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For the third straight time, a Vegas Golden Knights game was decided in either overtime or a shootout. Saturday night, the Dallas Stars beat the Golden Knights for the second time this season by a final score of 3-2 in a shootout.
“We have a great breakout, a clean two-on-one with two of our better players with the puck in the neutral zone,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I think [left-winger Jason] Robertson made a hell of a play to dive across. It’s something no one expected but you still just have to chip it by him and it’s probably game over but easier said than done from the bench.”
Saturday’s loss snaps a five-game home winning streak that Vegas had been on. By getting the game to the overtime period, the Golden Knights now extend their point streak to nine games as they have racked up 15 out of a possible 18 points in the Pacific Division standings during that time.
Vegas now sits with a record of 35-18-6 which is good for 76 points and the top spot in the Pacific Division. The Golden Knights hold a two-point lead over the Los Angeles Kings and a four-point lead over the Edmonton Oilers.
The Golden Knights will hit the road Monday for a matchup against the Colorado Avalanche from Ball Arena in Denver, CO. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. and can be seen on AT&T Sportsnet in Las Vegas or ESPN+ nationwide.
With the game tied at one with under five minutes to go, center Jack Eichel found himself on the breakaway and buried his 20th goal of the season to give the home team a 2-1 lead with 4:37 to play in regulation.
“I think we’re playing good hockey,” Eichel said. “We’re doing a lot of things that I think we want to do as a group and things that will make us successful down the stretch. You just want to find a way to win games. That one is tough to let slip away.”
Eichel is the first player on the Golden Knights to reach 20 goals scored this season. This is the sixth time in his career that he has scored at least 20 or more goals in a season. Eichel has scored at least one goal in each of the last three games and now has nine points in his last seven games.
It was a scoreless first period Saturday night as neither team was able to light the lamp on multiple chances. Vegas finished the first period ahead in the shots on goal category 14-5. The penalty kill for the Knights also killed off a double-minor penalty which was assessed to left-winger William Carrier for Interference and Abuse of Officials.
Similar to the first period, the second period ended in a tie, but it was a 1-1 tie at the end of the middle frame. Right-winger Michael Amadio scored the game’s first goal with eight minutes to play in the second. This was Amadio’s tenth goal of the season.
Defenseman Shea Theodore assisted on Amadio’s goal which pushes his point streak to six games. This is tied for the longest point streak by a defenseman in VGK history with Colin Miller being the other VGK player with the accolade to his name.
Amadio is the 11th Golden Knight to reach double-digit goals scored this season which ranks second in the NHL. Seattle’s 12 double-digit goal scorers lead the league.
Amadio’s goal was answered by Dallas center Wyatt Johnston only 2:02 later. The Stars controlled the shots on goal category in the second period by a count of 21-7 and led 26-21 in SOG for the game at the end of the period.
The 20 saves in the second period by goaltender Laurent Brossoit ties a franchise record for most saves in a period. Former Golden Knight goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury achieved this milestone twice.
Brossoit finished the game with 41 saves on 43 shots faced for a final save percentage of .953 in the loss. Opposing goaltender Jake Oettinger finished with an identical statline of 41 saves on 43 shots faced for a final save percentage of .953.
“Both goalies played well and both teams played well,” Brossoit said “Everyone was defending well and creating chances. It’s not like we were giving up a lot and they weren’t giving up a lot, they were just earning chances. Those are fun to play and I’m sure fun to watch.”
Brossoit is now 1-0-2 in his three games since being called up from the Henderson Silver Knights. During those three games, he has saved 103 of the 110 shots he’s faced for a save percentage of .936 and averaging 2.3 goals allowed per game.
“That’s three good ones, should be three wins for him,” Cassidy said. “Unfortunately, he’s only got the one but all the games have gone into extra time so he’s done his job.”