how competitive, how
good he is. So for us, it’s to stay in the moment. I think Cools has
been really good for us since he’s with us for three years now.
Right now, his head is at the right place. He’s in the moment. I
think everybody in our room right now is. Their focus is in the
right place and we need to keep it that way.”
It's the first playoff victory for the Mammoth since the
organization relocated from Arizona two years ago.
This was the Golden Knights' first regulation defeat under coach
John Tortorella (8-1-1).
“I thought our first period was one of our better first periods in a
while,” Tortorella said. “We just lost any type of flow in the
second period. I thought we had a good start to the third period and
had some opportunities. We couldn’t score. They find a way because
of their speed. We’ve got a couple of things we need to fix. That’s
why it’s a series.”
[to top of second column] |
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone (61) skates over Utah
Mammoth defenseman Nate Schmidt (88) during the first period in Game
2 of a first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Tuesday,
April 21, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
Dylan Guenther had a goal and assist for the Mammoth, MacKenzie
Weegar scored and Kailer Yamamoto finished with two assists. Karel
Vejmelka recorded 19 saves.
Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev scored for the Golden Knights, with
Jack Eichel picking up the primary assist on each. Carter Hart, who
stopped 26 shots, suffered his first loss under Tortorella in Vegas
after winning his first seven starts.
With the score tied at 2 in the waning minutes of regulation,
Guenther took a shot off the rush, got his own rebound and then hit
the puck off the post. Cooley was waiting there, knocking in the
puck to pull the Mammoth even.
The teams traded goals in each of the first two periods.
After Stone scored in the first period on a shot that went off Utah
defenseman Mikhail Sergachev's skate, the Golden Knights, for the
second game in a row, had an unforced error in which the puck ended
up in their net. Weegar was credited with the goal after the puck
went off two Vegas defensemen — Noah Hanifin's stick and Rasmus
Andersson's shin — into the open net.
Guenther delivered a shot from the left point in the second period
for the Mammoth, before Barbashev answered 1:02 later by weaving
through the slot to put in a backhand.
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