The Vegas Golden Knights saw their streak of third-period heroics come to an end Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena, falling 3-2 to the Utah Mammoth in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series. The loss evens the best-of-seven series at one game apiece as the teams head to Salt Lake City for Games 3 and 4.

After a dominant first period that ended 1-1, the Knights were outplayed over the final 40 minutes, managing just 11 shots on goal compared to Utah’s 23. The Mammoth’s speed and pressure paid off with six minutes remaining when Dylan Guenther skated around defenseman Shea Theodore and set up Logan Cooley for the game-winner.

“We had decent looks,” said Knights forward Mitch Marner. “We have to do maybe a better job of sustaining pressure.”

Coach John Tortorella, who took over the team on March 29, acknowledged the challenge of relying on late-game comebacks. “I know they’ve been doing it all year long,” he said. “It’s not a great recipe to chase as many games as the team has, so hopefully we can try to stay away from that in the playoffs here.”

The first period featured 16 combined penalty minutes and 17 hits per side, a physical tone set early. Mark Stone opened the scoring with his second power-play goal of the series, but Utah tied it when a loose puck deflected off Rasmus Andersson and past goalie Carter Hart. Ivan Barbashev tied the game at 2-2 in the second period with a backhand goal after forcing a turnover.

“They are a fast team,” Knights forward Brett Howden said. “We have to get more play in the offensive zone.”

Tortorella emphasized the need for emotional intensity in the postseason. “Everything has to be raised, your emotion level, everything. Just your appearance, how you carry yourself, everything has to be raised.”

The Knights now face a critical road trip, needing to regain the magic that fueled their regular-season success. As Tortorella noted, “It’s a whole different type of intensity.”