Vegas Golden Knights
Golden Game Gist: Knights Win 5-4 After Crazy Third Period
Seven goals, one of which was taken back, were scored in the third period of the Vegas Golden Knights (15-4-1, 31 points) Monday night game against the Vancouver Canucks (6-10-3, 15 points) in which they won 5-4. After dropping three of their last four, the Golden Knights found themselves a big win.
Jonathan Marchessault played in career game no. 500 Monday night.
20 games into the season and the Golden Knights have now played every Pacific Division team at least once and lead the Western Conference in total points with 31.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS LINEUP
With Nicolas Roy still injured, head coach Bruce Cassidy stuck with his same lines plus two small swaps. Jake Leschyhyn came in for Michael Amadio on the third line, and Logan Thompson started.
Chandler Stephenson- Jack Eichel- Mark Stone (c)
Reilly Smith- William Karlsson- Jonathan Marchessault
Paul Cotter- Jake Leschyshyn- Phil Kessel
Will Carrier- Brett Howden- Keegan Kolesar
Alec Martinez- Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb- Shea Theodore
Nicolas Hague- Zach Whitecloud
Logan Thompson/Adin Hill
Nicolas Roy/Michael Amadio, Ben Hutton
FIRST PERIOD
- Both teams took a while to get their footing underneath them, possibly an effect of the game starting at 7:30 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.
- Will Carrier had four shots in the first period as he made several drives to the net for scoring chances. He was also seen on the team’s second powerplay unit.
- Ilya Mikeykev had the best chances in the period for the Canucks.
- NO GOAL- The Canucks thought they scored with Curtis Lazar jamming in a goal, but it was taken off the board for being offsides.
- An overall slow first period in terms of scoring chances. There were a lot of whistles, long wrist shots, and only one penalty late.
- VGK PP- JT Miller took a late penalty for interference on Brayden McNabb. The penalty carried over into the second period, but no goals were scored.
SECOND PERIOD
- Jack Eichel almost scored a beauty goal mid-air as he swatted at an airborne puck that Mark Stone passed to him. His wack attempt went wide of the net and past Thatcher Demko.
- Marchessault, in his 500th career game, had three great chances in the early second. Smith and William Karlsson set him up for the shots.
- 1-0 VAN GOAL- Brock Boeser made a couple of nice moves in the offensive before Andrei Kuzmenko re-directed his shot in the blue crease.
- 1-1 VGK GOAL- Three minutes Eichel decided he would take over the game and potted two assists in one shift, 49 seconds apart. Right off the faceoff, his wrist shot hit Mark Stone and went in.
The captain gets us going 👏 pic.twitter.com/cWXbLJxZic
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) November 22, 2022
- 2-1 VGK GOAL- The second goal was very similar, with Eichel’s wrist shot hitting the stick of Will Carrier and giving the Golden Knights their first lead of the game. Eichel now has seven multi-point games this season.
HERE'S THE MAIL 📫 IT NEVER FAILS pic.twitter.com/ZdpR9X41NQ
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) November 22, 2022
THIRD PERIOD
- Early in the third, Demko made a huge pad save on Stone. This would be a momentum-swinging moment as the Canucks then scored three straight.
- 2-2 VAN GOAL- Canucks captain Bo Horvat found separation in the slot and received a nice pass for his 15th goal of the season. He has just one less goal than the league-leading Connor McDavid this season.
- VAN PP- After the Horvat goal, Jake Leschyhyn went off for hooking. Big shot blocks from Alec Martinez allowed the VGK to kill the penalty.
- 3-2 VAN GOAL- Luke Schenn’s wrist shot hit Nicolas Hague and went in.
- 4-2 VAN GOAL- The Canucks went on to score their third straight as Elias Pettersson scored his 10th
- 4-3 VGK GOAL- The Golden Knights didn’t break as their fourth line got them back in the game Will Carrier scored a mucky goal for the first two-goal game of his career.
- 4-4 VGK GOAL- Reilly Smith, then jammed in a loose puck after a feed from Marchessault behind the net to tie things.
- NO GOAL- The Golden Knights seemingly had the lead, with Mark Stone scoring again. But it was determined that the puck, prior to the goal, hit a camera on the side of the boards. According to the rulebook, the play should have been whistled down then, but it wasn’t. Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau challenged the play, and the goal then came back.
- 5-4 VGK GOAL- Regardless, the Canucks sloppy defense allowed the Golden Knights to score the go-ahead goal. Alex Pietrangelo scored his third of the season for this fourth three-point night of the season.
- The Golden Knights held on after a crazy third period and won the game 5-4.
VHN’s Player of the Game: Will Carrier
A strong performance for the first two-goal game of Will Carrier’s career.
Up Next: The Golden Knights will return to T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday for their Hockey Fights Cancer game at 7:00 p.m. against the Ottawa Senators.