Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Blog: Golden Knights score 2 goals in final 2 minutes, but fall to Canadiens in shootout

VGK fall in Montreal

Graham Hughes / The Canadian Press via AP

Vegas Golden Knights’ Paul Stastny (26) celebrates with teammates Mark Stone (61) and Nicolas Hague after scoring during second-period NHL hockey game action against the Montreal Canadiens in Montreal, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020.

Updated Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020 | 7:16 p.m.

MONTREAL — It sure looked like the game was over. The Golden Knights trailed the Montreal Canadiens by two goals with two minutes left in the game. Then Vegas got one goal. And then another.

Vegas battled back to earn a point, but couldn't get the other in the shootout, which Montreal claimed 2-1 for the 5-4 victory on Saturday at Bell Centre.

Marc-Andre Fleury was tremendous to even get Vegas to the shootout, making seven games in the five-minute overtime, many of which coming in the highlight-reel variety.

In regulation, the Golden Knights went down big in the first period and fought back to enter the third down by only goal. They started the frame with good pressure, but it was the Canadiens that scored in an attempt to put the game out of reach. It was an odd-man rush with Dale Weise and Nick Cousins against Nate Schmidt, and Weise fed Cousins for the goal, the second time those two had linked up for Cousins' second of the game.

That came at 9:40 of the third and it looked like that would be it. But Vegas had other ideas. 

Max Pacioretty brought the Golden Knights within one with 1:57 left, his team-best 21st goal of the season. Still, another goal seemed unlikely. As the clock wound down it looked like Vegas' late push would be for naught. Then Reilly Smith positioned himself in front of the net, tracked Paul Stastny's shot and deflected it by Carey Price with 7.5 seconds left to even the game and force overtime.

The Canadiens scored three times in the first period, on goals from Cousins, Ilya Kovalchuk and Brett Kulak. It put the Golden Knights in a 3-0 a hole, a place they have been in five times in the last seven games. In many of the previous six Vegas was able to fight back with a strong second, and that's just what happened Saturday.

Vegas turned on the pressure in the middle period, scoring twice; one from Jonathan Marchessault and one from Paul Stastny.

Golden Knights battle back to get game within 1 in middle period

The Golden Knights showed they weren't willing to lie down and take a beating, rallying with a strong second period and trimming the Montreal Canadiens' lead to 3-2 going to the final period at Bell Centre.

The Golden Knights started their long trudge back at 9:08 thanks to a nifty pass and a smooth finish. Reilly Smith chased down a Shea Theodore offering below the goal crease, then flicked a backhand pass to the slot, where Jonathan Marchessault was set up to bury the feed. It trimmed the Montreal lead to 3-1.

Then, just like they had in many of the games they had fallen down 3-0, the Golden Knights continued to surge in the second period. Mark Stone had a strong individual effort to keep the play alive, falling down at one point and twirling his stick just enough to keep the puck inside the blue line.

Vegas kept up the pressure, and once Stone recollected it behind the net and fed Nicolas Hague for a blast. Carey Price stopped most of it, but Paul Stastny was able to poke home a the rebound to trim it to a 3-2 game at 14:47.

The Golden Knights outshot the Canadiens 12-6 in the second period and led 20-15 for the game.

Golden Knights fall behind big in 1st to Canadiens

A new coach can only do so much. After a two-game hiatus, the Golden Knights slipped back into an unfortunate habit, falling behind 3-0, and trailed the Montreal Canadiens by that score after one period at Bell Centre.

Reilly Smith had a good early look for Vegas, intercepting a a Max Domi pass in the defensive zone and skating the through the middle of the ice for a breakaway. Domi made up for his turnover though, backchecking hard and preventing Smith from getting a shot off. The Golden Knights did not record their first shot on goal until nearly four minutes into the game. Smith was also strong on the first Montreal power play, helping 

At 5:51, the Canadiens struck. Dale Weise took the puck behind the net and delivered a perfect no-look feed to Nick Cousins in front. Cousins had no defense in front of him, and he danced through the slot unopposed before sliding the puck under Marc-Andre Fleury's pad and over the red line for a 1-0 lead.

The Golden Knights were caught in a 2-on-1 with about 7 minutes left in the period, where the 1 was a forward. That's never an ideal situation, and it led to a Montreal goal. Fleury made the first save on the Phillip  Danault shot, but Ilya Kovalchuk was there on the rebound to slide it in inside the post at 12:33 to make it 2-0.

Vegas caught a bad break as the period was winding down, and it ended with the puck in the Golden Knights' net. From down low in the offensive, Mark Stone tried to feed Shea Theodore at the point but the puck deflected off the official's skate. It bounced to the Canadiens, who took it down ice to set up a play in the Vegas zone. Brett Kulak's point shot bounced off Theodore and behind Fleury, putting the Canadiens up 3-0 at 18:05.

Vegas had one power play in the period and registered one shot, which came form the neutral zone. It was a sluggish period for the Golden Knights, who have only come back to win one game this season where they have trailed by three goals. It was the fifth time in seven games they trailed 3-0 in a game.

Montreal led in shots on goal 9-8 in the first.

Max Pacioretty, Quebec-born players return home to take on Canadiens

There's no experience quite like walking into the visitor's dressing room at Bell Centre in Montreal. The the local media comes in two languages, seeking former Canadiens and players from the area.

The Golden Knights have plenty of those players. Max Pacioretty was the captain of the Canadiens before a 2018 trade brought him to Vegas, and Marc-Andre Fleury, Jonathan Marchessault, William Carrier and Nicolas Roy are all from the French-speaking part of Canada. Paul Stastny was born in in Quebec City, but competes internationally for the United States.

It means it's a special night for plenty of Golden Knights, who get to play against the team that used to play for or grew up watching. Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m.

"It's the team I watched growing up and the Bell Centre, I came here probably about 50 times when I was growing up," Carrier said. "It's special."

In the Golden Knights' inaugural season, seemingly every game was a homecoming for someone. Now in Year 3, most of the Golden Knights have faced their former club at least once. The notable exception was Mark Stone on Thursday in Ottawa, but even Pacioretty has already come back to Montreal as a visitor, doing so last season with Vegas.

Still, their teammates know it's still an important night.

"The guys have an awareness of it," defenseman Nate Schmidt said. "We know he's going to bring it, we've got to be able to match that intensity. Especially tonight, it's not just (Pacioretty), there's a lot of guys from the area, grew up in this area, so it means a lot to a lot of guys. For me as a guy that maybe doesn't have ties here, you need to bring a little extra for those guys tonight, because you know how much it means."

The Golden Knights picked up a win in the first game under new coach Peter DeBoer, beating the Senators on Thursday to snap a four-game losing streak. In his return to Montreal, Pacioretty leads the Golden Knights with 20 goals and 46 points, and has four goals in his last seven games.

The Sorel-born Fleury will start in net for the fourth game in a row. He stopped 33 of 35 shots on Thursday to turn in his first outing with a save percentage over .900 since Dec. 31.

TV: AT&T Sports Net (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-135, Canadiens plus-115; over/under: 6.0 (minus-105, minus-115)

Golden Knights (25-19-6, 56 points) (11-9-3 road), fourth place, Pacific Division; first place, Wild Card

Coach: Peter DeBoer (first season)

Points leader: Max Pacioretty (46)

Goals leader: Max Pacioretty (20)

Assists leader: Mark Stone (28)

Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (2.87 GAA, .907 save percentage)

Canadiens (21-21-7, 49 points) (9-12-4 home), sixth place, Atlantic Division; seventh place, Wild Card

Coach: Claude Julien (fourth season)

Points leader: Tomas Tatar (43)

Goals leader: Tomas Tatar (17)

Assists leader: Tomas Tatar (26)

Expected goalie: Carey Price (2.82 GAA, .909 save percentage)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault—Chandler Stephenson—Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty—Paul Stastny—Mark Stone

Tomas Nosek—Cody Eakin—Alex Tuch

William Carrier—Nicolas Roy—Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb—Nate Schmidt

Nick Holden—Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague—Deryk Engelland

Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban

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