Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Blog: Golden Knights drop overtime contest to Montreal

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Steve Marcus

Montreal Canadiens celebrate their 5-4 overtime win over the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019.

Updated Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019 | 9:40 p.m.

Max Domi scored 27 seconds into the overtime period Thursday as the Golden Knights fell to the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 at T-Mobile Arena.

Vegas finished with the advantage in shots on goal 35-30.

The Golden Knights drop to 8-5-1 on the season.

Golden Knights, Canadiens heading to overtime

Just like last year, it's going to take more than regulation to finish off a Golden Knights-Canadiens game. Vegas had a two-goal lead with 6:27 to play in the third period, but Montreal scored twice to force overtime.

Cody Glass had a terrific shift early in the third rewarded with a goal. First he sent a pass across the slot and off a Canadien nearly into the net. Once he had the puck again, he fired at the net and it went between Keith Kinkaid's legs, off his outside leg and across the red line for Glass' third of the season.

That put Vegas up 3-2, but that wasn't the end of the scoring. Former Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty got into the action with an assist, the 500th point of his career. It was on a feed to Mark Stone, who banked it off a Montreal defender battling with Paul Stastny in front of the net.

It was Stone's team-leading eighth goal and 17th point of the season. Pacioretty grabbed sole possession of the team lead with 10 assists.

Down 4-2, Montreal wasn't done. The Canadiens picked up a power play on a Nate Schmidt holding call. As the penalty was expiring, Joel Armia hit the post and the puck deflected off Tomas Tatar to cut the lead to 4-3 with 6:27 to play.

Then the Canadiens found the equalizer. Seconds after pulling Kinkaid, Brendan Gallagher deflected the puck into the Vegas net to tie the game 4-4 with 1:58 to play.

In the first two periods, the Canadiens book-ended the first four goals of the game, first on a Phillip Danault rebound then on a Jonathan Drouin attempt that went in off Brayden McNabb's skate.

Vegas' goals came courtesy of William Karlsson taking advantage of lane to Kinkaid's left and Alex Tuch doing the same on the right. It was Karlsson's third game in a row with a goal and Tuch's first goal in his first game of the season.

Golden Knights, Canadiens tied going into third

Vegas had the only goal of the period go in its own net, and entered the second intermission in a 2-2 tie with the Montreal Canadiens.

The Canadiens evened the game at 9:40 of the second on a goofy one. Jonathan Drouin showed off some fancy stickwork to the left of Marc-Andre Fleury, pulling Fleury out of the crease. Drouin got the puck over Fleury and it deflected off Brayden McNabb and just over the red line to make it 2-2.

The Golden Knights best look came with 6:30 left in the period. After a controlled zone entry, Shea Theodore's shot went wind but the bounce went off the boards and right to Mark Stone. Stone fired a slapper and Keith Kinkaid dove across the crease and gloved down the shot to keep the game tied.

Two minutes later, Reilly Smith and William Karlsson sprung loose on a 2-on-1. Smith fed Karlsson for an open look, and Karlsson dented the iron. Karlsson had another breakaway look as time expired, but Kinkaid denied him again.

The Golden Knights led in shots on goal 27-20. Vegas will have 11 second of penalty-kill time when the third period begins.

Golden Knights fall behind early, but lead after 1

The Golden Knights conceded an early goal, but answered with two of their own — one on a star heating up and one on a key piece coming back — to lead the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 after a period at T-Mobile Arena.

Phillip Danault had a good look denied by Marc-Andre Fleury early in the game, but made his second one count. The Golden Knights couldn't corral the puck and allowed former Golden Knight Tomas Tatar to gain control. Tatar dished it to Shea Weber, who leveled a blast at the net. Fleury's pad got it, but Danault, who had a hat trick in this building last season, put it home at 2:35.

Vegas evened it up in the dying minutes thanks to some savvy veteran play. Jonathan Marchessault grabbed the puck near his own blue line and saw William Karlsson streaking down the right wing. Knowing Karlsson was fast enough to beat the icing, Marchessault tried to intentionally shoot it all the way down the ice and bank it off the endboards.

Instead Victor Mete's stick slowed it down, Karlsson picked it up and scored his fourth of the season to even the game at 14:35. It was the third game in a row that Karlsson had a goal.

Alex Tuch looked strong in his first period of the season, bringing a heavy forechecking presence to the third line. He had a good look midway through the frame from the slot but shot it high. He also had a shot on goal. Then he scored.

The Golden Knights had been trying for the outlet pass all period, and finally connected in a big way. Nate Schmidt, back on the ice for the first time in 13 games, fired a perfect pass off the boards from his own zone. Tuch collected deep in the neutral zone, walked in and fired from the circle, beating Keith Kinkaid five-hole.

Vegas led in shots on goal for the period 12-10.

Finally healthy, Golden Knights face Canadiens

It's been a long time since the Golden Knights have been at full strength. Even in their last game of last season, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was injured and unable to play in Game 7 against the Sharks.

On opening night this year, Alex Tuch was hurt. By the end of the first period, Nate Schmidt had joined him on the injured list. Malcolm Subban left the fourth game of the season with an injury.

Schmidt has been cleared for tonight's game, and Tuch and Subban are expected to join him, as the Golden Knights host the Montreal Canadiens at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena.

"It's going to be nice to see regular guys in the lineup," forward Jonathan Marchessault said. "They're a big part of our group. It's fun to see them do well in practice, and it will be fun to see them out there (tonight)."

If everyone comes back as expected, the only player on the roster ineligible would be Valentin Zykov, who is serving a 20-game suspension.

Two games ago, the Golden Knights had perhaps their worst game of the season. But the last time they took the ice, it was one of their best. The challenge tonight will be replicating Sunday's success.

"To kind of get that wake-up call last Friday night could be a little bit of a blessing for us, because we weren't playing good but still winning," forward Mark Stone said.

Montreal is a young and fast team that just missed the playoffs last season and is in that same spot as the last team on the outside looking in. Brendan Gallagher continues to be one of the most underrated players in the league, leading Montreal with six goals and 11 points. Max Domi followed up last year's career season by leading the team with seven assists.

And, of course, Nick Suzuki is playing for the Canadiens. Suzuki was a first-round pick by Vegas in the inaugural draft, and was traded to Montreal as part of the Max Pacioretty deal last year.

Vegas looks like it could catch a break with the opposing goalie. The Canadiens played last night in Arizona, and starting goalie Carey Price picked up the victory. So either the Golden Knights will face a goalie who is on the second night of a back-to-back in different cities or a backup who has had two rough games so far this season.

"Obviously with Nick Suzuki in their lineup, it will be nice to see him again," Vegas forward Cody Glass said. "They have some really skilled players, a very hard-working team, and I think it's going to be a real challenge for us."

The Golden Knights are looking to end October with nine wins for the month for the first time in franchise history (though they played three fewer games in October 2017 compared to this year). The Golden Knights have banked points this year, despite not playing their best hockey. Now at full strength, they are looking to go on a run.

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-240, Canadiens plus-190; over/under: 6.5 (minus-105, minus-115)

Golden Knights (8-5-0, 16 points) (4-3-0 home), tied-second place, Pacific Division

Coach: Gerard Gallant (third season)

Points leader: Mark Stone (16)

Goals leaders: Reilly Smith, Mark Stone (7)

Assists leaders: Max Pacioretty, Mark Stone (9)

Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (2.29 GAA, .928 save percentage)

Canadiens (6-4-2, 14 points) (3-1-2 road), fifth place, Atlantic Division

Coach: Claude Julien (fourth season)

Points leaders: Jonathan Drouin, Brendan Gallagher (11)

Goals leaders: Joel Armia, Jonathan Drouin, Brendan Gallagher (6)

Assists leaders: Max Domi (7)

Expected goalie: Keith Kinkaid (4.54 GAA, .875 save percentage)

Golden Knights expected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty—Paul Stastny—Mark Stone

Cody Glass—Cody Eakin—Alex Tuch

William Carrier—Tomas Nosek—Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb—Nate Schmidt

Jon Merrill—Shea Theodore

Nick Holden—Deryk Engelland

Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban

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