Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Live coverage: Golden Knights take down division-leading Flames

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Steve Marcus

Vegas Golden Knights right wing Evgenii Dadonov (63) scores past Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) during the third period of an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021. The Golden Knights beat the Calgary Flames 3-2.

Updated Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021 | 9:40 p.m.

Golden Knights Down Flames, 3-2

Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner (90)defends against Calgary Flames left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) during the second period of an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021. Launch slideshow »

Playing the third period relying one a one-goal lead is always a dangerous proposition. So the Golden Knights used the final period to extend their lead, and ultimately put the Calgary Flames to bed.

Vegas scored twice in the third period, first adding to the lead and then restoring the two-goal advantage after Calgary scored. Max Pacioretty, Nicolas Roy and Evgenii Dadonov all finished with goals, and Vegas beat the Pacific Division-leading Flames 3-2 at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

The Golden Knights were tremendous defensively through the opening two periods, and Pacioretty's first-period goal gave them an advantage. They sat at just the one-goal lead through the whole second period, but it didn't take long for Roy to add to the tally in the third.

Just 1:49 into the frame, Roy beat Jacob Markstrom clean from the dangerous part of the ice. Shea Theodore did a nice job collecting his own blocked shot and finding Roy, who glided between the faceoff circles and wristed home Vegas' second of the game.

Calgary hasn't been shut out all season and would not be Sunday either. Elias Lindholm from the right faceoff dot deflected a shot past Robin Lehner to get the Flames on the board, and also deny the Vegas goalie his first clean sheet of the season.

And just like the start of the period, Vegas wouldn't play with just a one-goal lead for long. The Flames started playing lower in the attacking zone looking for offense and Vegas made them pay. Mattias Janmark led the rush and found Roy, whose shot was saved but the rebound sat in the slot just waiting for Dadonov to bak-hand into the net at 10:45.

Andre Mangiapane scored an extra-attacker goal for the Flames with 2:41 to go, and they hit a post in the final minute, but Vegas held on for the victory.

The victory was the Golden Knights' second in a row, and kicked off a four-game homestand on the right note. Next up as the Stars, who Vegas will meet Wednesday for the second time this season after winning in Dallas in October.

The Golden Knights led in final shots on goal 28-26.

Golden Knights hold steady with lead over Flames after 2 periods

Not much happened in the second period, which for the Golden Knights and their one-goal lead is just fine.

Vegas held serve in the middle frame, maintaining their 1-0 lead over the Calgary Flames through two periods at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday evening.

The Golden Knights turned in their best defensive 40 minutes of the season to start the game, allowing one high-danger scoring chance in the first two periods, and none at even strength, according to stats site Natural Stat Trick. Against a team known for its defensive structure, it was the Golden Knights who locked it down.

It started in the neutral zone, where Vegas harassed the Calgary puck-carriers and frustrated them into either turnovers or harmless dump-ins. It's not as if the Golden Knights were dominating offensively, but they did enough to keep Calgary from mounting an attack.

Vegas also had to kill of a late penalty, which had danger written all over it. Teams love to talk about how even a power play that doesn't score can build momentum for the 5-on-5 on game, but the Golden Knights made sure that the Flames didn't get the chance, allowing two shots on goal, neither of them dangerous, before the period came to a close.

Each side had nine shots on goal in the second, and Vegas led 19-17 through two.

Golden Knights jump out to early lead over Flames

The Golden Knights entered the game against the Pacific-leading Calgary Flames with plenty to prove, and passed their first test in the opening 20 minutes. Vegas had the only goal late in the period, and jumped out to a 1-0 lead heading to the first intermission at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

The early parts of the game didn't feature much action, which is Calgary's defensive system in action. The Flames sniffed out a couple of Vegas rush chances in the opening shifts, and through seven shifts held the Golden Knights to just one shot on goal.

The Golden Knights started to turn the pressure up during their first power play, 9:09 into the game. William Karlsson, returning to his first game action since breaking his foot, had a nice feed to Reilly Smith at the doorstep, and Vegas peppered goalie Jacob Markstrom with chances after that.

Once the Golden Knights broke free on a clean rush chance, they didn't miss. Mark Stone made a nifty pass in the neutral zone to spring Chandler Stephenson, who had a couple of steps on Max Pacioretty but passed it back to him anyway. It worked, as Pacioretty buried his sixth in seven games this season past a sliding Markstrom with 2:54 to go in the period.

The Golden Knights got better as the period rolled on, and finished the frame with a 10-8 edge in shots on goal.

William Karlsson returns for Golden Knights against Flames

William Karlsson is in the lineup for the Golden Knights against the Calgary Flames tonight, his first outing since Oct. 29 against Anaheim. He had a broken foot, and also spent last week in the league's COVID-19 protocol.

Karlsson returned to his usual spot on the "Misfit Line," centering Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith. Before his injury, Karlsson had one goal and three points in eight games this season.

William Karlsson expected to return for Golden Knights against Flames

Officially, coach Pete DeBoer listed center William Karlsson as a game-time decision for the Golden Knights tonight against the Calgary Flames. But all signs point to him playing.

Karlsson took part in morning skate and worked with the power-play units, both strong indicators of his return after missing the last 15 games with a broken foot and COVID-19-related absence. His return will be a welcome sight as the Golden Knights, currently outside the playoff picture, host the Pacific Division-leading Flames at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena.

"When a guy comes back when he hasn't played with us one game or however many he's missed, they bring the energy," defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "When you're not playing you miss those moments before the game right? To be in the locker room with the guys, so they energy they bring certainly carries over to the rest of us."

The Golden Knights will need Karlsson and everyone they can get against the Flames. Most teams have some sort of glaring weakness — if they're offensively gifted, maybe their goaltending isn't strong; if they have strong defensive coverages, maybe their power play is weak. The Flames have no such issues.

Calgary leads the NHL with a plus-31 goal differential as a product of allowing the fewest goals in the league and scoring the eighth most. Both the Flames' goalies have a .939 save percentage, and they have the fifth-best power play and fifth-best penalty kill. They have almost as many shutout victories (7) as they do losses (9), and lead the Golden Knights by nine points in the division.

In short, they're one of the best teams in the league, one game removed from Vegas facing the Coyotes, one of the worst.

"Coming from Arizona where we found some open ice off the rush, these guys don't really give that much against the rush," Pietrangelo said. "So for us it's trying to create offense against this team that defends in tight."

The Golden Knights have struggled against the top of Pacific Division this season, with a combined 1-3-0 record against the Oilers and Ducks, the two teams above them that they have played. This will be the first meeting this season with the Flames, and the first game overall since March 8, 2020, the penultimate game of the 2019-20 regular season before Covid shut it down.

The good news is, Vegas has a strong history against the Flames, with an 8-3-0 record. It's even more impressive at home, as Vegas sports a perfect 6-0-0 mark at T-Mobile Arena with a stunning 27-6 goal differential.

These Flames are different though. Even when they won the Pacific in 2018-19 they weren't man-handling teams the way they are this season, and tonight will be arguably the Golden Knights' biggest test yet.

"They're the best team in the league at getting to their game and their identity quickly and playing to it consistently every night," coach Pete DeBoer said. "There's going to be nowhere to hide, no room out there tonight. You're going to have to physically be involved against a team like this to have success, so I'm excited to see how our group will respond to that."

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

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-125, Flames plus-105; over/under: 5.5 (minus-135, plus-115)

Golden Knights (13-10-0, 26 points; 5th place, Pacific Division)

Coach: Pete DeBoer (third season)

Points leaders: Chandler Stephenson (21)

Goals leaders: Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith (10)

Assists leader: Chandler Stephenson (12)

Expected goalie: Robin Lehner (3.08 GAA, .909 save percentage)

Flames (15-4-5, 35 points; 1st place, Pacific Division)

Coach: Darryl Sutter (second season)

Points leader: Johnny Gaudreau (27)

Goals leader: Andrew Mangiapane (16)

Assists leaders:Johnny Gaudreau (18)

Expected goalie: Jacob Markstrom (1.76 GAA, .939 save percentage)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty—Chandler Stephenson—Mark Stone

Evgenii Dadonov—Nicolas Roy—Keegan Kolesar

William Carrier—Mattias Janmark—Michael Amadio

Defensemen

Nicolas Hague—Alex Pietrangelo

Shea Theodore—Zach Whitecloud

Brayden McNabb—Dylan Coghlan

Goalies

Robin Lehner, Laurent Brossoit

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