Late goals, backup goalie fuel Golden Knights’ dramatic rally

By Justin Emerson

Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021 | 9:05 p.m.

When players talk about getting “rewarded” with goals, look no further than Jonathan Marchessault’s game-tying score Wednesday night.

Marchessault was a wrecking ball in the latter stages of the game against the Dallas Stars, standing up big hits, forechecking relentlessly and firing shot after shot. His one-timed equalizer with 62 seconds left was the reward for willing his team back into the game.

It supported a tremendous effort from goalie Laurent Brossoit, who made his first start with the Golden Knights and backstopped the 3-2 overtime victory at American Airlines Center.

Marchessault and Brossoit made sure it made it to overtime, and Evgenii Dadonov ended it, beating Anton Khudobin 1:59 into the extra period for his first non-empty-net goal with the Golden Knights.

“We had a lot of adversity since last night, when you’re a professional hockey player there’s no excuse,” Marchessault said. “You put on your work boots and that’s what we did tonight. We kept it a close game — we were able to get it to the last minute and it was a big game.”

The Golden Knights had an adventure just getting to Dallas for the game after they played the Avalanche in Colorado last night. The Golden Knights boarded after the game, but ended up returning to their Denver hotel. They didn’t arrive in Dallas until 4 p.m. local time, about three and a half hours before the game started.

It seemed to influence the way they started against the Stars. They conceded a goal 2:20 into the game and never looked themselves through 30 minutes of play. Even their goal was a bit lucky, as Shea Theodore whiffed on the shot — he called it an “absolute muffin” in his televised intermission interview — as it bounced off Dallas defenseman’s Esa Lindell’s skate and into the net.

Vegas finished the first period with five shots on goal, and at one point trailed 22-6. The final tally was 34-21 in favor of Dallas.

The bright spot early on, as it has been for much of the season so far, was the play of the goalie. Brossoit, signed in the offseason to back up Robin Lehner, made his first start and second appearance of the season and was the Golden Knights’ best player, making 32 saves and allowing them to stay within striking distance.

Brossoit was under siege in the first period, facing 15 shots with the only goal he allowed was a deflection off a defenseman's skate. An Alexander Radulov deflection beat him in the second period, and his best save of the game came with 25 seconds left, denying Luke Glendening what would have surely been the game-winning goal.

“I thought our guys did a great job of weathering the storm in the first period and getting the plane legs and travel legs out of us and making the smart choices,” Brossoit said. “When we had our chances we buried them.”

Coming off a four-game losing streak, the Golden Knights picked up road victories in back-to-back nights against Central Division contenders in the Avalanche and the Stars. Vegas was reeling as recently as Sunday night, and as the injuries continue to pile up — Mattias Janmark was scratched and William Carrier left the game early — it was as gritty a win as the Golden Knights have had in quite some time.

“It was a gutsy road trip,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “It was a gutsy win again today, short bench, had more guys leave during the game, so we were basically playing three lines. Guys dug deep all week.

“Tough circumstances and guys found a way. It was a real character test and I thought we did a great job.”