The Vegas Golden Knights celebrate a goal against the Vancouver Canucks during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)
Published Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021 | 4 p.m.
Updated Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021 | 9:47 p.m.
At different points Saturday, the game was tied 2-2, then 3-3, then 4-4. It was a back-and-forth affair until the Golden Knights blew the doors off the Vancouver Canucks in the third period.
Vegas exploded for four goals in the final frame, including two from Jonathan Marchessault, as the Golden Knights claimed a 7-4 victory at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, their third victory in a row.
Based on the final score, it’s odd to think the score was tied 3-3 heading to the final period. Even odder was the Canucks jumping out to a 2-0 lead early in the first period, only for Vegas to start the long climb back. Evgenii Dadonov scored in the first period, then Reilly smith and Brayden McNabb put the Golden Knights up 3-2.
Nils Hoglander scored before the second period ended for Vancouver, then again to tie it after Jake Leschyshyn scored his first-career goal to briefly put the Golden Knights up 4-3. Hoglander’s equalizer came less than a minute late, and that was the last time the outcome of the game was in doubt.
Marchessault’s power-play goal will hold up as the game-winner, but it was just the beginning of what Vegas had in store. Dadonov’s second of the game put them up two, then Marchessault’s second of the game finished off a seven-goal effort from the Golden Knights. It was the eighth time in franchise history they’ve scored that many in a game, and first this year.
All those goals came on 37 shots, which actually trailed Vancouver’s total of 41. Not that the Golden Knights will be too worried about that tonight.
Golden Knights, Canucks tied heading to third period
The second period Saturday saw the Golden Knights score twice to take the lead, then give up a strange goal to tie the game back up. Vegas turned a 2-1 deficit into a brief advantage, but the period with the Vancouver Canucks ended in a 3-3 draw at T-Mobile Arena.
On one shift, the Golden Knights almost had a goal, then got it after all. Jonathan Marchessault couldn’t get enough on a shot from the crease, and it moved just slowly enough for goalie Thatcher Demko to slide across and get a pad on it. He wasn’t out of danger though, and when the Golden Knights re-entered the zone, there was no stopping Reilly Smith’s shot. He roofed it by Demko, and it ted the game at 5:50 of the second.
As it turned out, the second period was full of pretty goals for Vegas. Shea Theodore created something out of nothing just past the midpoint of the frame, picking Bo Horvat’s pocket in the offensive zone and sliding the puck across to Brayden McNabb. He’s not known as a goal-scorer but he didn’t miss on his chance, wristing it by Demko for his second of the season, and first not into an empty net.
The Canucks though, re-tied the game on a bit of an odd one. Nils Hoglander was all alone coming down the right wing, and his shot was denied by Robin Lehner. The puck though sat under Lehner without being completely frozen. Hoglander was the only one who saw the puck was still live, and from behind Lehner pulled the puck from between his legs and into the goal. It made the game 3-3 with 2:45 left in the second.
There were a few penalties at the end of the second period, and when the third period begins, there will be 51 seconds of 4-on-4 time before 52-second Vegas power play.
Vancouver led 25-22 in shots on goal.
Two early goals put Golden Knights in first-period hole vs. Canucks
The Golden Knights’ first period couldn’t have started much worse than it did Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks.
Vegas missed a wide-open scoring chance, allowed a goal at the end of that shift and allowed what was essentially a power-play goal soon after that. The Golden Knights got one back before the period ended, but still trailed 2-1 after 20 minutes at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights had the first great chance of the game, but whiffed on it. Michael Amadio and Brett Howden rushed into the zone on a 2-on-1, Amadio fed Howden and Howden made a nifty pass to get back to Amadio. Howden’s pass fooled goalie Thatcher Demko, but also appeared to have fooled Amadio, who missed the most open net he’ll see in his career.
It proved costly in more ways one than one. J.T. Miller collected a Nils Hoglander pass and went down the other way, burying a goal. Twenty seconds after Vegas had a chance to go up 1-0, the Canucks did instead.
A Mark Stone penalty after that put Vancouver on the power play, where it extended the lead one second after the penalty expired. Former Golden Knight Brad Hunt went cross ice to Conor Garland, who flung the puck to the crease, off of Tanner Pearson’s skate and into the goal at 5:56 to give the Canucks a 2-0 lead.
The Golden Knights went much of the period without many chances, mustering just three shots at 5-on-5 in the frame. But a thunderous hit from Brayden McNabb on Vancouver’s Vasily Podkolzin actually ended in a power play for Vegas after Oliver Ekman-Larsson jumped McNabb. That’s just that they needed.
Justin Bailey took another penalty while short-handed, and Vegas’ 5-on-3 unit went to work. After a scrum in front of the net Evgenii Dadonov poked the puck in and trimmed Vancouver’s lead to 2-1. The Golden Knights will have 1:10 of power-play time on the other side of the break.
Vancouver led 10-9 in shots on goal in the first.
Mark Stone returns as Golden Knights take on Canucks
It’s official: Mark Stone is back.
The Golden Knights captain was activated from injured reserve and took line rushes ahead of the game with the Vancouver Canucks at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.
Stone, who was injured in the second game of the season on Oct. 14, will be making his third appearance this year and first in almost a month. He has three points this year, all assists. He’ll skate alongside Evgenii Dadonov and Chandler Stephenson, and is expected to get special-teams work.
Mark Stone’s return to Golden Knights possible vs. Canucks
The Golden Knights wouldn’t confirm it, but all signs point to the return of captain Mark Stone to the Vegas lineup tonight.
Stone will arrive at T-Mobile Arena ahead of the 7 p.m. puck drop against the Vancouver Canucks and be evaluated there. If he passes all tests, he’ll skate for just the third time this season and first since he left the Oct. 14 game with an injury.
As banged up as the Golden Knights are, his return would be a welcome sight ahead of a divisional showdown and rematch of the 2020 Western Conference semifinals that went seven games.
“It’s special teams, 5-on-5, o-zone, d-zone, to have a guy like that that impacts the game all over the ice is really important for us,” defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. “He’s your captain, he’s your leader, it’s always good to have him in there.”
Stone practiced this morning, taking a line rush with Evgenii Dadonov and Chandler Stephenson, and working with a power-play unit. He hasn’t done either of those in nearly a month, though he’s been skating with the team all week. While he’s a game-time decision, Vegas is planning for him to be in the lineup.
There’s a chance Alec Martinez goes too after catching a skate blade to the face in Tuesday’s game and receiving over 50 stitches. He didn’t participate in morning skate, though coach Pete DeBoer said the team has more players available than the 18 skaters on the ice this morning.
If Martinez can’t go, his spot in the lineup will likely go to Ben Hutton, a 28-year-old journeyman who Vegas signed late last month. He started his career with Vancouver, and has played 379 NHL games across six seasons.
Regardless of who plays, the Golden Knights will look for their third win in as many games on the homestand. In their way are the Canucks, who have struggled this season but aren’t that removed from a seven-game playoff series against Las Vegas in the Edmonton bubble last September.
Most of the core from the series remains the same. Defenseman Quinn Hughes is tied for the team lead with 10 assists and while Elias Pettersson hasn’t got his game going to its full potential yet (nine points in 14 outings), J.T. Miller has more than carried the offensive loads with six goals, 10 assists and 16 points that all rank as team-bests.
And of course Thatcher Demko is expected to be in net. The Golden Knights know Demko well after that playoff series in which he almost single-handedly carried the Canucks to an upset, winning Games 5 and 6 and registering a .985 save percentage in parts of four games. He will be in net tonight for his first appearance against the Golden knights since then.
“I still wake up in cold sweats thinking about Thatcher Demko and some of the saves he made,” DeBoer said. “That’s the first thing that comes to mind. Obviously the second is their high-end skill and their ability on the power play to really burn you with Pettersson and Quinn Hughes and Miller and on and on.”
The Golden Knights, in addition to winning that playoff series, have dominated the Canucks in the regular season to the tune of an 8-0-2 record. Vancouver is the only team (excluding the two games against the Seattle Kraken) against which Vegas has never lost in regulation.
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Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM
Betting line: Golden Knights minus-155, Canucks plus-135; over/under: 5.5 (minus-120, EVEN)
Golden Knights (8-6-0, 16 points; 5th place, Pacific Division)
Coach: Pete DeBoer (third season)
Points leaders: Chandler Stephenson (13)
Goals leader: Jonathan Marchessault (7)
Assists leader: Chandler Stephenson (8)
Expected goalie: Robin Lehner (2.72 GAA, .919 save percentage)
Canucks (5-7-2, 12 points; 7th place, Pacific Division)
Coach: Travis Green (fifth season)
Points leader: J.T. Miller (16)
Goals leader: J.T. Miller (6)
Assists leaders: Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller (10)
Expected goalie: Thatcher Demko (2.99 GAA, .907 save percentage)
Golden Knights projected lineup
Forwards
Jonathan Marchessault—Nicolas Roy—Reilly Smith
Evgenii Dadonov—Chandler Stephenson—Mark Stone
Mattias Janmark—Jake Leschyshyn—Keegan Kolesar
Michael Amadio—Brett Howden—Jonas Rondbjerg
Defensemen
Nicolas Hague—Alex Pietrangelo
Ben Hutton—Shea Theodore
Brayden McNabb—Dylan Coghlan
Goalies
Robin Lehner, Laurent Brossoit
