Utah Mammoth vs Vegas Golden Knights Betting Picks

Vegas blew a 3-0 lead in Game 4 and went behind 4-3 before tying it on Brett Howden's goal with 9:35 left in regulation. Defenseman Shea Theodore won it when he scored with 51.5 seconds left in overtime. The Golden Knights are 7-18 in their past 25 games, playing with one day of rest. Utah has won six of its past eight road games and four of the past six meetings. Neither team's goalie had a great performance on Monday, as Karel Vejmelka made 31 saves on 36 shots for Utah, and Carter Hart stopped 27 of 31 for the Knights. However, Vejmelka was 17-8-1 with a 2.70 goals-against average with two shutouts on the road in the regular season, and he stopped 46 of 51 shots in Games 1 and 2 at Vegas. Even with the loss, Utah built some confidence in erasing a big deficit and nearly pulling off a win on Monday. We know the Mammoth can play at this level, and we're getting a great price here. Take Utah on the moneyline. 

Vegas coach John Tortorella will be making some adjustments, especially on the power play, after the Golden Knights went 0-for-4 with a man advantage in Game 3. He is also changing the forward lines with Pavel Dorofeyev starting on the top line with Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev. All these moves are in response to the Knights being down 2-1 in the series, as they are in a more desperate situation heading into tonight's game. They still have won eight of 11 and, curiously, Utah has lost 15 of its past 21 Monday games. Vegas goalie Carter Hart has a 2.76 goals-against average in the playoffs and has mostly done his part. Look for Vegas to pick it up in the offensive zone and take the Golden Knights.

Vegas won the Pacific Division but failed to keep home-ice advantage in this series, splitting the first two at home. The offense ranked sixth on the power play, while the defense was 12th in goals allowed (2.95 per game) and seventh in penalty killing. It's an experienced group that split the first two at home in last year's playoffs, but still topped Minnesota in six games, taking Game 4 (4-3) and Game 6 (3-2) on the road. They then lost the first two at home to Edmonton, but won Game 3 on the road, 4-3, at even money. Utah was fourth in the Central division and plays its first home playoff game. The offense ranked 18th on the power play, while the defense was 19th in save percentage. Play Vegas.

The favored Golden Knights got there this past Sunday night with a 4-2 Game 1 home win against the Mammoth. But it was not easy. Utah was not intimidated. The Golden Knights had to score three third-period goals, the last coming on an empty-netter, to pull out the come-from-behind win. Utah had more shots on goal and also blocked more shots than Las Vegas. The Mammoth took two out of three against the Golden Knights during the regular season. Their last two wins against the Golden Knights were by a combined 9-1 margin. Utah has a good blend of experience and talented youth. The Mammoth ranked both 11th in scoring and 11th defensively. The Golden Knights finished the regular season 14th offensively and 12th defensively. The Mammoth are a tough opponent for Las Vegas and at a good value price for Game 2. Take the Mammoth.