Golden Knights emerge from break hot, survive late surge to beat Hurricanes

By Justin Emerson

Friday, Jan. 31, 2020 | 8 p.m.

Anything could have happened coming off a 10-day layoff. It could have been a sluggish start, or it could have been a blowout in the Golden Knights’ favor, or it could have been one of the best games of the year.

Vegas seized the last option. The Golden Knights had a two-goal lead late into the third period, only to see the Carolina Hurricanes battle back to tie it. Alex Tuch netted the game-winner with 2:28 left in the third period and the Golden Knights came out of the bye week with a 4-3 victory over the Hurricanes at PNC Arena on Friday.

“It was pretty crazy,” Tuch said to AT&T SportsNet. “We just kept pushing and didn’t let down even though they were coming back.”

The Golden Knights started strong, ending the first period with a 2-0 lead after controlling the frame. Carolina didn’t go quietly: A power-play goal with 3:39 remaining in regulation appeared to make the game destined for overtime before Tuch’s winner.

Paul Stastny, Reilly Smith and Nate Schmidt also scored for Vegas, which won for just the second time in its last eight games. Malcolm Subban made 22 saves in the win.

Here are three takeaways from the victory.

No playing for overtime

Against an Eastern Conference opponent, going to overtime wouldn’t have been the worst thing. It would have become a three-point game, but if the Golden Knights hung on to win anyway, the extra point going Carolina’s way wouldn’t affect Vegas much. Still, the Golden Knights had no interest in that.

Schmidt’s goal with 7:51 left in the third period gave Vegas a 3-1 lead, but Carolina’s Brock McGinn scored 16 seconds later, then Nicolas Roy went to the box 3:48 later. And just eight seconds into the Hurricanes’ power play, Sebastian Aho redirected the game-tying goal into the net with 3:39 left.

“Obviously at 3-1 in the third period you want to close that game out, but I mean they’re a hardworking team and you have to give credit to them,” forward Jonathan Marchessault. “At the end of the day, good teams find a way to win and we did.”

It was a wild ending to the game. The Golden Knights got a power play of their own just 65 seconds after the Aho goal, and Tuch scored five seconds into it.

“I liked our response,” coach Peter DeBoer said to AT&T SportsNet. “Big goal, big win, big important start to the road trip.”

New-look top line

The first major change Peter DeBoer has made to the Golden Knights lineup came Friday when he shifted Stastny to the top line between wingers Jonathan Marchessault and Smith. It’s a combination that Vegas had not used before, and it paid almost immediate dividends.

Not only did Stastny score 3:52 into the game on assists from his linemate, Marchessault netted another with a Smith helper at 9:59. The trio had both the Vegas goals and five combined points in the first period. Marchessault’s assist was his 100th as a Golden Knight.

The trio generated more shot attempts than any other Vegas line on Friday, and Vegas had a 2-0 advantage in goals while those three were on the ice.

“As a hockey player we’re able to adjust no matter what,” Marchessault said to AT&T SportsNet. “I thought overall we looked pretty good tonight.”

Important win to start tough stretch

The Golden Knights didn’t catch any scheduling breaks coming off the bye week. The game against Carolina started a stretch of 11 games with nine coming against current playoff teams. Even the two that aren’t in the playoffs — the Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild — aren’t far out of contention.

Vegas missed a prime opportunity in its last stretch of games, a four-game swing through Buffalo, Ottawa, Montreal and Boston. The first three games were against teams near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, while the Golden Knights had a third-period lead against Boston. They finished with three of a possible eight points.

“We weren’t playing well and the break came at a good time,” Marchessault said to AT&T SportsNet. “Coming out of the break, we cashed in and played well tonight.”