The Vegas Golden Knights exited the Delta Center on Friday to the silence of thousands of Salt Lake City residents. After an exhausting series with a couple of overtime games, it was a refreshing environment.
No more X users like Blubber and CapNNumbNutz talking endless smack without having ANY NHL history. No more rushes and quick movements up and down the ice.
All that noise? Gone. The Vegas Golden Knights advanced to the second round, vanquishing the Utah Mammoth, 5-1. The Golden Knights will face the Anaheim Ducks in the next round, with the Ducks winning all three regular season games.
Mitch Marner (twice!), Colton Sissons, Cole Smith, and Brett Howden scored for the Golden Knights. Kailer Yamamoto got a goal for the Mammoth. Carter Hart had a strong game for Vegas, stopping 21 of 22 shots. Overall, it was a solid team effort from a team facing playoff uncertainty a couple of months prior.
On a night when the Golden Knights had the ultimate opportunity to defeat an exhausted Mammoth team, they pulled no punches. They relentlessly attacked the net and saw their penalty kill step up. Now that's extremely cold.
Who were the biggest winners for the Golden Knights on Friday? Believe it or not, it's the players that many people wouldn't expect. One player has heard the endless chirping from a jilted ex while the under has, well, flown under the radar.
Mitch Marner is enjoying the new playoff environment with the Vegas Golden Knights
I got a funny email this week regarding my Mitch Marner article. A reader named Lawrence talked about how Marner had no goals and just one measly primary assist heading into Game 5. In short, he wasn't "doing much."
It seems that Marner spied on me and read that email, too. In turn, he turned in one of his best playoff performances of his career with two goals and an assist.
Mitch Marner asserting himself in this series for @GoldenKnights. Six points now in the series with a goal and an assist tonight against @utahmammoth. Mitch with the assist on Brett Howden's OT winner in G5, assist on Howden's opener tonight and the scored on a slapper late in…
— gary lawless (@garylawless) May 2, 2026
Add seven shots on goal and it was an incredible offensive night for the newer Golden Knights winger. Suddenly, people aren't chirping about his past playoff failures as much because he helped close out a series!
On top of that, he got past the first round in his FIRST SEASON with the Golden Knights! He never did that in Toronto, for he had to wait for years to make that happen. Man, Mark Stone was right. It really IS a Toronto thing.
Brett Howden continues his playoff hot streak
Fresh off his game-winning goal in double overtime on Wednesday, Brett Howden needed an encore. He needed to show that he was capable of carrying himself through the postseason after delivering a clutch moment. What better way to do that than to score the game's first goal?
After scoring the OT winner in game 5, HOWDEN OPENS THE SCORING TONIGHT 😈🚨
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 2, 2026
His 4th(!!!!) goal of these playoffs 🤯 pic.twitter.com/yTEftG4BHK
That's right, folks. Four goals in this season's Stanley Cup playoffs for the former first round pick. It's the type of depth production that Vegas desperately needed this postseason.
That's especially true if the Golden Knights get into the proverbial shootout during the playoffs. No, we're not talking about what the Golden Knights must do if they're in high-scoring games. Have Howden, will travel.
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