NHL: Knights pull level with Mammoth on Shea Theodore's OT goal

Shea Theodore scored with 52 seconds remaining in overtime, giving the Vegas Golden Knights a 5-4 win over the Utah Mammoth in Game 4 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series on Monday in Salt Lake City.

The best-of-seven series is tied 2-2, as the Knights rebounded after losing the previous two games and squandering a 3-0 lead on Monday to fall behind 4-3. Game 5 is set for Wednesday in Las Vegas.

As double overtime approached, a broken play in front of the Utah net left goalie Karel Vejmelka without a stick. The puck was quickly moved in front to Theodore, and the defenseman buried the shot for the first playoff OT goal in his 11 NHL seasons.

Jack Eichel collected his third assist of the night on the winning tally.

"It was great that we were able to get it before the first overtime finished and get the job done," Eichel said. "I'm so happy for (Theodore), he was an absolute horse for us tonight. He played so well back there. ... He was phenomenal all night."

"It was kind of a bit of a broken play. ... Honestly I saw Barbie (Ivan Barbashev) in front of the net, that's who I was looking for on that pass. But Theo's in the perfect spot, and (he) pounds it into the net. Those are the type of goals you need to score this time of year. Goals are hard to come by, and sometimes it's broken plays, it's just getting pucks to the net and outworking the other team."

Brett Howden had two goals and an assist for Vegas. Noah Hanifin had two assists, and Cole Smith and Pavel Dorofeyev scored the other Vegas goals.

Carter Hart stopped 27 of 31 shots to earn his second win of the playoffs.

Mikhail Sergachev had three assists for the Mammoth, and Nick Schmaltz had a goal and an assist. Clayton Keller, Ian Cole and Michael Carcone contributed Utah's other goals.

Vejmelka stopped 31 of 36 shots.

"Obviously (the Golden Knights) had a great start, and I liked the way we responded after their third goal," Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. "I'm proud of the way our guys responded to adversity. It was a hard-fought game, we know how good they can be and I think we responded well in the second half of the game."

Dorofeyev and Howden bookended the first period with their first goals of the playoffs, beginning with Dorofeyev's tally just 1:12 into the game. During a Mammoth power play at the 18:38 mark, a Mitch Marner takeaway set up Howden for the short-handed goal.

At 3:26 of the second period, Smith slickly redirected Hanifin's point shot to give Vegas a 3-0 lead.

Just when the Golden Knights seemed to be in full command, the Mammoth responded with two goals in 29 seconds.

Schmaltz started the comeback at the 8:04 mark of the middle frame by converting his own rebound. Cole then added the quick follow-up with a long-range shot that deflected off the post and into the Knights' net.

Carcone scored the equalizer on a one-timer from the right circle 1:45 into the third period, and Keller gave Utah its first lead on a deflected goal 5:10 into the third frame. It was then the Knights' turn to equalize on a Howden tip-in at the 10:25 mark.

Tourigny said of defending the third-period lead, "It's not just you're sitting back. They're tougher to defend. They're coming with numbers. I don't think we sat back. I thought we were competing, having pace, going at them. It's a battle we should've or could've won. ...

"It's not like they dominated us for five minutes and whoops, we crack. I thought it was back and forth at that moment."

-Field Level Media/Reuters