Clayton Keller scored twice in the first period, and Barrett Hayton had a goal and an assist for the Mammoth (36-27-6), who have won back-to-back games after losing four in a row.
The Mammoth hold the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, six points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings, who lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Philadelphia Flyers.
“We have to keep looking in front of us, stay humble and one game at a time,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “We’re just helping ourselves right now, but there will be ups and downs ahead and you need to be consistent. … We’ll celebrate tonight, but at midnight, we need to switch the page because there’s another strong opponent tomorrow.”
Akira Schmid made 14 saves in relief for the Golden Knights (31-24-14), who have been shut out in consecutive games at home. Adin Hill allowed three goals on three shots before Schmid replaced him.
“We were turning down opportunities to shoot,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “There comes a time you’ve got to shoot the puck in those situations. They’re not grade A’s, but they’re grade B-pluses. We got to put it on the net. We’ve got to trust our shot. These guys are all goal scorers who score in this league.”
The Golden Knights are third in the Pacific Division, one point behind the second-place Edmonton Oilers and four points ahead of the Kings.
“When you get to this time of year, you’re starting to pay attention for sure,” Golden Knights defenseman Noah Hanifin said. “You want to control what you can, but there’s not a whole lot of time left. We don’t have too many games left here. So, we got to get on a bit of a run here and give ourselves some ground.”
Keller put the Mammoth ahead 1-0 at 2:52 of the first period when he slipped a shot underneath Hill’s right arm.
Keller made it 2-0 at 6:05, roofing in the puck before Hill could get back into position after Lawson Crouse’s attempt went off the end boards.
