The opening-round clash between the Vegas Golden Knights and Utah Mammoth is a favorite upset spot for many bettors, and for good reason at that. The Pacific Division champs are weak compared to in past seasons while the Wild Card challenger brings scrappy play and a roster with chips on their shoulders. Game 1 was a competitive affair, but will Vegas go up 2-0 tonight?
Here’s a Mammoth vs. Golden Knights Game 2 prediction and pick for Tuesday’s NHL Playoffs action on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Mammoth vs. Golden Knights Game 2 prediction, preview
In Game 1 of this series, the Mammoth held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 through the first two periods and appeared on the way to taking a 1-0 lead in the series despite opening on the road. It certainly didn’t play out that way in the end though. The Golden Knights instead rallied with three goals in the final frame to complete the comeback victory in front of the home crowd, ending the game with an empty netter and some extracurricular activities as tensions flared.
Utah showed plenty of fight in its first playoff game of the Mammoth era, which also marked the franchise’s first since the 2019-20 campaign. However, there’s a reason Vegas is favored to take the series in hand.
The Golden Knights have been here just about every year and are accustomed to playing on this stage with pressure mounting. They play a physical game and dominated in the hits category with 51 to the Mammoth’s 31, also taking the advantage on faceoffs in Game 1 at 55.2%. While both sides largely played a clean game with just one power-play opportunity for each, Vegas also connected on the one chance it did see, a snipe by captain Mark Stone.
There are questions about the Golden Knights, sure. This year’s team is the weakest of the last few seasons and has an obvious conundrum at goalie which has caused problems throughout the campaign. Off-ice character concerns aside though, Carter Hart heated up down the stretch to go 6-0 in April with a .930 SV% and 1.66 GAA prior to his 31-save Game 1. If he can stay hot with a nice blue line and plenty of offensive talent in front of him, this will be Vegas’ chance to go up 2-0 in the series. It’s just up to him to perform as well as the offense to click from the jump rather than start slow as they did to begin the series.
Can Utah compete, though? Sure. A goal differential of 28 in the regular season was far from poor and they have a strong two-way ceiling when everything falls into place. Clayton Keller, Dylan Guenther, Nick Schmaltz and the surrounding pieces form a strong core, but finding consistency in the Stanley Cup Playoffs isn’t easy for the younger, more inexperienced cogs on this roster. It doesn’t help that Karel Vejmelka finished the regular season with an .897 SV% and 2.75 GAA, though he performed well for two periods in his first playoff start in several years.
Mammoth vs. Golden Knights Game 2 pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Golden Knights as -155 favorites to win at home on the Moneyline tonight, while the Mammoth come in with +130 odds on the road. The game total sits at 5.5 combined goals.
Betting splits show 74% of straight bets on Vegas to win, 60% of wagers on Utah to cover the +1.5 puck line, and 62% on the total’s under.
If there was any kind of standalone value on +1.5 for the Mammoth, I’d encourage bettors to go that direction. However, there’s not much reason to take that line unless using it as a builder in a parlay.
Instead, it’s best to target the under here tonight. At +114 odds, the line comes in at better-than-even value by a slight margin and there plenty of reasoning to support the choice. Utah ranked 11th in goals allowed per game in the regular season at 2.93; Vegas came in just behind at 12th with 2.95 even despite its netminder roulette. The foes were also sixth and second in shots allowed to opponents per game. On the season with Game 1 included, these teams are 2-2 as to the over/under when facing each other, but the two games that went over had just six combined goals. Expect a lower-scoring affair in an old-school tilt.
