Golden Knights Blow 4-1 Lead, Win Double OT Thriller; Lead Series 2-1

The Vegas Golden Knights (2-1 series) blew a 4-1 lead but still prevailed to beat the Winnipeg Jets (1-2 series) in double overtime, with Michael Amadio scoring the game-winning goal. It was an eventful game with tons going on. Jack Eichel had three points, and Keegan Kolesar had a fight and a goal.

Nikolaj Ehlers remained out with an upper-body injury and did not play Saturday. Head coach Bruce Cassidy also stuck with his shuffled up line combinations, continuing to put Brett Howden with Mark Stone and Chandler Stephenson and Ivan Barbashev on the fourth line.

FIRST PERIOD

• FIGHT- Roughy one minute into the game, Keegan Kolesar dropped the gloves with Brendan Dillon at center ice.

• 1-0 VGK GOAL- Off the rush, Chandler Stephenson used Nate Schmidt as a screen and fired home a wrist shot to open the scoring.

• WPG PP- After a strong start, the Golden Knights took a penalty as Zach Whitecloud was called for interference.
• Laurent Brossoit came up with a couple of big saves on the penalty kill on Kyle Connor. Then, a massive post-whistle scrum ensued.
• 4 on 4- Mark Scheifele, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Zach Whitecloud, and William Karlsson all went to the box after the scrum.
• 2-0 VGK GOAL- On an abbreviated powerplay, Jack Eichel scored on a rebound off a blocked shot to make it 2-0.

• After allowing two goals, Connor Hellebuyck made his first save of the period on Ivan Barbashev, who cut to the slot.
• 2-1 WPG GOAL- The Jets found life halfway through the period with Kyle Connor tipping in a point shot from Dylan DeMelo.

• Nate Schmidt collected a loose puck and just missed on a wraparound chance as he lost full control of the puck.
• Brett Howden won a puck battle and got it to Alex Pietrangelo, who just barely hit the stick of Connor Hellebuyck on his shot.
• Nino Niederreiter crushed Jonathan Marchessault with a big hit near the boards. Marchessault was shaken up but stayed in the game.
• VGK PP- The Golden Knights got a late powerplay with 21 seconds left in the period with Dylan DeMelo going to the box.
• At the end of the first period, Mark Stone and Brendan Dillion were called for coincidental minors. Dillion for cross-checking and Stone for roughing.
• Somewhere in the first period, Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey left the game with an injury. He did not return to the game.

SECOND PERIOD

• WPG PP- Brayden McNabb ran into Vladislav Namestnikov and went off for tripping. The Golden Knights were able to kill it off.
• The Jets pressured at even strength, and a bouncing puck hit the outside post but stayed out in a brief scare for the VGK.
• The game started to open up with both teams getting quality chances from Phil Kessel and Dylan DeMelo respectively.
• The Golden Knights coughed up the puck in their own zone right to Pierre-Luc Dubois, but Laurent Brossoit made the critical save.
• VGK PP- As Jonathan Marchessault entered the zone, he was upended by Dylan Samberg, who was called for tripping.
• 3-1 VGK PP- Jack Eichel scored his second powerplay goal of the game on a one-timer to make it 3-1.

• On a two-on-one, Phil Kessel opted to shoot instead of pass to Ivan Barbashev. He was stopped by Connor Hellebuyck.
• 4-1 VGK GOAL- Again involved in the offense, Jack Eichel's rebound was cleaned up in front of the net by Keegan Kolesar.

• WPG PP- Nicolas Roy was called for roughing with 1:54 left in the second period.
  

THIRD PERIOD

• 4-2 WPG GOAL- A shot from Nino Niederreiter that had a screen found its way home to get the Jets within two goals.

• A spin-around shot from Mason Appleton was stopped by Laurent Brossoit after the Jets pressured.
• The Jets continued to have momentum and pressured after their goal. They got solid chances from Nate Schmidt and Nino Niederreiter.
• Keegan Kolesar and Nino Niederreiter exchanged pleasantries in between the two benches as emotions continued to run high.
• Mark Scheifele came up with a huge shot block on Nicolas Hague after Jack Eichel set up the defenseman in the offensive zone.
• WPG PP- Off a faceoff, Phil Kessel was called for holding, and the Jets went to the powerplay down two with roughly seven minutes left in the third.
• 4-3 WPG GOAL- On the powerplay, Mark Scheifele scored his first goal of the series to put the Jets within one goal of tying.

• The Jets pulled Connor Hellebuyck for the extra attacker with 1:10 left in the third period. The VGK did a great job killing clock beforehand.
• 4-4 WPG GOAL- Neal Pionk's rebound was cleaned up by Adam Lowry in front of the net with just 22 seconds left in regulation.

• VGK PP- After the Golden Knights nearly scored, Pierre-Luc Dubois tripped up Mark Stone to give the VGK an overtime powerplay.

OVERTIME 1

• The Golden Knights started overtime on the powerplay with Pierre-Luc Dubois in the box for tripping Mark Stone.
• The Jets successfully killed off the Pierre-Luc Dubois penalty in the opening minutes of overtime.
• With both teams fearing to make a mistake, overtime was tightly contested to start, with few grade-A chances.
• Pierre-Luc Dubois has the first good chance in OT with a shot from the left hashmark that Laurent Brossoit stopped.
• Brett Howden found Nicolas Hague with a little bit of daylight, but he missed the net with his shot attempt.
• Bruce Cassidy shuffled up his lines to try and get a spark. With the Misfits reunited, Jonathan Marchessault got a grade-A chance.

OVERTIME 2

• With tons of speed, Kyle Connor kicked off the second overtime frame with a solid shot from the left side of the ice.
• VGK PP- Pierre-Luc Dubois once again took a penalty, tripping Mark Stone and giving the Golden Knights their second overtime powerplay.
• Once again, the Jets came up with a big penalty kill, and Pierre-Luc Dubois was freed from the penalty box.
• 5-4 VGK GOAL- The Jets made the first mistake of overtime and fittingly paid for it as Michael Amadio snagged an errant pass and scored.

VHN's Player of the Game: Michael Amadio, for obvious reasons.

Up Next: Game four will be played Monday at 6:30 p.m. from Winnipeg.