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In a game that featured elite goaltending between some of the NHL’s finest in Vegas’ Marc-Andre Fleury and Arizona’s Darcy Kuemper, the Golden Knights topped the Arizona Coyotes with a goal late in the third period to escape with a 1-0 win Sunday, Jan. 24.
Center William Karlsson came up clutch for the Knights as he scored the go-ahead goal with 46 seconds left in the game’s final period. The goal featured a bit of controversy.
Right-wing Alex Tuch dumped the puck ahead of the play towards Arizona’s net, which resulted in no icing being called.
Instead, it was part of the game-winning play as fellow center Jonathan Marchessault found Karlsson sweeping in from behind the play.
“At that point in the game, that close of a call I don’t think they’re going to make,” Tuch said in an interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal’s David Schoen.
The last-minute goal was the second of its kind this season for the Knights with the first coming against Anaheim at the T-Mobile Arena.
The Knights would go on to win that game in overtime.
A favorite of the Golden Knight’s fan base, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury had the 62nd shut-out of his career, playing exceptionally well, turning away a last-second attempt to secure the win for the Knights.
Fleury finished with 16 saves while his opposite, Arizona’s Kuemper, was strong as well and finished with 26 saves.
Arizona’s left winger Johan Larsson was nearly able to finesse a wild shot past Fleury to put the Coyotes up 1-0 in the beginning of the third.
Larsson speared it from the deep left wing through the legs of a Knights defender and past Fleury, but the puck hit iron and landed back in Fleury’s lap as he covered it up.
Vegas moves to 5-1-0 on the new season and will return home to take on the St. Louis Blues (3-2-1) at T-Mobile Arena Tuesday, Jan. 26.
It will be the first of eight regular season matchups between Vegas and St. Louis.
The game also features a possible “revenge” matchup for the former Blue Alex Pietrangelo, who spent the first 11 seasons of his career with St. Louis hoisting the Stanley Cup Trophy in 2019.