Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore, center, celebrates with Jonathan Marchessault. left, and Nicolas Roy (10) after scoring the winning goal in overtime against the Montreal Canadiens at T-Mobile Arena Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022.
Published Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Updated Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022 | 9:47 p.m.
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The Golden Knights won't be thrilled they needed to go to overtime with the team sporting the league's worst record, but they'll breathe a sigh of relief that overtime ended in a victory.
Shea Theodore's goal 1:50 into the extra period secured a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in an up-and-down game for the Golden Knights, and ended the homestand at T-Mobile Arena on a high note Thursday evening.
The Canadiens scored on their first shot of the period, and until there was 7:36 left in the game it was their only shot of the period. It was effective, as Mike Hoffman's one-timer beat Robin Lehner's shoulder to the right post and found twine to give Montreal its first lead of the game at 6:15.
Jonathan Marchessault ensured it did not last long. Vegas drew a penalty at the 11:32 mark and seven seconds later tied the game back up. William Karlsson feathered a seam pass across the ice to Marchessault, who rifled it into the net for his team-best 19th of the season.
That set the stage for overtime, and Theodore's winner. Vegas finished the longest homestand of the year with a 3-3-2 record.
The Golden Knights started things off early courtesy of Chandler Stephenson's second goal in as many games. He picked up a juicy rebound in front of the net and buried it at 3:40, and gave Vegas a lead out of the gate.
Montreal answered though with a goal from in close later in the frame, when Michael Pazzetta made his way to the net and evened the score with 4:32 to go in the first.
William Karlsson scored a power-play goal in the second for Vegas, and Tyler Toffoli scored one on the power play for the Canadiens. Vegas led in nearly every category but goals through two periods, including a 32-19 edge in shots on goal, but never had more than a one-goal lead.
The Golden Knights finished with a season-high 53 shots on goal and held Montreal to 27.
Golden Knights head to third period tied with Canadiens
Just like in the first period, the Golden Knights jumped out to a lead, only to see the Montreal Canadiens answer back. Vegas has been by far the better team, but is letting the Canadiens, who entered with the worst record in the league, hang around, and the second period ended in a 2-2 tie at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.
The start of the second period didn't have much action to speak of, but once the Golden Knights drew a power play things started to heat up.
And they heated up from a player who needed to get things going. Most power-play goals aren't scored in transition, but William Karlsson executed a give-and-go with Jonathan Marchessault and on the return pass Karlsson went back-hand in tight and scored 11:46 into the second.
It was not only Karlsson's first power-play goal of the year, but his first power-play point. It was his sixth goal and 12th point in 26 games this season.
The Canadiens answered with a goal of their own, and like Vegas it came on the power play. Robin Lehner actually got a pad on Tyler Toffoli's shot, but it was as he was lunging across the crease, and he couldn't keep the puck from crossing the red line. It was a goal at 14:20, and evened the score 2-2.
The Golden Knights led 32-19 in shots on goal through two.
Golden Knights start hot, but tied with Canadiens after first period
The Golden Knights came out hot and scored the first goal of Thursday's game at T-Mobile Arena. They couldn't find a second one though, and ended the period tied 1-1 with the Montreal Canadiens.
Evgenii Dadonov started the early scoring play in the corner or Vegas, trying to center the puck but goalie Sam Montembeault got a piece of him. Unfortunately for him and fortuntaley for Vegas the puck kicked out to the center of the ice, where Chandler Stephenson was there to put home an easy one.
It was his 12th goal of the season to tie him for second on the team, and second in as many games. It put Vegas up 1-0 at the 3:40 mark of the game.
The Golden Knights spent the rest of the period lurking around the Montreal net. Stephenson had a slick flip-pass over Montembeault's stick that Dadonov couldn't quite finish, Keegan Kolesar was denied on a breakaway and a Canadiens defender got a stick on a Grade-A chance from Michael Amadio in the slot.
But it was the Canadiens who scored the next goal, with a bit of an aid from the official. The play came down the boards and when Alex Pietrangelo bumped into him, it took the and Golden Knights defenseman out of the play and allowed Michael Pezzetta to swoop in and bury his shot, evening the score with 4:32 to go in the frame.
Vegas finished with 18-10 lead in shots on goal after the first period.
Golden Knights look to salvage homestand against scuffling Canadiens
The Golden Knights have never had a homestand quite like this.
The current eight-game stretch is the longest in team history after two scheduled road games were postponed, and marks the ninth homestand of five games or more in team history.
They’ve had winning records in the previous eight. They’ve already clinched a losing mark having dropped five of seven so far (2-3-2), and will look to salvage a disappointing run of games when the struggling Montreal Canadians come to T-Mobile Arena at 7 p.m.
“We pride ourselves on being a good home team and obviously it’s been a tough stretch for us,” captain Mark Stone said after the loss to the Penguins on Monday. “We have another two days off in between (games) here, got a little soul-searching to do, and we’ve got a desperate team coming in, Montreal. We’ve got to be ready to play and finish the homestand off right and be ready for the road.
As Stone said, the Golden Knights have historically been kings of their own castle they call “The Fortress.”
In the first four years as a franchise, Vegas went 96-38-13 at T-Mobile Arena, a .697 points percentage that ranked fourth in the NHL. That included a 29-10-2 mark in the inaugural season, and a 21-5-2 record in last season’s shortened campaign.
They’ve defeated the Ducks and Rangers, but lost to the Predators, Blackhawks and Penguins in regulation, the Jets in overtime and the Maple Leafs in a shootout, including five losses in their last six home games. That dropped them to a 12-10-2 record, meaning they’ve lost as many as they’ve won in their home rink.
“I don’t think anyone likes our record, but we’re not looking back, we’re looking forward,” coach Pete DeBoer said.
The Golden Knights aren’t exactly hurting in the standings because of this stretch. Despite a homestand that has yielded just six of a possible 14 points, Vegas remains top of the Pacific Division with a three-point lead over the second-place Kings. The Flames though, are tied in points percentage based on playing five fewer games.
So even a loss tonight would still Vegas as the divisional leader.
“We’ll take it but we’re in the business of winning and we’re used to winning games so we want to get that back on track,” DeBoer said.
Though tonight looks like an excellent chance for the Golden Knights to return to winning ways. The Canadiens, who defeated Vegas in the Stanley Cup semifinals last year, are dead last in the NHL this season, having won just eight times in 38 contests this season with a stunning minus-56 goal differential.
“We always want to play good at home,” forward Nicolas Roy said. “We haven’t played as good as we would like to, and we’re playing good for stretches but we’ve got to play good for a full 60 minutes. It’s what we’ve got to focus on for the next game.”
It’s a prime opportunity for the Golden Knights to hit the road on a high note for a gauntlet of a trip through Washington, Carolina, Florida and Tampa Bay, the final three of which rank in the top three in points percentage in the league.
First up is the Canadiens though, and the Golden Knights know the importance of this one. It may be a regular season game in January, but it’s much more important than that. It’s about getting things back on track, and defending “The Fortress.”
TV: AT&T SportsNet (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)
Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM
Betting line: Golden Knights minus-320, Canadiens plus-260; over/under: 6 (plus-105, minus-125)
Golden Knights (23-15-2, 48 points; 1st place, Pacific Division)
Coach: Pete DeBoer (third season)
Points leader: Chandler Stephenson (37)
Goals leader: Jonathan Marchessault (18)
Assists leader: Chandler Stephenson (26)
Expected goalie: Robin Lehner (2.95 GAA, .904 save percentage)
Canadiens (8-25-5, 21 points; 8th place, Atlantic Division)
Coach: Dominique Ducharme (second season)
Points leader: Nick Suzuki (21)
Goals leader: Josh Anderson (8)
Assists leader: Jonathan Drouin, Nick Suzuki (14)
Expected goalie: Sam Montembeault (3.72 GAA, .902 save percentage)
Golden Knights projected lineup
Forwards
Evgenii Dadonov—Chandler Stephenson—Nolan Patrick
Jonathan Marchessault—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith
Mattias Janmark—Nicolas Roy—Keegan Kolesar
William Carrier—Brett Howden—Michael Amadio
Defensemen
Brayden McNabb—Alex Pietrangelo
Shea Theodore—Zach Whitecloud
Ben Hutton—Dylan Coghlan
Goalies
Robin Lehner, Logan Thompson
