Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Golden Knights complete miracle comeback, beat Predators in OT

Golden Knights beat Nashville in OT

Mark Humphrey / Associated Press

Vegas Golden Knights center Paul Stastny (26) scores the winning goal against Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros (74), of Finland, in overtime of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. The Golden Knights won 4-3.

Sometimes it takes a miracle play to break out of a slump, one of those unexpected occurrences that instantly changes a team's fortunes. The Golden Knights got one of those miracles on Wednesday night. 

Max Pacioretty scored the game-tying goal with 0.3 seconds left in regulation at Nashville, then Paul Stastny scored 1:52 into overtime to give the Golden Knights an improbable 4-3 victory over the Predators at Bridgestone Arena.

The Golden Knights scored the first two goals of the game, from Mark Stone and Reilly Smith, only to see Nashville score three in a row to take a lead. But Stone fed Pacioretty in the final second, and Pacioretty scored to beat the buzzer. Time will tell how the comeback changes the course of the season for the Golden Knights, who snapped a five-game losing streak on the road in grab a crucial two points in jockeying for the postseason.

"We needed it," Pacioretty told AT&T SportsNet. "We have a special group in here and we felt like we haven't been rewarded. We feel like we played some good hockey, just hasn't bounced our way. And tonight it's definitely game where it ended up bouncing our way and we need to try to build off if it and play with some confidence."

Malcolm Subban made 31 saves for his first victory of the season. 

Here are three takeaways from the victory.

A look back at the magical final seconds

It certainly felt like the game was over. The Golden Knights had given up three unanswered goals and looked like they were headed for their fourth loss in a row. They pulled Subban with 1:34 remaining, but had to put him back in after an offsides call. Then they went with a six-forward setup that included Ryan Reaves for a big body in front of the net.

Jonathan Marchessault chased down a Nashville clear that was waved off as icing, then dumped it into the zone with eight seconds remaining. He forechecked it all the way to allow Smith to kick it out to Stone, who slid the puck around a Nashville defender to an open Pacioretty. 

"That's a play right there that we can look back on and see and say that started because of (Marchessault's) hard work," Pacioretty said. "It started with him. ... We have selfless players like that that's going to make the right play for the team."

In overtime, thanks to a Nate Schmidt takeaway, he and Paul Stastny broke free for a 2-on-0 into the Nashville zone. Schmidt fed Stastny, and Stastny went five-hole for the game winner. Cue the celebration.

"We had some swag today," Marchssault told AT&T SportsNet. "We kind of knew that we were going to be good and we were."

Starting on time

Stone said after Monday's loss in Dallas that the Golden Knights need to "start on time," meaning they can't allow slow starts to plague them any longer. Stone went out and led by example, starting the game by outracing Nashville star defenseman Roman Josi to the puck to set up a scoring chance, dropped back as a defenseman to break up the Predators' rush then go back up ice on a 2-on-1 break. All on his first shift. 

Then on his third, he opened the scoring by ripping a bouncing puck to the back of the Nashville net at 7:33, giving the Golden Knights their first lead since last Tuesday's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

He then fed Pacioretty's game-winner for his first multi-point game since Oct. 27.

Scoring defenseman

Nashville is the only team in the league where its top-two scoring players are both defensemen. Roman Josi came into the game with 22 points and Ryan Ellis came in with 18, and when they combined for the Predators' second goal, it may have made the Golden Knights a tad envious.

Vegas doesn't have a scoring defenseman like Josi or Ellis, and Nashville has two of them. Shea Theodore has been arguably the Golden Knights' best blueliner this season and he leads the defensive core with 12 points.

Neither Ellis nor Josi had any fear jumping into the play for their second-period goal. Josi brought the puck around from behind the net, then found Ellis, who had floated behind the net himself. No one picked him up, and Ellis had plenty of time to stickhandle in front of Subban and put it home.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy