After Washington dealt him to Vegas, Nic Dowd managed a single goal over 20 regular-season appearances with the Golden Knights. Fittingly, that lone marker came against his former club.
Dowd wasted little time, however, making a major postseason impact for Vegas, supplying the decisive marker in a 4-2 Game 1 triumph over Utah's Mammoth as their opening-round set got underway.
His tally arrived amid a late Vegas comeback. Trailing by one through 40-plus minutes, the visitors first leveled it as Mark Stone converted with the man advantage 5:33 into the third. Just 1:47 after that, Dowd redirected home an indirect attempt from Noah Hanifin, beating Mammoth keeper Karel Vejmelka to nudge his club in front.
Dowd downplayed his role, crediting Hanifin for a terrific play feeding it to him in the middle. He said he simply located a sliver of room, noting that open ice gets scarce this time of year, with everyone defending at their sharpest because every detail matters so much more. The whole thing happened in an instant, he added, and he was fortunate to sneak a sliver of the puck inside the post.
Ivan Barbashev sealed it by hitting the vacated cage with 1:39 showing.
Beyond the scoring, the fourth-line pivot lit up social platforms over what appeared to be a threat directed at Logan Cooley, a Utah forward who — as it happens — grew up rooting for the Capitals.
Footage appeared to capture Dowd telling Cooley he was coming for him and would kill him, the expletive bleeped.
The chirping seemed to trace back to a scrum involving both sides following Barbashev's empty-net goal.
Questioned about the exchange afterward, Dowd downplayed it, saying he expected a grinding series and that, given how emotional the game gets, Utah played well and put Vegas in difficult spots at times — and that a bit of pushback is a good thing.
For his part, Cooley — who opened the scoring on a goal with just 11 ticks remaining in the first period — noted that opponents will forever try to grab hold of you and drag you into a fight, so teammates must stand up and have each other's backs.
The second game goes Tuesday evening, with T-Mobile Arena again playing host.