After recording their second consecutive overtime victory, the Vegas Golden Knights will take a five-game winning streak into Canada as they continue their five-game trip on Thursday night against Ottawa.
Vegas also will visit Montreal on Saturday and Toronto on Tuesday before finishing the trip at Buffalo on Nov. 10.
The Golden Knights have won nine of their first 11 games and are tied with Boston for the most points in the NHL with 18. The Eastern Conference-leading Bruins have played one fewer game, however.
After defeating the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 in dramatic fashion on Sunday in Las Vegas on a Jack Eichel goal with seven seconds left in overtime, Vegas posted a 3-2 come-from-behind overtime victory over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.
William Carrier tied the contest with 5:56 left in the third period, and Shea Theodore, off a pass into the slot from Eichel, won it 1:35 into overtime.
It was Carrier’s eighth career overtime winner.
“Pretty special player,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said of Eichel, who capped his second straight multi-point game with the impressive assist to Theodore. “When there’s time and space for Jack, he’s one of those dynamic players people pay money to see.”
“He’s a skilled player with the puck,” added Theodore, who roofed a close-in shot over Washington goalie Charlie Lindgren off Eichel’s setup. “If you can read his eyes and get to a good spot, he’ll find you.”
Eichel, who also had a first-period power-play goal against the Capitals, has a team-high 12 points after 11 games.
Cassidy said the comeback win provided some key momentum going forward on the lengthy road trip.
“If you’re going to have a good road trip, the first one is a win of some sort, usually a character win,” Cassidy said. “We’re on to the next nation’s capital but it’s a good start. Guys usually feel good about themselves when things like that happen.”
Next up is a Senators team that wasn’t feeling so good after its game on Tuesday, a 4-3 loss at Tampa Bay.
It was the third straight loss for Ottawa, which was up 3-2 midway through the third period on a Claude Giroux goal. However, the Senators allowed two goals down the stretch, the final one on a Nikita Kucherov one-timer with 2:30 to go.
“You’ve got to learn to close games out, get the point when you have to, and we just didn’t get it done,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said. “Again, we gave up a late goal. At that point, there has to be desperation down low in your own zone. We gave a couple guys open looks. We have the lead with seven minutes to go and you’ve got to learn to manage that way better.”
On the bright side, Ottawa killed seven of eight penalties while also getting Mathieu Joseph’s shorthanded goal.
“The penalty kill was great,” Smith said. “There were some bad calls and whatever the case may be, but we just made some really bad plays in the third period. They (ended) up in the back of the net.”
“I don’t know if we should have won this game,” Joseph added. “That’s a good team, and they don’t panic out there. They have good players who make big plays at big moments and they don’t stop. We were just a little bit immature to finish the game.”
–Field Level Media