Fred Greenslade / Canadian Press via AP
Vegas Golden Knights’ Daniil Miromanov (42) celebrates his goal against the Winnipeg Jets with teammates during the first period in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022.
Published Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022 | 7:52 p.m.
Updated Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022 | 9:57 p.m.
The Golden Knights were down their top two scorers and three of their top defensemen in a battle between the top two teams in the Western Conference.
Good thing they had Mark Stone back in his hometown.
The Golden Knights captain scored twice to reach 500 points in his NHL career, and Jonathan Marchessault's second power-play goal of the third period broke a late tie to give Vegas a 6-5 win over the host Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre on Tuesday.
The Winnipeg native, in his 572nd career game, scored his second and third goals in the last two games after going the previous eight without finding the back of the net. The six goals by the Golden Knights (21-9-1) are the most since scoring seven in Buffalo on Nov. 10.
"He's our leader. He's our captain," Marchessault said of Stone. "He makes everyone on the ice look better. Happy for him."
But this game did not feature leading scorer Jack Eichel (lower body, day-to-day) and defensemen Alex Pietrangelo (personal, indefinite) Shea Theodore (lower body, week-to-week) and Zach Whitecloud (lower body, month-to-month).
But those that filled in left more than an impact.
Chandler Stephenson, back to his original center position, had four assists and generated four breakaway opportunities that could have resulted in goals.
Defenseman Daniil Miromanov, appearing in his sixth game since being recalled from AHL Henderson, scored his first NHL goal and added two assists — both coming on Marchessault's power-play goals that turned the tide in the third period.
"At the end of the day, you've got to play the game in front of you, and we needed some goals tonight to overcome some mistakes," coach Bruce Cassidy said, "and we got them."
Perhaps the more mind-boggling aspect of this win is how the Golden Knights continue to be, far and away, one of the best road teams in the NHL.
Coming into Tuesday, Vegas ended a three-game homestand by going 1-2-0 and scoring four total goals. The Golden Knights, one of the best home teams since their inception, are just 8-7-0 in Las Vegas this season.
The Golden Knights' vault to the top of the Western Conference has been due to a 13-2-1 start away from T-Mobile Arena, including a run of 5-1-1 in their last seven away from home.
"We started a lot of games on the road, I guess, and we started playing well," Marchessault said. "It's on us to be better at home. We'll take care of business when we get some home games in."
Winnipeg dominated play early by keeping Vegas in its own zone, a problem far too constant for the Golden Knights over the last month. After a long shift that led to a faceoff in the Vegas zone, Jets forward Mark Scheifele deflected a shot from defenseman Josh Morrissey at 9:22 of the opening period to get Winnipeg on the board.
Thrust into the spotlight and needing to pick up the slack of his injured teammates, Stephenson's speed was a difference-maker.
Stephenson was sprung for three breakaway opportunities in the first period. The Golden Knights started to get behind Winnipeg's defense and put Hellebuyck in tough spots to make saves.
Off a turnover led by Reilly Smith, he dumped it to Miromanov, who beat Hellebuyck far side to tie it 2:08 later.
Stone scored his first with 1 second remaining in the opening period after Nic Hague's shot attempt bounced right to the captain in front of the net for the rebound.
"The end of the first period, we started to play well," said Marchessault, who was part of his team outshooting Winnipeg 15-7 in the first period. "Good teams find a way to win."
After Winnipeg's Morgan Barron tied it 2-2 at 11:16 of the second, Stone reached the milestone number after finishing a pass from Stephenson to restore the Vegas lead at 15:34.
That didn't last long because Jets forward Sam Gagner scored less than a minute later.
Winnipeg took a 4-3 lead 41 seconds into the third period when Scheifele scored his second of the game on a power play.
But it was the power play — a special teams unit that is missing three vital players, and one Cassidy called "hit-or-miss" — capitalized thanks to their hottest goal scorer.
Marchessault tallied his first power-play goal at 9:38 of the third to tie it 4-4, then took the lead with 2:16 to go on the man advantage for the 5-4 lead.
Marchessault had his four-game goal streak end Sunday against Boston, but now has six goals in six games. His 14 on the season are now the highest total on the team.
William Karlsson added an empty-net goal to push the lead to 6-4, while Scheifele completed the hat trick with 1.7 seconds remaining.
"I'm just happy we won," Miromanov said. "Definitely happy to win. Just trying to do my job, fight hard and play hard in the D-zone."
There is no greater mystery than trying to figure out how the Golden Knights are impeccable on the road as opposed to scoring two-thirds of what they did tonight through the course of three games.
Whether they can avoid a trap game in Chicago on Thursday is another matter entirely. Adin Hill wasn't at his best, but Vegas still found a way to win. Take them any way you can get them, supposedly.
"Good for us for hanging in there," Cassidy said.
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
