The fans have reason to roar after what they saw in Game 2. In their second season in the NHL and first playoff series, the Mammoth showed toughness and resiliency. Two of their young stars — 23-year-old Dylan Guenther and 21-year-old Logan Cooley — made huge plays.

“I feel like we’ve earned the right to be here,” Guenther said. “We had a great regular season, and we prepared for it. It’s just exciting to kind of be in that moment, and it’s just a ton of fun.”

Utah’s 4-2 loss in Game 1 could have been crushing, intimidating. The Mammoth have much less experience than the Golden Knights, who have made the playoffs eight times in nine seasons since entering the NHL as an expansion team in 2017-18 and won the Stanley Cup in 2023. The Mammoth blew a 2-1 third period lead and were outhit 51-31.

But they kept cool and responded in Game 2.

“To come back and have that performance, it shows a lot for this group right now,” Utah forward Kailer Yamamoto said.

The Mammoth started to find their game in the second period. Guenther, who led them with 40 goals in the regular season, gave them a 2-1 lead at 14:56 with a wicked one-timer from top of the left circle.

Ivan Barbashev tied it 2-2 just 1:02 later. The Golden Knights seemed in good shape entering the third period, considering they have been perhaps the best third period team in the NHL this season and had outscored the Mammoth 3-0 in the third in Game 1.

Utah kept coming, though.

“There’s a lot of emotions in these playoff games, a lot of ups and downs, and I think you have to just find a way to stay levelheaded,” Guenther said. “Different things happen — good calls, bad calls, different momentum swings. I think we did a good job of staying levelheaded, and that’s what we need to do moving forward.”

The game-winning goal came with exactly six minutes to go. Guenther flew past defenseman Shea Theodore on the left wing and fired a shot. Carter Hart made the save, and Guenther clanked the rebound off the left post. Cooley drove to the net and banged in the puck. Speed, skill and grit.

“Those guys are exceptional players,” Weegar said. “When they get time and space like that, we know that they’re going to come up clutch and make some big plays for our group. But I think they’re just having a blast. It rubs off on the older guys like me to see how much fun they’re having, so it’s fun to watch.”