Winning Streak Extends to Four! Golden Knights Defeat Flames 5-4 (OT)

The Vegas Golden Knights found an interesting path to victory Tuesday night in T-Mobile Arena over the Calgary Flames.

The Golden Knights’ first game back from the road trip was Sunday against the San Jose Sharks. However, Tuesday’s game against the Flames felt like the first game back after the road trip. The start for the Golden Knights was far from crisp but they got better as the period progressed.

MacKenzie Weegar got the game’s first goal for the Flames. Mikael Backlund shot the puck behind the Golden Knights net. Weegar fired a shot from the right circle that Logan Thompson had a hard time tracking. Nicolas Hague may have inadvertently screened Thompson.

Chandler Stephenson has quickly turned into the Golden Knights’ best scorer. Stephenson drove to the net on the powerplay and beat Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf.

The second period was interesting, to say the least. Nazim Kadri started the scoring by being in the right place at the right time. Martin Pospisil fired a shot from between the circles that deflected off the rib cage of Kadri and into the goal. Ivan Barbashev tied things up when Mark Stone found him all alone in the slot. Alex Pietrangelo had a strong scoring chance off a one-timer from the left circle. Wolf made the save and the Flames quickly transitioned to the VGK side of the ice. Yegor Sharangovich fired a shot from the right side that Thompson would like to have back.

Third periods have been eventful for the Golden Knights and Tuesday night was no exception. Stone tied the game with a power play goal to give the Golden Knights a burst of energy. William Karlsson scored with just under four minutes remaining off a nice pass from Stephenson.

Game over, time to start writing the post-game report. Nope.

Sharongivich had a nice deflection with one minute remaining in the game to send the game to overtime. The goal was briefly reviewed for a possible high stick, but after the review, the goal would stand.

The Flames possessed the puck for most of the overtime. However, the Golden Knights caused a turnover with two Flames players caught at the red line. Jack Eichel made a stretch pass to Stone who was all alone with Wolf. Stone beat Wolf on a wrist shot to give the Golden Knights the extra point. “i had a step, right? All you got to do is make a good shot.” Stone on the game-winning goal.

On one hand, you’d like to see the Golden Knights have less exciting games against the teams lower in the standings. But that is not the reality of the NHL season. It is an 82-game grind. “We have 52 games to get it squared away.” Coach Bruce Cassidy on giving up late leads in the last two games. “If we play well we can get to where we want to go. We have some time.

Cassidy acknowledged that giving up leads is a concern, but there is not going to be any panic for a team that is 20-5-5 and starting to distance themselves from the other teams in the Pacific Division.

Gawlik’s three stars
First Star: Stone, two goals and two assists
Second Star: Jonathan Marchessault, three assists
Third Star: Sharongovich, two goals

Goal summary
1st Period
Weegar from Backlund and Coleman 6:27
Stephenson (PPG) from Marchessault and Stone 13:33

2nd Period
Kadri from Zary and Pospisil 2:37
Barbashev from Stone 5:20
Sharangovich from Lindholm 17:58

3rd Period

Stone (PPG) from Karlsson and Marchessault 6:00
Karlsson from Stephenson and Marchessault 16:14
Sharongovich (2) from Hanifin and Kadri 19:00

Overtime
Stone (2) from Eichel and Pietrangelo 1:11

Next up for the Golden Knights is a home game against Alex Tuch and the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night in Vegas.