The Vegas Golden Knights lost in extra time for the second night in a row, falling 5-4 to the Edmonton Oilers Tuesday night at Rogers Place one night after suffering a 2-1 overtime loss in Calgary.
The Golden Knights scored two goals in the final 6:30 of the third period to force extra time and steal a point, but they were unable to complete the comeback in their third consecutive loss (0-1-2).
The Oilers took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Sam Gagner 13:29 into the opening frame, as the puck somehow made its way under Logan Thompson’s arm.
It proved to be the lone goal of the frame. In the first, the Golden Knights played another 14 minutes of 5-on-5 hockey without scoring, but the cold streak came to an end just 71 seconds into the middle frame.
Mark Stone battled in front of the net and got his stick on a Kaedan Korczak point shot to even things up at 1-1. It was the club’s first 5-on-5 tally since Jonathan Marchessault’s goal 15 minutes into the second period against Philadelphia 10 days ago.
Stone started the play with a bank pass off the boards to Jack Eichel, who protected the puck along the blue line before leaving it for Korczak.
Former Golden Knights forward Mattias Janmark, who was filling in for Zach Hyman on the top line, put the Oilers ahead once again when he beat Thompson just over five minutes into the second period.
However, the Golden Knights responded 43 seconds later when Michael Amadio scored right off the faceoff to make it a 2-2 game. The Oilers seemingly abandoned the net-front off the draw, leaving Amadio alone to beat Stuart Skinner on the backhand.
The Golden Knights had a brief window to try to take the lead, but the Oilers grabbed the momentum when Connor McDavid scored on the breakaway just 2:03 later. Chandler Stephenson’s shot missed wide, and the puck went all the way around the boards and onto the stick of the cherry-picking McDavid in the neutral zone.
The Oilers extended their lead to two goals on a late power-play strike, as Evander Kane cashed in on a rebound in front of the crease, making it 4-2 Oilers at 17:23.
Vegas was flat for most of the third period, generating just one shot on goal through the first 13 minutes.
But the Golden Knights scored on their second and third shots of the frame, erasing Edmonton’s lead in the span of 4:22 and forcing overtime.
The goals were the first of the year for both Ben Hutton and Keegan Kolesar.
Hutton gave Vegas life when he collected a rolling puck and fired one past Skinner. The goal came on a strong shift by the fourth line, as Brett Howden and Amadio forced a turnover along the boards and Paul Cotter fought for the loose puck.
Kolesar reset the score to make it 4-4 with just 2:08 remaining in the third. It was an impressive backdoor tip play by Kolesar off a smart feed from Zach Whitecloud.
The Golden Knights’ overtime highlights were mainly on defensive plays, especially Korczak’s recovery effort when he fumbled the puck and was alone in the zone with McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
The Golden Knights came extremely close to losing their second straight game in the final seconds of overtime, but a 2-on-1 play with McDavid and Evan Bouchard missed narrowly.
The shootout required just two rounds. McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored, but Marchessault missed the net and Eichel hit the post, giving the Oilers the 5-4 win.
The Golden Knights are 0-0-2 so far on this road trip, but Vegas was fortunate to come out of Edmonton with a point.
The Golden Knights were in the second half of a back-to-back, and it was their third game in four nights. It showed in the third period. Down two, the Golden Knights lacked intensity and were just going through the motions. But Hutton and Kolesar came out of nowhere to stun the Oilers by tying it late.
Even so, it was the club’s eighth loss in 11 games (3-5-3).
The Golden Knights never led, and they went 0-for-5 on the power play. The power play could have turned the tide of the game at many points, but Vegas failed to take advantage.
At all strengths, the Oilers led 19-7 in high-danger chances, per Natural Stat Trick. Ten of those came in the second period alone, which was Vegas’ strongest frame.
However, the Golden Knights desperately needed to end their scoring drought, which they did.
After going nearly 300 minutes without a goal at 5-on-5, Vegas potted four in Edmonton.
The Golden Knights also fought back late in the third and secured another important point.
“When you look at an 82-game season, whether we win the division by one or two points, these points matter,” Stone said. “When you’re not playing your best hockey, you have to keep banking points. We haven’t won a ton of games lately, but we’re finding ways to bank points.”
Stone played a key role in doing that, as it was his effort in front of the net and his subsequent deflection that got Vegas on the board and ended the scoring drought after 14 regulation periods without a 5-on-5 goal.
The comeback is already proving to be a boost of confidence.
“It feels more than just a single point,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “How we tied it was exciting for me because it was our third and fourth line that went out and scored goals that we need to start scoring again. It can’t always be your top guys, and tonight it wasn’t for us. … That’s why it feels like no matter who won the shootout, we still feel pretty good about leaving here.”
The players also had positive takeaways.
“I think we should feel good about what just happened,” Stone said. “Now we have to put two and two together and get the offense and the defense going at the same time.”
Hutton echoed those sentiments.
“I thought, at times, the ice was a little tilted in their favor, but we stuck with it the whole way. We never quit the whole time, and we were able to squeeze a point out.”
But it wasn’t just that the Golden Knights scored four goals, it’s how they scored them.
All four were the result of going to the net, winning battles below the goal line and getting pucks through traffic. Those elements have been missing from Vegas’ game, which has largely contributed to the Golden Knights’ struggles on offense.
In Cassidy’s words, goals where “we’re playing behind them, we’re creating loose puck situations, creating havoc around the front of their net and finishing some plays.”
The fact that Vegas addressed that issue, ended the 5-on-5 drought and also rallied for a point could prove to be the moral victory that Vegas needed.
“We are grinding points out,” Cassidy said. “We’d rather have wins. Some of these have not gone our way recently. I think we won three shootouts in the first 12 games, so there’s a bit of a pendulum that swings the other way.”
Fighting through that shift in luck has been difficult for the Golden Knights, who were shut out twice in the last five games. However, the shootout loss in Edmonton marks the first time Vegas scored more than two goals in that span, and the Golden Knights will look to build on that moving forward.
“So far we’re .500 on the trip, going to Vancouver. We know we’ve got more to give,” Cassidy said.
The Golden Knights are only .500 from a points perspective, but that’s what matters down the stretch.
“They’re important, they all add up,” Cassidy said. “Trust me, at the end of the year, they all add up.”
At 14-5-4, the Golden Knights are still in first place in the division with 32 points through 23 games, though Los Angeles has the edge in points percentage.
The Golden Knights will face another big test when they take on the second-place Canucks Thursday night in Vancouver.