The Vegas Golden Knights extended their historic start with a come-from-behind win against the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Paul Cotter led the charge with the equalizer just over 12 minutes into the third period, and Shea Theodore potted the game-winner with 31.5 seconds remaining, giving Vegas the 3-2 victory.
Logan Thompson turned aside 26 of 28 shots for a .929 save percentage as he improved to 3-0-0, but it was Philadelphia’s Carter Hart who had to put on a show in the low-scoring affair. Hart made 26 saves on 29 shots (.897 save percentage), but he was the reason this one came down to the wire.
Vegas improved its record for the best start in NHL history by a defending Stanley Cup champion team with its seventh consecutive win; the previous streak was five games set by the 1985-86 Edmonton Oilers, which the Golden Knights topped Saturday in Chicago.
The Golden Knights are just the 16th team in NHL history to start the season 7-0-0.
First period
The Golden Knights opened the scoring less than seven minutes into the opening frame when Ivan Barbashev scored his second goal of the year.
It was a full-line goal for the top line, which went to work on the forecheck to set up the play. Jonathan Marchessault knocked the puck out of the air behind the net and fed Jack Eichel, whose shot was kicked out by Hart. Barbashev was there to put home the rebound and give Vegas a 1-0 lead at 6:54.
But the Flyers scored the next two.
The first came courtesy of Noah Cates at 13:07. Cates sent a backhand floater towards the net, which Joel Farabee batted out of the air; Cates followed the play and tapped the puck into the net.
Philadelphia’s second goal was the first terrible goal given up by Vegas this season. From a bad angle, Cam Atkinson sent a harmless backhand shot on net, and when Thompson tried to redirect it to the corner, it ended up deflecting off his blocker and into the net.
The Golden Knights came out ready to play, but the Flyers took advantage of their chances and led 2-1 after one. It was the first time Vegas trailed going into an intermission this season.
Second period
Both goalies came up with some big stops in the middle frame. But by the second half of the period, it was all Vegas, and Hart was stellar. The Flyers were hemmed in as the Golden Knights continued to cycle, but Hart was there to stifle Vegas’ swarm.
He made a pair of particularly impressive saves to deny Eichel, including a glove save on Eichel’s follow-up.
The Golden Knights had a ton of chances but were unable to solve Hart.
It was just the second period in which Vegas was held off the board this season (the first period against Dallas was scoreless).
Third period
The Flyers took a slashing penalty at the end of the second, setting up 1:27 of power-play action for Vegas to start the third. However, the Flyers’ penalty kill took care of the Tyson Foerster minor, leaving Vegas’ power play 0-for-2.
A lack of discipline by Travis Sanheim led to another power play for the Golden Knights just over four minutes into the third, but Vegas took a tripping minor to negate the advantage just seconds in.
The Golden Knights continued to push throughout the period. The ice was tilted, and Vegas generated chance after chance, outshooting the Flyers 9-2, but Vegas couldn’t break through. That is, until Cotter took matters into his own hands.
Cotter pulled off an absolutely filthy move to dangle around Flyers defenseman Egor Zamula before beating Hart far-side, resetting the score at 12:06.
After being benched for part of the second period, Cotter pulled off a goal-of-the-year candidate with the timely equalizer, finally solving the stingy Flyers netminder. It was Cotter’s second goal in two games.
The Flyers came right back down the ice, but Thompson made a clutch stop on Cates to keep things tied. He made another big stop on Atkinson with just over a minute left in the third. Atkinson then made a potentially game-saving diving play defensively to break up a prime scoring opportunity for Vegas.
But the Golden Knights would not be denied.
With just 31.5 seconds left in regulation, Theodore sent a seeing-eye wrister through traffic and past Hart to give Vegas the 3-2 lead and the win.
So far in the 2023-24 campaign, the Golden Knights have refused to lose. Tonight was no exception.
“We know what’s at stake every night,” Theodore said. “It’s good to get those two points.”
Though the Flyers had some strong stretches in the first period and early in the second, the Golden Knights came in waves for the rest of the night and delivered an outstanding finish. If not for Hart, this game could have gone very differently, but the Golden Knights were relentless to the very end.
“We were kind of chipping away all night,” Theodore said. “They’re a good team, they block a lot of shots. It got frustrating, but I thought we battled through, and we were able to get some through at the end.”
It wasn’t a perfect game, and the Atkinson goal Thompson gave up was brutal. However, this team continues to find ways to win and overcome almost anything over the course of a game, and it’s why Vegas is 7-0-0 to start the season.
Bruce Cassidy seems to be pushing all the right buttons; he shuffled the lines in the second period to try to get something going, and the Golden Knights generated enough momentum to carry into a critical third.
Though the power play left a lot to be desired and failed to capitalize early in the third, the penalty kill has been a strength and is now 18-for-20 on the year.
The Vegas goaltending remains stellar; Thompson came up with a number of key stops in the second and third periods, bouncing back after the Atkinson goal and shutting the door for the rest of the night.
Plus, players throughout the lineup contribute on a nightly basis.
Everything is clicking for the Golden Knights, and they will look to make it eight straight wins when they host the Blackhawks Friday night.
That will give Nicolas Roy an extra day of rest after he left the game late in the third period. Cassidy didn’t have much of an update after the game but said Roy “was walking around” and “sore.”