On Thursday, the Vegas Golden Knights (15-6-9) played the fourth of a five-game road trip against the Philadelphia Flyers (16-9-4). After jumping out to an early lead, they traded goals with the Flyers. They headed to a third straight overtime, where Jack Eichel and Mark Stone linked up for the game-winner to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 victory.
The first period was tightly contested, with both teams recording just five shots on goal. The Golden Knights generated six high-danger scoring chances to Philadelphia’s three, but entered the intermission tied at one.
The Golden Knights broke the ice at 6:07 in the first period. Jack Eichel sprung Braedan Bowman, who entered the zone, pulled up, and backhanded a pass to Ivan Barbashev. Barbashev danced towards the slot and touched the puck ahead to Zach Whitecloud, who drove the net and scored a beauty in tight.
The Flyers tied the game at 16:11 in the first. Travis Sanheim made a great play and threaded a cross-ice pass to Trevor Zegras for an easy tap-in.
The second period was more open, with both teams recording nine shots on goal. The Golden Knights generated six high-danger chances to Philadelphia’s one and controlled 76% of the expected goal share. However, both teams scored and entered intermission tied again.
The Golden Knights regained the lead at 12:53 in the second period on the power play. After a clean zone entry, Mark Stone found Pavel Dorofeyev in the slot. Dorofeyev fired a shot on net, and after a few attempts, Stone banged in the rebound.
The Flyers found the equalizer once again at 16:08 in the second. Carl Grundström forced a turnover and slid the puck to Christian Dvorak. Dvorak circled back out to the point and set up Noah Juulsen for a one-timer from the left dot.
Both teams were hard-pressed for offense in the third period, and each managed just five shots on goal. However, the Flyers generated five high-danger scoring chances to Vegas’ one and controlled 80.4% of the expected goal share. Akira Schmid stood tall when called upon to keep the game tied.
The Golden Knights ended the game 2:47 into overtime. Jack Eichel pressured Travis Konecny into a turnover, danced him twice, and drifted towards the goal line. Eichel threaded a pass through the crease to Mark Stone, who chipped it over Dan Vladař’s pad and into the net.
7 Golden Knights Observations
1. For the 14th time this season– and for the fifth game in a row– the Golden Knights scored the first goal of the game. With tonight’s overtime win, they now have a record of 10-1-3 when scoring first.
2. This was what the kids call a ‘low-event game,’ playoff-style, even. It’s a good sign that the Golden Knights were able to pull out a win.
3. You have to give a lot of credit to Akira Schmid tonight. He was huge in the third period, and he had no chance on the two goals the Flyers scored. His sub-900 save percentage doesn’t look great, but make no mistake, he was huge tonight.
4. The Golden Knights haven’t gotten much scoring from their back end this season. However, when they get goals from the blue line, they don’t waste them. After tonight’s overtime win, they have a record of 7-0-4 when a defenseman scores a goal.
5. Special teams were the difference tonight. That’s nothing new– this has been the case many times this season. The Golden Knights went 1-for-2 on the power play, scoring a go-ahead goal in the second period. And they killed off all three penalties they took, including one with less than five minutes to go in regulation.
6. What a game from Mark Stone. The captain enjoyed another multi-point night and extended his personal point streak to 14 games.
7. The Golden Knights are 9-1-4 with Stone in the lineup. That’s not a coincidence. Stone isn’t just a great two-way winger and power play specialist– he’s their captain. He’s an important guy on the bench and in the locker room.
“He’s obviously our emotional leader, and he’s also a world-class player,” said Jack Eichel postgame.
