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Vegas Golden Knights

Marchessault Ties it, Theodore Ends it, Golden Knights Defeat Canadiens 4-3

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2 years ago

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Jonathan Marchessault game-tying goal Vegas Golden Knights 1/21 (Photo- At&t Sportsnet Screenshot)

The Vegas Golden Knights (24-15-2) finished off their season series against Montreal Canadiens (8-25-6) with a dramatic win in overtime. Shea Theodore scored the OT game-winning goal and the Golden Knights capped off their eight-game homestand with a victory. With 53 shots on goal, the Golden Knights set a new record for shots on goal this season.

Entering the game the Golden Knights had a plethora of injury transactions leading up to Thursday night’s game as is tradition. Mark Stone joined Logan Thompson and assistant coach Steve Spott in COVID-19 protocols. Zach Whitecloud was also a late scratch and is confirmed to be out with an upper-body injury. The Golden Knights have lost 201 man-games to injury this season.

Similar to Monday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Chandler Stephenson opened up the scoring for the Golden Knights. On the team’s first shot of the game, Stephenson buried home a one-timer after Evgenii Dadonov set him up with a solid forecheck.

With Stone out of the lineup, William Carrier was once again placed on the first line for the Golden Knights. He tallied an assist on the Stephenson goal. The Golden Knights outscored their opponents 11-2 in the first period on the now-concluded eight-game homestand.

Perhaps the most notable line for the Golden Knights in the first couple of periods was the newly formed fourth line of Michael Amadio, Nolan Patrick, and Brett Howden. The trio did a tremendous job of cycling in the offensive zone and generating offensive chances. 

The Canadiens were able to tie the game though with a stroke of luck. Referee Ryan Gibbons accidentally tripped up Alex Pietrangelo and Petro lost his footing. This then led to a Canadiens two-on-one and Michael Pezzetta scored on the ensuing play. 

Needless to say, Pietrangelo was a little upset.

The Golden Knights played an overall strong game but were unable to break free on the struggling eight-win Canadiens. It remained a tight game for the entire night. Samuel Montembeault was a big part of this as he finished the night with 49 saves on 53 shots.

In the second period, David Savard took a holding penalty on Keegan Kolesar and the Golden Knight’s powerplay got to work. In a perfectly executed zone entry, Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson teamed up for a nifty goal. Karlsson accepted the returning give-and-go pass off his skate and went backhand on Montembeault to make it 2-1.

But the Canadiens came back with a powerplay goal of their own after Nicolas Roy took a holding penalty. After the Canadiens worked behind the net and got Robin Lehner moving left to right, Tyler Toffoli scored on a chip play.

The Golden Knights entered the third period tied with the Canadiens despite outshooting them in shot attempts 56 to 28. All it takes is one shot to go in and that is exactly what happened with the Canadiens in the third period.

After failing to register a shot in the third for nearly seven minutes, the Canadiens scored on their first attempt. Christian Dvorak fed Mike Hoffman who scored on Lehner, who was well out of position.

But the Golden Knights didn’t go away and battled back to tie the game. Six seconds into a Josh Anderson penalty for tripping, Marchessault scored on the powerplay to tie the game at three.

The Golden Knights took the game to overtime and won it with a tremendous individual effort from Shea Theodore. A defenseman, Theodore won the puck on the forecheck, gave it to Roy, got the puck back, and scored the game-winning goal. The Golden Knights would not be denied and showed the Canadiens why they are the better team.

 

VHN’s Player of the Game: Dylan Coghlan

While I could have gone with Marchessault or Theodore who scored the big goals that resulted in the victory, my player of the game tonight is Dylan Coghlan. I thought Coghlan had a tremendous game both offensively and defensively. He stepped up in the absence of Zach Whitecloud and played a career-high 25 minutes and eight seconds of ice time.

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