Unexpected contributors fuel a Golden Knights comeback victory in game 1 against Utah

Well, add this to the list of sentences I never thought I'd type: game 1 against Utah was, in the most genuine sense, a Colton Sissons legacy game. Vegas was going to need to be clicking in all facets in order to beat a quietly strong Utah team on Sunday night, and that indeed happened.

Outside of a few early blunders, Vegas controlled play and erased all memories of last month's debacle against this same team with a strong 4-2 victory, going up 1-0 in the first-round series. Between the improved depth, improved defense, and improved goaltending, I'm beginning to believe management did have a point in making the coaching change to Torts. Anyways, let's dive right into what drove the Knights to a critical game 1 victory.

The 4th line takes over the game

The first period was mostly uneventful, until, with just a few seconds to go, Logan Cooley sniped one past Carter Hart. It seems the playoffs aren't exempt from VGK's tradition this year of allowing the first goal.

Entering the second, the Golden Knights needed someone to step up and get them back into things, and that someone was none other than... Colton Sissons? No, I am not joking. Sissons, he of the just five goals and 11 points through the regular season, knocked in a backwards pass from former Predators teammate Cole Smith to tie things up at one, getting his first Vegas playoff goal in his first Vegas playoff game.

On that, Smith picked a hell of a time to record his first Golden Knights assist, as he'd had none in his 20-game regular season tenure. The fourth line wasn't done for the night, however. Following one more goal each from both teams, it was deadline acquisition Nic Dowd who provided the game-winning goal, deflecting in a Noah Hanifin blast for just his second in a VGK uniform (including the regular season) around seven minutes into the third period:

Who else could've assisted on that goal but the aforementioned Sissons, who got the secondary apple to finish just a fight short of a playoff Gordie Howe Hat Trick. In short, the grit line of Smith, Dowd, and Sissons combined for two goals, two assists, a combined +7, 11 hits, and in general, an utterly critical role in this game. Who would've thought!

This one got nasty, and it seems the series will too

As far as I know, we didn't have any particular beef with Utah (compared to, say, Edmonton). I don't remember the games being any more chippy than any others, and there's no perennial VGK enemies like Evander Kane or Jamie Benn on the roster.

That didn't stop this game from getting extremely scrappy, however. Scrums abounded, with no outright fights, but a lot of close calls, including a near-brawl immediately following Ivan Barbashev's empty-netter, a literal headbutt from Sean Durzi to Rasmus Andersson, and some scrumming after the game's end, which led to this clip of Nic Dowd:

Not exactly hard to read his lips there, and it'll be... interesting to see what comes of that in game 2.

Additionally, a shoutout to the captain Mark Stone, whose third-period power play goal gave him sole possession of the franchise playoff goals record. Well-deserved for a Golden Knights icon, and we'll see if he can build on it in game 2 on Tuesday!

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