Knights extinguish Flames in overtime

For the eighth time in as many games, the Vegas Golden Knights walked away from a game with at least one point toward the Pacific Division standings. Thursday night, they walked away with two as they defeated the Calgary Flames 4-3 in overtime.

“We found our legs and got competitive,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We got ourselves back in the game. 2-1 game, we kind of messed up a little on the third goal with o-zone play. It looked like we had pressure and ended up icing a puck and they ended up getting a net-front goal.

“We stayed with it. I think they saw signs of life where we can challenge Calgary.”

Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo fired his eight goal of the season past Flames goaltender Dan Vladar just 42 seconds into the overtime period to secure the win for the Golden Knights. Vladar finished the game with 25 saves on 29 shots faced for a final save percentage of .862.

“I thought we chipped away there as the game went on,” Pietrangelo said. “We were just more aggressive. They’re on a back-to-back and we kind of put them on their heels

Winning goaltender Laurent Brossoit finished his evening with 25 saves on 28 shots faced for a final save percentage of .893.

“I’ve been waiting for this all year,” Brossoit said. “Getting to do it in overtime is even better.”

It was the first win of the year for Vegas against the Flames which leaves the season series tied at one a piece between the two teams.

This win puts Vegas at 35-18-5 on the season with 75 points in the Pacific Division, a division that the team led by three points over Edmonton and Los Angeles.

Over the past eight games, the Golden Knights have racked up 14 out of a possible 16 points in the division and they have not lost a game in regulation in any of those eight games.

Vegas wraps up their brief two-game homestand Saturday night as they welcome the Dallas Stars to T-Mobile Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.

The last time the Stars and Knights met was Jan 16. Inside the confines of T-Mobile Arena in what was a 4-0 shutout win for the Stars, the only shutout Vegas has suffered all season.

Thursday’s game saw the home team trail by two goals heading into the final period of play with the possibility of the Knights suffering their first regulation loss since returning from the all-star break.

The Knights only allowed one shot on goal in the third period which is the fourth time in team history that Vegas has accomplished that feat. The last time it was achieved was Mar. 1, 2020 against the Los Angeles Kings.

Defenseman Zach Whitecloud cut the Vegas deficit in half just over five minutes into the third period when he scored his second goal of the season to make it a 3-2 game.

Left-winger William Carrier scored the game-tying goal with 7:25 to play in regulation in what was Carrier’s fifth goal in his last nine games since returning from injury. During that time, Carrier has racked up eight points total (five goals, three assists).

“Even in the second, guys knew that we had a chance to win,” Carrier said. “The energy was high. We knew it was going to take a big third and it was big for our team.”

Center Jack Eichel was responsible for the first Vegas goal of the game as he scored on the power play with 5:23 to go in the second period to cut what was a 2-0 deficit down to a 2-1 deficit.

This was Eichel’s 19th goal of the season which ties him for the team lead in goals scored this season. Eichel now has four goals scored in his last six games. He finished the game as the only Golden Knight to have a multi-point game with his goal and assist on Pietrangelo’s game-winning goal.

Right-winger Jonathan Marchessault was the other Golden Knight assisting on Pietrangelo’s goal, making it a goal that each of the three Vegas players on the ice were accounted for in the stat sheet as NHL overtime is a three-on-three format.