The one thing the Vegas Golden Knights didn’t get away from as Game 4 wore on was their forecheck.
The relentless approach in how the Knights handled the latter stages of their 5-4 overtime win over the Utah Mammoth on Monday landed in their favor.
It’s the reason why the Knights have put themselves in position to regain momentum in this series with Game 5 at T-Mobile Arena at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
The Knights started Game 4 the same way they did Game 3 on Friday. They got on the forecheck, wore Utah down by getting pucks deep and sustaining pressure in the offensive zone.
It worked to the tune of a 3-0 lead early in the second period. All three goals were a direct result of the Knights causing havoc in the Mammoth’s zone.
“We liked it a lot, for sure,” said Mitch Marner, whose forecheck led to Brett Howden’s shorthanded goal late in the first period. “We were rolling (the lines) over. I thought every line was contributing offensively.”
Even when the Mammoth stormed back to take a 4-3 lead early in the third, the Knights got back to their game.
There were spurts the Mammoth broke down the Knights’ checking. Their own forecheck started causing issues in the second period.
“We started really well,” Knights coach John Tortorella said. “We lost ourselves for a bit. Momentum swung to their side.”
But the Knights found their rhythm. They hopped back on the forecheck train and wore down Utah.
It paid off on Howden’s second goal when Eichel won a puck battle along the wall, got it to defenseman Noah Hanifin and Howden tipped his point shot to tie it 4-4.
“I thought we did a good job after that of pushing back for the rest of the second,” Howden said. “Coming in after the second, we were feeling good about our game. They managed to get a couple, but we stuck with it.”
That was noticeable in overtime. The Knights’ forecheck bogged the Mammoth down as the extra period went on.
Shot attempts were even at 19-19 in overtime. The Knights outshot the Mammoth 9-8.
The difference was scoring chances, where the Knights had a 9-4 edge, according to Natural Stat Trick. Four of those were high-danger chances.
Utah’s speed was neutralized. Each time the Mammoth got in transition, the Knights had an extra body to assist in breaking up chances.
Reilly Smith made two defensive plays, specifically, to keep Utah out of the slot midway through overtime.
It capped off with Shea Theodore’s first career overtime playoff goal to give the Knights home-ice advantage back.
“I thought everybody contributed,” Tortorella said. “Going down in the third, getting scored on twice and coming back to win, that’s something we can lean on as we keep going on in these games.”
Even in the instances where Utah had sustained pressure in overtime, the Knights “flipped the script again,” winger Cole Smith said.
Marner said, simply, it gets “tiring” to deal with a team’s pressure for four periods straight. Time will tell if that can carry over to Wednesday.
“I thought we did a good job all night,” Marner said. “It’s about making sure we get our recovery, get what you need in you and be ready for a big Game 5.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
Up next
Who: Mammoth at Golden Knights
What: Game 5, first round (series tied 2-2)
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Where: T-Mobile Arena
TV: TNT, KMCC-34
Radio: KFLG 94.7 FM/KKGK 1340 AM
Line: Knights -160; total 6
