Vegas Knights Vs Utah Mammoth
Mobile Arena
April 29, 2026I’m in Las Vegas for the annual Asembia meeting for work, and the past two years I had an absolutely horrible manager so I never felt like I could explore the city after a super long day of work. Exuded this year, after three very busy days all lasting about 12-14 hours I was going to hit up a playoff hockey game and knock the Knights off my list.
What was supposed to be grabbing a nosebleed seat turned into a unique opportunity due to an old friend Anthony Deangelis and his vendor contact Shane. Shane just happened to know the GM of the Knights through his brother in law so no only did I get a free ticket, but also they were about 10 rows from the glass. Not too shabby!
We started the night with an uber ride to T Mobile Arena. Normally I would have explored a bit more outside and took in the sights and sounds before the game but beggars can’t be choosers. The rest of the group wanted to go in and I wasn’t in to hold them up. Inside the arena was blah. I’ve been to it before but on the middle deck I didn’t see anything exciting for fans. There was a fake slot machine, a neon sign, but nothing else. I’ll likely come back at some point and check out the ground floor as well, and I know the team has only been around a few years, but they already have a Stanley Cup. Just thought there would be more.
Inside I got some pics of the banners they already have up, the playoff banners of the teams in the first round (Kings got stomped by the Avs), the funny King and Queen seats, and finally the makeshift castle where the announcer and drummers were located. And then the shitshow before the game of the good and bad knights fighting in the one before the game was so Vegas, over the top and cheesy, but the fans dig it.
As we neared game time we heard the national anthem where the crowd screams when the song says …”gave proof through the NIGHT!!!” I love when teams can do that, and that was only after the players streamed onto the ice through the huge Knight helmet. Once that was done it was puck drop.
The Mammoth have been in the league a long time, but really came from the original Winnipeg Jets who moved to AZ and became the Coyotes. Arizona folded and moved to Utah where they immediately gained momentum with some smart player moves bringing in speed and size. Vegas in the other hand from day one built a team that has been strong with key draft picks, trades, and grabbing amazing vets. Their first year they went to the finals and in 23 hoisted the cup. Unreal.
The game was back and forth. The first period the Knights came out strong. A ton of big hits, shots on goal, but the first shot to go in was from Utahs Marino around 17 minutes into the game. That took all of the air out of the arena. But a power play goal by Pavel Dorofeyev at 19:19 tied up the game right before the end of the period. That got the crowd back into the game and got Shane/Anthony excited to get more drinks.
In the second the Mammoth came out firing. They had so much speed and it looked like the Knights D was chasing the first 10 minutes. When Lawson Crouse snapped a wrister by goalie Hart, you could hear crickets. It’s got so quiet so quickly. But lucky for Vegas because Superman got them back on the board when Dorofeyev got his second goal followed by Shea Theodore just two minutes later. With a 3-2 lead it was time to hit the head (for some reason the urinals had small elephant toys in them…???) and back to get another tall beer.
Third period Dylan Guenther and Michael Corcone crashed the net and put the mammoth up again 4-3. I could hear Shane getting oissed saying “Utah is just too fast!” I guess all of the negative comments was pissing off the lady in front of us and she physically moved seats. Ha! It’s was around this point the guy dressed like Elvis went to the bathroom and I yelled “I guess he’s leaving the building!” That got some great laughs. But the game was far from over. A penalty gave some life to the knights after the crowd chanted “Shame, Shame, Shame!” and guess who put in the tying goal with less than a minute…? Yep, Dorofeyev. Hats came flying onto the ice for about 5 minutes holding up the game and giving all the players a bit of a break. But the period ended and we were off to OT. I told Tony that although I don’t want to stay up all night I was hoping to go into the second OT and Vegas to score so it would be right in front of us.
As you can imagine, I got my wish. The first OT was a massive back and forth with some close calls but no goals. At intermissions the bars were closed but the serve yourself store was still open so Shane got his 5th drink of the night and we were ready for the start of the 80th minute of hockey. We didn’t have to wait long. 5 minutes in, while down a man, Brett Howden scored a short hander and the place went nuts. I’m obviously not a Vegas fan but that was exciting and a great way to end the night and week in LV. By the time we got back to their hotel, and I finally hit the Marriott a few blocks away it was after midnight. Luckily I saved half of my Philly cheese from lunch. I scarfed that down, took a quick shower and was in bed around 1am. I had to get up a 4am for my flight home so suffice to say I was exhausted when I got home.
Fun fact of the night, Shane’s wife has hockey in her blood. She still plays, their 2 boys and 1 girl play, and her father was on the 1932 silver medal team where she still has his medal, Jersey, parade of nations jacket and blanket. So amazing.
This was game 111 and I am 73% complete with hockey and just over
70% for all games. Slowly getting there.
