Golden Knights’ point streak ends in road loss to Mammoth

The Golden Knights dominated the second period to the point where it was almost guaranteed that momentum would carry to the third.

Utah Mammoth center Logan Cooley wasn’t fond of that narrative.

Cooley scored four times, while notching the fourth hat trick of his career, and the Knights fell flat in a 5-1 loss at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday night.

Cooley, who finished with five points, led the charge for Utah’s revenge after the Knights (10-5-7) won 4-1 in the same building on Thursday.

“We talked about it yesterday. We came in here three days ago or whatever it was, and you knew they were gonna be better when you have that quick turnaround against the same team,” Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said.

It’s the first time the Knights let someone find the back of the net four times in a game since St. Louis Blues forward Zach Sanford did it on Feb. 13, 2020, at T-Mobile Arena.

Sanford’s tallies came with the goalie in net. Cooley had the help of two empty-netters in the third to put it away, but he was still a game breaker.

Cooley scored the backbreaking tally 4:19 into the third when he forced a turnover on center Jack Eichel after a mad scramble. Cooley was stopped on his initial breakaway attempt but the rebound kicked off his skate to make it 3-1.

Cooley’s final goals came with the Knights’ net empty. The last was a six-on-four shorthanded goal.

Left wing Ivan Barbashev scored the lone goal for the Knights, as they finished their three-game road trip earning three of six points. Goaltender Carl Lindbom made 20 saves in his first start in eight days.

Utah (12-8-3) got 33 saves from netminder Karel Vejmelka.

The Knights saw their overall six-game point streak, and six-game streak on the road, come to an end.

“It’s tough to lose that way, but we just got to regroup and move forward,” Barbashev said.

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

1. Utah makes its move

The Mammoth were expected to respond after getting rolled Thursday.

Utah answered the bell with its top line taking it to the Knights. Right wing Dylan Guenther and Cooley scored 1:17 apart to give the Mammoth a 2-0 lead with 3:49 left in the first period.

“It shouldn’t have surprised us, but for whatever reason, we weren’t good enough early,” Cassidy said.

The Mammoth controlled play early and put pressure on Lindbom to put him in another hole.

“They’re a good starting team. We’re not,” Cassidy said. “It’s something we’re trying to correct. … It seemed like we were turning the corner, but for whatever reason, they were much better than us tonight.”

2. Couldn’t get second one

The ice tilted in the Knights’ favor with a dominant second period.

Utah had two sustained shifts in the offensive zone, and drew a power play on one of them, but the Mammoth were held in check.

The Knights quadrupled Utah in shots by generating pressure and getting to the crease. They were rewarded when Barbashev corralled a loose puck off a give-and-go between Eichel and right wing Braeden Bowman and cut the lead to 2-1 at 5:24 of the period.

“We were right there,” defenseman Kaedan Korczak said.

That was the only one the Knights could get by Vejmelka. The Utah goalie was credited with 15 saves in the period, including a stop on a Dorofeyev one-timer on the Knights’ first power play late in the period.

The Knights did everything right in the second that warranted more than one goal. It would’ve been a help knowing Cooley went nuclear in the third.

“The second there kind of showed us all over,” Korczak said. “If you do that for a full 60, we’ll get our looks.”

3. Still looking for win

The long-standing quest to get Lindbom into the win column continues.

Lindbom, 22, dropped to 0-4-2 in his sixth career start. His teammates haven’t given him enough run support. He’s allowed three goals or fewer in five of his six starts.

Cassidy said the goals weren’t on Lindbom, especially Cooley’s second goal early in the third.

“Carl makes a great save but it goes off his foot and in,” Cassidy said. “Sometimes it’s not your night.”

Lindbom will likely see another start this weekend with the Knights on a back-to-back at home starting Friday against the Montreal Canadiens, then Saturday against the San Jose Sharks.

For now, Akira Schmid has a firm grip on the starter’s crease but it wasn’t any fault of Lindbom’s.

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.